Effect of Biodegradable Binder Properties and Operating Conditions on Growth of Urea Particles in a Fluidized Bed Granulator

Materials

Ehsan Zhalehrajabi¹  KokKeong Lau¹  KuZilati Ku Shaari¹  Babar Azeem¹  Azizah Shaaban²  SeyedHadi Seyedin³  SeyedMojib Zahraee³ 

[1] Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia;Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Melaka, Malaysia;School of Engineering, Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing, and Mechatronics, RMIT University, Melbourne 3000, Australia;

关键词: agglomeration;    fluidized bed;    granulation;    particle growth;    starch binder;    urea;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma12142320

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Granulation is an important step during the production of urea granules. Most of the commercial binders used for granulation are toxic and non-biodegradable. In this study, a fully biodegradable and cost-effective starch-based binder is used for urea granulation in a fluidized bed granulator. The effect of binder properties such as viscosity, surface tension, contact angle, penetration time, and liquid bridge bonding force on granulation performance is studied. In addition, the effect of fluidized bed process parameters such as fluidizing air inlet velocity, air temperature, weight of primary urea particles, binder spray rate, and binder concentration is also evaluated using response surface methodology. Based on the results, binder with higher concentration demonstrates higher viscosity and higher penetration time that potentially enhance the granulation performance. The viscous Stokes number for binder with higher concentration is lower than critical Stokes number that increases coalescence rate. Higher viscosity and lower restitution coefficient of urea particles result in elastic losses and subsequent successful coalescence. Statistical analysis indicate that air velocity, air temperature, and weight of primary urea particles have major effects on granulation performance. Higher air velocity increases probability of collision, whereby lower temperature prevents binder to be dried up prior to collision. Findings of this study can be useful for process scale-up and industrial application.

【 授权许可】

Unknown