Loading...
Comparative analysis of physical and thermal properties of prilled and granulated urea
Zafarnak, S. Sandhu, J.
Zafarnak, S.
Sandhu, J.
Publication Date
2026-01
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Rights
© The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2025-12-13
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Files
Loading...
Rahmanian_et_al_2026
Adobe PDF, 4.05 MB
Additional title
Abstract
Solid urea is the largest nitrogen fertilizer product, produced in two forms: granules and prills. Although the chemical properties of both prills and granules remain similar, their differing physical and mechanical properties distinguish them, making them suitable for different applications, either as fertilizers or raw materials for the chemical industry. This research aims to understand the differences between prilled and granulated urea by comparing their physical and thermal properties. The characterizations were conducted using thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimety, Karl-Fischer titration, Scanning Electron Microscopy, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, sieve analysis, strength measurements, and pycnometer. Karl Fischer titration revealed that granules contain more moisture (0.48%) compared to prills (0.34%). The moisture content of a fertilizer during storage and handling affects its overall quality. HPLC analysis on biuret content showed that the prilled samples contained higher biuret content. The results of the sieve analysis technique used to determine the size distribution indicated that granules had a larger mean diameter of 2.81 mm compared to prills, which had a mean diameter of 1.64 mm. SEM images revealed clear differences in terms of shape and structure between the prills and granules. The outer surface of the prills was smoother and glass-like, while the granules appeared rougher. Interestingly, on the inside, the granules had a denser and more solid middle layer. In contrast, the prills exhibited cracks throughout their inner structure.
Version
Published version
Citation
Zafarnak S, Sandhu J and Rahmanian N (2026) Comparative analysis of physical and thermal properties of prilled and granulated urea. Chemical Papers.
Link to publisher’s version
Link to published version
Link to Version of Record
Type
Article