Urea is an important basic material for numerous industries. Due to its high nitrogen content, urea is used as a fertilizer and as an animal feed additive in agriculture. Urea also plays an important role in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Here, urea is used in the production of resins and melamine or in personal care products (toothpaste, skincare products).
Urea is produced directly in conjunction with ammonia synthesis, as the starting materials are liquid ammonia and carbon dioxide. The combination of both processes allows for resource-saving production. The inline measurement process LiquiSonic®enables urea concentration measurement at any time and ensures optimal operation of urea production.
LiquiSonic® Sound velocity measurement in urea
Application
Urea can be produced by numerous processes. A technical synthesis possibility for urea is the thermal conversion of ammonium carbamate, which is obtained from ammonia NH3 and carbon dioxide CO2 at a temperature of 200 °C and a pressure of 130 to 200 bar.
The reaction mixture (urea and ammonium carbamate) is depressurized to atmospheric pressure and freed from ammonium carbamate in distillation columns at 70 °C. Since the conversion is not complete, ammonium carbamate still present in the reaction solution is stripped with CO2 into the starting materials NH3 and CO2 and are returned to the reactor. The urea solution is evaporated and the urea is crystallized under vacuum. For further processing, the crystallized urea is centrifuged and dried.
Installation
The LiquiSonic® immersion sensors can be easily installed at the outlet of the decomposer, typically in DN80 pipelines. The robust sensor design and the choice of special materials ensure long system process life. The LiquiSonic® Controller 30 can be connected with up to 4 sensors. This makes it possible to monitor several measuring points simultaneously.
Typical measuring range:
Concentration range: 0 to 100 m%
Temperature range: -10 to 140 °C
Customer benefits
LiquiSonic®reduces time-consuming laboratory measurements:
- Time required: 1 h per day
LiquiSonic®ensures resource-saving and optimal synthesis and increases production.
The quality control of urea is of enormous importance for further processing. LiquiSonic® enables the determination of urea concentration at any time for seamless documentation and for maintaining consistent product quality. In case of disturbances and deviations, immediate action can be taken.
