Soran university

Faculty of engineering

Department of chemical engineering

Fertilizer

Prepared by: Momen Abdulstar

Supervisor: Mr. Ali Hossein
Contents

• Introduction

• Classification of fertilizers

• Types of fertilizers

• Production of potassium fertilizer

• Advantages and disadvantages

• References

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Introduction

Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that

is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth o
f plants. Fertilizers are the protein supplements for the plants. They are used to
enrich the soil with nutrients that it does not inherently have. They should be
used strictly as a deficiencybuster. Inordinate use of different types of fertilizers
kill the naturally present ingredients in soil too. So, it is important to use them
carefully and only as per need. Fertilizers are manufactured commercial
products which contain one or more essential plant nutrients. For a material to
be qualified as a fertilizer it should contain nutrient in appreciable amount and
in readily or potential usable form. Fertilizers are used with the sole purpose o f
improving soil fertility so that it can support larger harvests. It represents the
most common currency used by farmers to deposit plant nutrient into their soil
to ensure that adequate nutrient are available to feed the crop. Plant roots absorb
these fertilizer granules as they come out of the bag or dung particles as they are
in a manure heap. Soil is the loose surface o f the earth’s crust, which serves as
a natural medium for plants to grow and it must supply sufficient quantity of
nutrients for the growth of plants. During most of our existence on earth,
hunting and gathering have procured food. As population grew, organized
agricultural systems were developed to ensure food security. Soil fertility is
diminishing gradually due to soil erosion, loss of nutrients, accumulation o f
salts and other toxic elements, water logging and un-balanced nutrient
compensation. Organic wastes and bio-fertilizers are the alternate sources to
meet the nutrient o f crops and to bridge the future gaps. Farming regions that
emphasizing heavy chemical application led to adverse environmental,
agricultural and health consequences. Many efforts are being exercised to
combat the adverse consequences of chemical farming (Faheed et a i, 2008).
The plants absorb nutrients in specific ionic forms, which either a fertilizer
furnishes, when it dissolves in soil water or various chemical and biological
agents. Fertilizers are therefore, essential to the future welfare o f our modem
world where the population is increasing so rapidly that it is estimated that one
tenth people have too little to eat and secure good health.

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Classification of fertilizers

Fertilizers can be broadly classified as 1. Bio-fertilizer 2. Chemical fertilizer

Bio-Fertilizer The name bio fertilizer itself is self-explanatory. The fertilizers
that are used to improve the fertility o f the land using biological wastes and
biological forms are termed as bio-fertilizers; further biological wastes do not
contain any chemicals which are detrimental to the living soil. They are
extremely beneficial in enriching the soil with those micro-organisms, which
produce organic nutrients for the soil and help in combating diseases. The farm
produce does not contain traces of hazardous and poisonous materials.

Soil is a natural habitat o f variety o f agriculturally beneficial microorganisms.

Certain soil microorganisms have an ability to absorb and convert atmospheric
nitrogen to the readily available form to the plants whereas, certain soil
microorganisms act as solubilizing part o f the bound phosphates o f the soil and
thereby make them available to the plants. Both these attributes make them
important to be used as Bio-fertilizers. According to Vessey (2003) a bio-
fertilizer is a substance which contains living microorganism, when applied to
seed, plant surfaces, or soil, colonizes the rhizosphere or the interior o f the
plant and promotes growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary
nutrients to the host plant. Bio-fertilizers add nutrients to the soil through the
natural processes o f nitrogen fixation and solubilizing phosphorus and
stimulating plant growth through the synthesis of growth-promoting substances.
Bio-fertilizer involves the preparation o f efficient strains of microorganisms
capable o f converting atmospheric nitrogen into nitrate or solubilizing
phosphorus from the fixed form. Bio-fertilizer is a boon for farmers because it
helps in increasing the soil fertility. Through the use of bio-fertilizers, healthy
plants can be grown, while enhancing the sustainability and the health of the
soil. Sustainable agriculture, with the use biofertilizers instead of chemical ones,
bears high importance in overcoming the problems that have arisen from

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environmental pollution (Darzi et al., 2006). The biofertilizers are extremely
advantageous in enriching soil fertility and fulfilling plant nutrient requirements
by supplying the organic nutrients through microorganism and their byproducts.
Microbes such as Rhizobium, Azotobacter,

Azospirillum and Blue Green Algae (BGA) have been in use from a long time
as a source of bio-fertilizers. Other types o f bacteria, so-called phosphate-
solubilizing bacteria, are able to solubiliz the insoluble phosphate from organic
and inorganic phosphate sources. Chen (2006) is o f the opinion that for
optimum plant growth, nutrients must be in sufficient quantities with in soil, in
order to allow for xinhindered plant development. However, it is rather the case
that nutrient content within soil is either poor or in unavailable forms for plants,
whereas only scarcely are nutrient replenished annually through biological
activity and chemical processes. Advantages of bio-fertilizers Bio-fertilizer
secretes certain growth promoting substances. Further, they are harmless, eco
friendly and low cost agro- input supplementary to chemical fertilizers. They
increase the soil fertility, improve soil structure, porosity and water holding
capacity and also enhance seed germination. Under certain conditions they
exhibit antifungal activities and thereby protect the plants from pathogenic
fungi.

Chemical Fertilizer A chemical fertilizer is defined as any inorganic material of

wholly or partially synthetic origin that is added to the soil to sustain plant
growth. Chemical fertilizers are produced synthetically from inorganic
materials. Since they are prepared from inorganic materials artificially, they
may have some harmful acids, which stunt the growth of microorganisms found
in the soil. They are rich in three essential nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorous and
potassium which are needed for plant growth. Some examples of chemical
fertilizers are ammonium sulphate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium nitrate,
urea and ammonium chloride. After the introduction o f chemical fertilizers in
the last century, farmers were happy o f getting increased yield in agriculture in
the beginning. But slowly chemical fertilizers started displaying their ill-effects
such as leaching out, and polluting water basins, destroying micro-organisms
and fiiendly insects, making the crop more susceptible to the attack o f diseases,
reducing the soil fertility and thus causing irreparable damage to the overall
system.

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 Types of fertilizer

 Nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrate-based fertilizers are the most commonly used

straight fertilizers in Europe. ...
 Nitrogen fertilizers with inhibitors. ...
 Phosphorus fertilizers. ...
 Potassium fertilizers. ...
 Calcium, magnesium and sulphur Fertilizers. ...
 Micronutrient fertilizers. ...
 Inhibitors.

Production of Potassium fertilizers

Potassium is the third major plant and crop nutrient after nitrogen and
phosphorus. Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured
salts that contain potassium. Today, potash is produced worldwide at amounts
exceeding 30 million tons per year. Potassium chloride (KCl) accounts for most
of the K used in world agriculture (about 90%). Other widely used K products
include potassium sulfate, potassium nitrate, and potassium-magnesium salts.

Potassium bearing minerals are mined from underground ore deposits, salt lakes
and brines. Then, the ore must be beneficiated and purified using dry and slurry
processes. Guichon Valves can supply custom-made valves suitable for such
abrasive slurries.

The majority of mined KCl is used for obtaining various grade fertilizers based
on the particle size (granular, standard, fine, soluble). Granular KCl is often

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applied in mixtures with other N and P based
fertilizers to provide, in one application, the nutrients required by the crops.
Another potassium fertilizer is potassium sulfate, which is frequently used for
crops where additional chloride from more common KCl fertilizer is
undesirable. Potassium sulfate can be extracted from the mineral langbeinite or
it can be synthetized by treating potassium chloride with sulfuric acid at high
temperature. By adding magnesium salts to potassium sulfate, a granular
potassium-magnesium compound fertilizer can also be produced.

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Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages of applying fertilizers to the land:

It increases crop yield and improves poor quality land.

Manure improves soil texture, recycles nitrogen and introduces essential

bacteria.

Pasture is improved so animals fatten up quicker.

Once marshland is drained, fertilisers can help reclaim that land for pasture

Crops grow faster – particularly when hybrid seeds are used.

Disadvantages of using artificial fertilisers:

Crops grow better, but so do weeds. Therefore herbicide sprays are required too.

Better quality plants attract insects so pesticides may be needed.

Excess nitrogen from fertilisers gets into water supplies, causing fish to die.

Chemicals need to be used safely. In poorer countries in particular, farmers can

damage their health by applying fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides incorrectly.

Artificial fertilisers, applied without organic additions, do not improve soil

structure.

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References
 International Fertilizer Development Center - 1980

 JF Ma, E Takahashi – 2002

 JK Syers, AE Johnston, D Curtin - FAO Fertilizer and plant nutrition bulletin, 2008

 JH Assimakopoulos, DP Kalivas, VJ Kollias - Science of the Total …, 2003

 A Shaviv - Advances in agronomy, 2001

 M Maeda, B Zhao, Y Ozaki, T Yoneyama - Environmental Pollution, 2003

 D Dannefer - The Journals of Gerontology Series B …, 2003