Fertilizer International 510 Sept-Oct 2022
30 September 2022
Successfully enhancing fertilizer efficiency
SMART FERTILIZERS
Successfully enhancing fertilizer efficiency
Producing efficient fertilizers that deliver nutrients directly to crops in exactly the right amounts has clear economic and environmental benefits. Recent advances in controlled-release and stabilised fertilizer technology are highlighted.
THYSSENKRUPP
Urea product innovations
Several innovations developed by thyssenkrupp can add value to urea and other fertilizer types and improve their efficiency.
Introduction
Increasingly, the fertilizer industry needs to meet new, more stringent environmental obligations and respond to calls from society for greater sustainability. In Europe, these demands are exemplified by the EU’s Green Deal – although similar pressures apply in other regions.
Industry decarbonisation is also being promoted by subsidies on new technologies and through policies which tax carbon emissions or carbon-based products. For these reasons also, the fertilizer sector must reduce its carbon emissions and enhance both production and product efficiency.
These changes, although challenging, also open up new opportunities. For example, fertilizer producers can create more value from their existing assets via small revamps that increase production capacity and/or improve process efficiency and reduce emissions. At the same time, the diversification of product portfolios is of growing importance as a way of achieving higher margins and better nutrient use efficiency.
To prepare the fertilizer industry for these future needs, thyssenkrupp Fertilizer Technology (tkFT) and thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (tkIS) have developed the following options that add value to urea and other fertilizer products:
- Controlled-release fertilizers and fertilizers stabilised using inhibitor treatment technology – to meet upcoming European and worldwide demand for products with better nitrogen use efficiency
- Urea enriched with elemental sulphur to close the global sulphur gap.
Controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs)
The conventional application of commodity fertilizers to crops typically results in big nutrient losses. These can reach 70 percent or more for some nitrogen fertilizers such as urea. Such losses are directly responsible for the nitrate pollution of groundwater and soils in countries where intensive agriculture and fertilization is practiced, such as those in Western Europe.
Consequently, legislators in some regions have reacted by introducing restrictions that limit both the amount of applied fertilizers and the number of applications allowed during the growing period. Additionally, the use of so-called stabilised fertilizers (SFs) is also being mandated to cut nutrient losses. From 2020, for instance, only stabilised urea can be applied by farmers in the European Union1 and Germany2 .
Having recognised this trend, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions, as a leading EPC contractor for ammonia and urea plants, has been working to develop SFs and controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) together with their associated production processes. One successful outcome has been the development of innovative polymer coated urea (PCU) products (Fertilizer International 503, p26). These special types of CRF use biologically degradable polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA) to coat urea granules (Figure 1).
These polymers decompose in soil without producing environmentally harmful substances and can be produced from renewable resources. This ensures that the whole production and crop application process is sustainable.
These types of CRFs make nutrients available over the entire growing period. They are also more efficient as they supply nutrients in the exact quantities required by crops. This provides the option to:
- Either increase crop yields by up to 10 percent for the same amount of fertilizer
- Apply less fertilizer to achieve the same yield
- Or potentially combine these two positive effects.
The production of CRFs can be integrated within an existing ammonia-urea production complex, or set up as a standalone plant, and can be realised for a wide range of production capacities. The same coating technology can also be successfully applied to other fertilizer types, including potash-, phosphate- and sulphur-containing fertilizers, to minimise nutrient losses and increase their nutrient use efficiency.
Innovative inhibitor treatment technology (ITT)
Regulators around the world have recognised the problem of ammonia volatilisation from surface-applied urea. The result has been an increasing number of regulations governing the application of urea to soils.
The treatment of urea granules with urease inhibitors is one answer to this problem. This reduces ammonia emissions, improves nitrogen use efficiency and increases crop yields. The use of urease inhibitors also provides farmers with more freedom in their fertilizer application strategy.
Inhibitors need to be present when urea is applied to the soil. The easiest way to achieve this is by incorporating the inhibitor within urea granules during their production (Fertilizer International 503, p26).
Thyssenkrupp’s new inhibitor treatment technology (ITT) provides a highly efficient way to treat granular urea with a urease inhibitor at large scale in the quantities required globally. ITT is flexible too – being offered as a plant add-on for both existing and new UFT ® fluid bed granulation plants. This saves on cost and space since no additional coating equipment is needed. Furthermore, ITT is not labour intensive and allows additional surface treatments further down the value chain (e.g., for micronutrients).
To successfully apply a urease inhibitor there is a need to ensure that the formulation and the granulation technology are completely compatible and correctly match one another. BASF and thyssenkrupp Fertilizer Technology (tkFT) ensured this by cooperating closely together on a new ITT project. This enabled the two project partners to successfully develop an application-specific version of BASF’s proprietary Limus ® urease inhibitor for use in the UFT ® fluid bed urea granulation process. No additional investment by operators is necessary beyond a simple dosing system.
ITT has been thoroughly tested and validated at pilot plant scale. It was also recently verified for the first time at a full-scale industrial UFT ® fluid bed urea granulation plant. The technology is now on track to become fully commercialised, once the results of inhibited urea production at industrial scale have been summarised and product stability has been proven.
Urea with elemental sulphur (Urea-ES® )
The global sulphur nutrient shortage remains a problem, despite measures taken by the fertilizer industry to address this. Indeed, the sulphur containing products currently available on the market are not sufficient to close the ever-growing sulphur deficit in soils. In 2015, this sulphur deficit was estimated to be approximately 10 million tonnes globally, according to The Sulphur Institute (TSI). As a result, the continuing lack of soil sulphur availability is reducing crop production in many areas.
Yet using a readily-available and commonly-applied fertilizer as a carrier product could offer a holistic answer to the global sulphur shortage. Urea is an ideal and obvious sulphur nutrient carrier, in our view, due to its large-scale availability, distribution and use globally.
Elemental sulphur needs to be oxidised into sulphate form to make it available to crops. To improve the oxidation rate – and therefore plant-availability – the surface area of elemental sulphur particles must be significantly increased, e.g., by micronisation. This enables soil bacteria to quickly oxidise sulphur in a shorter time.
Shell and thyssenkrupp Fertilizer Technology (tkFT) have jointly developed a continuous Urea-ES® fluid bed granulation process for the production of sulphur-enhanced urea granules (Fertilizer International 492, p44; Fertilizer International 507, p38). This integrated process combines Shell’s Urea-ES® technology with tkFT’s UFT® fluid bed granulation technology. In this innovative process, micron-sized particles of elemental sulphur (ES) are incorporated into urea and homogeneously distributed (Figure 2) via a sulphur dispersion unit.
The availability profile for micronised elemental sulphur (Figure 3) provides in-season sulphur supply while limiting nutrient losses. This ensures that sulphur is available as a nutrient to crops throughout their entire growth cycle.
Shell’s Urea-ES® process produces micronised sulphur particles with an average particle size of less than 25 microns. This emulsion is stabilised with the help of an additional Shell additive (ThioAdd® ) before being granulated in the UFT® fluid bed granulation plant to obtain the final product (Figure 4).
In this process, expensive urea solution is partially substituted with less expensive elemental sulphur, thereby reducing the overall cost for the producer. The sulphur-containing products obtained are also known to sell at a premium in various markets such as in North and South America and Europe.
Nutrient content can also be improved by combining urea with elemental sulphur. Urea-ES® with a formulation of 40-0-0-13S, for example, contains 53 percent nutrients – compared to standard urea (46-0-0) which contains 46 percent nutrients. Another Urea-ES® formulation (35-0-0-24S) has an even higher nutrient density of 59 percent. Consequently, Urea-ES® products have the potential to reduce the CO2 impacts of fertilizer distribution, as their higher nutrient density makes transportation and handling more cost efficient.
The higher agronomic effectiveness of Urea-ES® fertilizer has also been demonstrated in the many agronomic trials conducted worldwide since 2014. Crop trial results show an equivalent and/or improved performance compared to existing nitrogen and sulphur fertilization practice.
Importantly, Urea-ES® provides an all-in-one source of nitrogen and sulphur and does not need to be blended, unlike other sulphur-containing nitrogen products. Additionally, it is fully compatible with urease inhibitors, whose use is increasing in more and more markets. Urease inhibitors are not degraded by elemental sulphur, as happens with the addition of ammonium sulphate, for example. In summary, Urea-ES® technology has the potential to add significant value for fertilizer producers and ultimately for growers at farm level3 .
References
STAMICARBON
Smart fertilizers for broad-acre crops
The global challenge
Global food production will undoubtedly need to expand in future to meet the rising demands of a growing population. Equally, affordable food will need to become available to all, if humanity is ever going to eradicate hunger. To deliver these goals sustainably, a careful watch on the environmental impact of farming will also be necessary.
The United Nations has incorporated these aims in Sustainable Development Goal #2: End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture (Figure 1). The FAO has estimated that an increase in crop production of more than 45 percent will be required by 2050.
Fertilizers are set to play an increasing role in the growth of food production. In particular, the usage of urea, as the dominant nitrogen fertilizer, will need to be critically monitored. Although the application of urea remains essential if crop yields are to increase, its nutrient use efficiency is low. The lost nitrogen is volatilized into air as ammonia and N2 O, or lost to surface and groundwater as nitrates. These losses have adverse environmental effects, ranging from air pollution and fine dust to elevated levels of nitrates in drinking water and the eutrophication of surface waters.
Use of smart fertilizers
Fertilizers are traditionally applied a few times during the season to ensure that plant nutrient needs are continuously met throughout the growing cycle. It is common practice in Europe nowadays to apply fertilizers in three split applications: the first application fulfils between 40-50 percent of total crop demand, the second applied several weeks later meets 20-30 percent of demand, while a third and final application, several weeks before harvest, boosts the nutritional value of the crop. However, the need to make sufficient levels available throughout the growing cycle can mean nutrients are quickly lost to the environment, as farmers tend to oversupply these to maximise their yields. The loss of oversupplied nutrients between applications often results in poor overall nutrient use efficiency.
A smart fertilizer, in contrast, behaves very differently. It should be able to unlock and release nutrients to match the nutrient demands of the crop. In this way, nutrient release is attuned to the needs of the crop, creating a perfect balance between nutrient supply and plant uptake, so preventing losses of nutrients to the environment. Ideally, optimal nutrient use efficiency can be achieved by adjusting the release curve of the fertilizer so it corresponds exactly with the nutrient demand curve of the crop.
Polymer coated controlled-release urea
Controlled-release urea can be regarded as a true ‘smart fertilizer’. It is produced by encasing the urea granule within a polymer coating. This acts like a membrane, sealing the urea from the surrounding soil environment. Over time, urea’s hygroscopic nature naturally attracts and draws in water (rain, moisture) through the membrane, where it dissolves part of the urea. A driving force then develops due to the high nitrogen concentration inside the membrane relative to the low concentration outside. As a consequence, nitrogen dissolved in water permeates outwards through the membrane into the soil, ready to be absorbed through the root system of the plant in an efficient and controlled manner (Figure 2). As the rate of permeation through the membrane is temperature dependent, and nutrient release also depends on water availability, an almost perfect balance is created between crop needs and fertilizer supply. As a result, losses to the environment, whether to air or water, are prevented and maximum nutrient use efficiency is achieved.
Field trials
Field trials have been conducted with polymer coated controlled-release urea (PCU 2.0). Trials in different cropping systems, such as field corn, sweet corn and potatoes, have shown that significant increases in nutrient use efficiency are achievable (Figure 3). A single application of controlled-release urea provided 5-10 percent higher yields, against a split application of conventional fertilizers, when applied at the same overall application rate. Alternatively, controlled-release urea provided similar crop yields when applied at 75-85 percent of the total application rate of conventional fertilizers.
A business case analysis showed that the higher yield target allowed for a $150-800/t premium (depending on crop) for controlled-release urea, over regular urea, whereas the lower application target allowed for a $60-110/t premium for controlled-release urea over regular urea. This excludes the additional benefits of single application such as less labour and fuel.
Using controlled-release fertilizers to optimise cropping provides a number of important benefits:
- Negligible ammonia volatilisation losses
- Negligible nitrate leaching losses
- Steady controlled-release of nutrients over the 3-4 month growing season
- Nearly all nutrients are available for the crop
- A single application in spring, with no need for a summer side dress, reduces application costs.
There is also the option to choose between two optimal fertilization strategies:
- Higher yield from a similar application rate (allowing for higher fertilizer cost) or
- Similar yield from a lower application rate (less application of higher cost product).
Partnership development
A novel technology for the production of polymer coated controlled-release fertilizers, registered as PurActive™ Technology, has been developed by US-based Pursell Agri-Tech. This new approach, which combines a novel polymer composition with innovative coating technology, provides an economic solution to smart fertilizer production.
Stamicarbon, the leading urea technology licensor, has acquired a 20 percent stake in Pursell Agri-Tech. The mutually beneficial collaboration joins up Stamicarbon’s global network and technological capability with Pursell Agri-Tech’s leading expertise in coated fertilizers. This will enable both companies to pursue promising controlled-release fertilizer market opportunities worldwide. Stamicarbon’s technology package called Controlled-Release Fertilizer Design™ is being offered to the market as a full ‘Lump Sum Turn Key’ project option.
Modular plant design
At the heart of the Controlled-Release Fertilizer Design™ package is a modular coating plant. It has a relatively low investment cost and a compact design, making it possible to erect such plants close to existing logistics facilities near end-user markets.
The first commercial Controlled-Release Fertilizer Design™ reference plant, operating on a 24 hours, 5 days a week regime, is running in Sylacauga, Alabama, in the US. It has a capacity to produce up to 100,000 t/a of controlled-release fertilizer and is being operated by our partner Pursell Agri-Tech.
Feeding the future
Previously, a technology capable of economically producing smart fertilizers for broad acre agriculture has simply not been available. This has now changed with the introduction of Stamicarbon’s Controlled-Release Fertilizer Design™ . This provides fertilizer producers and distributors with the ability to supply a range of new products to the market that provide optimised fertilization. There is also the flexibility to achieve this in one of two ways: by increasing yields, or by reducing fertilizers inputs. At the same time, the wider application of controlled-release fertilizers reduces the negative pressure on the environment associated with the loss of nutrients to air and water. This latest innovation from Stamicarbon demonstrates how the fertilizer industry can take positive action to support United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #2: End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture.
KOCH AGRONOMIC SERVICES
Leading the way on nitrogen stabilisers
Market growth
The enhanced efficiency fertilizer (EEF) segment of the global fertilizer industry was valued at $4.7 billion in 2018 by Rams & Co – with global consumptionfor the year estimated at 15.7 million tonnes, up from 14.4 million tonnes in 2016. Segment growth was driven by the rising popularity of stabilised nitrogen fertilizers (SNFs), particularly urea stabilised with urease inhibitors.
Consumption of SNFs was estimated at 10.7 million tonnes in 2018 – divided between 8.2 million tonnes for urease inhibited (UI) and 2.6 million tonnes for nitrification inhibited (NI) products. Looking ahead, the consumption of SNFs is expected to accelerate at 10-12 percent p.a., according to Rams & Co, with the size of the SNF segment potentially reaching 30.5 million tonnes by 2028.
Yet, apart from the Rams & Co assessment, hard and fast facts on the stabilised fertilizer market are difficult to come by.
Do you have any comments on the market for stabilised nitrogen fertilizers (SNFs) since this assessment was published – and are you seeing distinctly different growth patterns between North America and other regions?
We are seeing continued growth of the segment across the globe, but specifically in North America and Europe as growers are looking to optimise inputs and capitalise on commodity prices. The uncertainty around the changing regulatory landscape in Europe and Canada is making it difficult to know how it will affect demand in the future. In general, growers are becoming more attuned to the risk of nitrogen loss and seeking solutions to protect their nitrogen inputs.
High and volatile prices
We’ve seen both highly volatile and record fertilizer prices this year due to the supply fears associated with the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Is this market development – and the high price environment in general since the global economic recovery from Covid pandemic – sparking greater interest in fertilizer efficiency and stabilised products?
Koch Agronomic Services (KAS) is a long-term focused business, which helps us to navigate any day-to-day volatility seen in the global industry. We believe in the value proposition of our product and our ability to meet our customers’ demands going into season. KAS anticipates continued strong demand and a need for nitrogen stabilisers as we go into the next growing season, especially as growers focus on their macro inputs. We expect an increase not only in the use of stabilisers in the industry, but also the knowledge around products and sources in the market.
New products
KAS has been a pioneer in the stabilised fertilizer market and continues to innovate. The landmark launch of CENTURO® stabiliser in 2018, the company’s next-generation nitrification inhibitor for use with anhydrous ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), was followed by the launch of ANVOL® stabiliser in 2019. This nitrogen stabiliser combines NBPT, the urease inhibitor found in AGRO-TAIN® stabiliser, with Duromide to deliver longest-lasting protection against ammonia volatilisation compared to NBPT alone.
How has the market responded to the introduction of new nitrogen stabilisers such as CENTURO® and ANVOL® – and have they acted as a spur to adoption and a boost to growth?
For years, growers have worked to fine-tune and optimise their NPK inputs. They adopted good management practices such as employing the 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework when thinking through these applications. Part of that has been utilising our CENTUROand ANVOLnitrogen stabilisers to get the most out of their fertilizer investment. ® ®
Nitrogen stabilisers allow growers to optimise their nitrogen rate. A theme found in KAS’s third-party research is the higher the nitrogen application rate, the higher the loss a grower can experience as a percentage of the nitrogen applied. Simply put, applying pounds of unprotected nitrogen can translate to additional losses which can mean reduced return on investment.
Nitrogen stabilisers, such as CENTURO and ANVOL, are tools to enable growers to have the confidence of applying nitrogen at the right rate, which is in line with the 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework. There are several factors that are setting up to make these technologies even more critical to a grower’s operation, and we anticipate continued growth in these stabiliser practices.
New additions to the KAS product portfolio
WOLF TRAX DDP micronutrients are specially formulated to simplify nutrient management, boost crop performance and maximise the fertilizer investment made by farmers. WOLF TRAX is uniquely designed to coat onto dry fertilizer blends by incorporating patented EvenCoat® Technology. WOLF TRAX delivers high nutrient availability through better distribution in the field in comparison to traditional granular micronutrients. As a result, growers have confidence that their crops are receiving the right amount of micronutrients close to growing roots – improving micronutrient use efficiency, addressing deficiencies and promoting crop performance.
PROTIVATE nutritional seed enhancer provides young crops with the critical nutrients needed for optimal establishment. By applying proprietary blends of nutrients directly to the seed, PROTIVATE is specifically tailored to provide early season nutrition. This maximises emergence and resilience for a variety of crops, from corn and soybean to cotton, wheat, canola, alfalfa and more. The PROTIVATE portfolio features three formulations and application methods that match with the available equipment used by growers or retailers. PROTIVATE also boasts an additional operational advantage by functioning as a talc replacement, working as a seed-drying source even in high humidity conditions. By encouraging better seed singulation, this helps to avoid costly skips and doubles during planting.
An expanding portfolio
Following on from this, will innovation and new products remain an important priority for KAS, as it seeks to grow the market and overcome remaining market barriers?
KAS is committed to adding value for our current and future customers. As a leader in plant nutrients, we continue to build strong relationships with our customers and work to provide solutions that are aligned with their growth strategies.
We are always looking to expand KAS’s role from nitrogen management into nutrient management leadership by building a portfolio of plant nutrition products that work to improve the efficiency, uptake and utilisation of nutrients, adding value to farmers and global food production.
The acquisition of the Compass Minerals micronutrient assets in May 2021 has made KAS an even more robust crop nutrition solutions provider across the world. The goal over the last year was to smoothly transition the WOLF TRAX™ DDP® micronutrients and PROTIVATE™ (formerly ROCKET SEEDS®) nutritional seed enhancer products into the KAS portfolio.
That product portfolio furthers KAS’s commitment to help farmers around the world improve nutrient efficiency, utilisation, and uptake. These efforts match with KAS’s vision of becoming a leader as a nutrient efficiency solutions provider.
Educating the market
The market nowadays is as much about providing services to farmers as it is about supplying products. Indeed, they are increasingly being integrated as part of a single, seamless package. Does market education remain important and, if so, what’s the best way to communicate the agronomic, environmental and economic benefits of stabilised fertilizers – and are their particular key messages that growers respond to?
There is still a large opportunity to continue to educate on the value enhancers and additives in a nutrient management plan, especially against the backdrop of today’s input and commodity prices. There are many misconceptions when it comes to nitrogen loss or how certain nutrients work within a cropping system. KAS is working with our customers and providing educational materials that can be found on our website (KochAgronomicServices.com) to better understand how our solutions can assist in overcoming limiting factors when it comes to nutrient management plans.
Improving nutrient use efficiency
Will stabilised fertilizers, in your view, have an important role to play in delivering the necessary NUE improvements required over future decades?
Nitrogen stabilisers protect against losses due to unpredictable weather conditions and other nitrogen loss factors. These solutions also allow a grower to get the most out of their nitrogen investment and optimise nutrient use efficiency (NUE). As growers become more attuned to their inputs and maximise their yields, we anticipate continued growth for these technologies.
