The document provides an overview of fertilizers, including their definitions, types (natural and synthetic), and essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. It discusses the production processes, quality control measures, waste management, and the impact of fertilizers on the environment and human health. Additionally, it highlights the advantages of biofertilizers and mentions key companies and international organizations involved in the fertilizer industry.

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WHAT IS A FERTILISER?
• A fertilizer is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soils
or to plant tissues (usually leaves) to supply one or more plant
nutrients essential to the growth of plants.
• NPK- NITROGEN PHOSPHOROUS POTASSIUM
• Natural Fertilizer- Organic fertilizer
Synthetic Fertilizer- Chemical fertilizer
WHY DO PLANTS NEED FERTILISERS?
Plants need to be fertilizers because most soil does not provide the essential
nutrients required for optimum growth.
EXAMPLE-

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Nitrogen
• Helps in making the proteins
• Helps in producing new tissues
• Growth may be stunted
• Its deficiency also causes yellowing of leaves
Phosphorous
• Stimulates root growth,
• Helps the plant set buds and flowers,
• Improves vitality and increases seed size.

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Potassium
• Improves overall vigor of the plant.
• It helps the plants make carbohydrates and
• Provides disease resistance.
• It also helps to regulate metabolic activities.
• Its deficiency leads to formation of spots on leaves and fruits
• transfer energy from one part of the plant to another.
• To absorb phosphorous, most plants require a soil pH of 6.5 to 6.8
• Organic matter and the activity of soil organisms also increase the
availability of phosphorus.

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The micronutrients are also essential .
Example—
• Calcium – used by cell membrane to neutralize toxic materials.
• Also helps in improving strength
• Helps to bind organic and inorganic particles together.
• Magnesium – helps in making chlorophyll .
• Sulphur – helps in making proteins
• Other micronutrients are – Boron , copper , iron .

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PRODUCTION -----
Raw Materials
• Primary fertilizers include substances derived from nitrogen, phosphorus,
and potassium. Various raw materials are used to produce these
compounds.
• When ammonia is used as the nitrogen source in a fertilizer, one method
of synthetic production requires the use of natural gas and air.
• The phosphorus component is made using sulfur, coal, and phosphate
rock.
• The potassium source comes from potassium chloride, a primary
component of potash.

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• Secondary nutrients are added to some fertilizers to help make them
more effective.
• Calcium is obtained from limestone, which contains calcium
carbonate and others such as calcium sulphate, calcium magnesium
carbonate.
• The magnesium source in fertilizers is derived from dolomite.
• Sulfur is another material that is mined and added to fertilizers.
• Other mined materials include iron from ferrous sulfate, copper, and
boron from boron oxide

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PHOSPHOROUS FERTILISER PRODUCTION PROCESS-

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POTASSIUM FERTILISER PRODUCTION PROCESSES-

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To produce fertilizer in the most usable form, each of the different compounds,
are granulated and blended together.
Granulating
Granulation is the act or process of forming or crystallizing into grains. Granules
typically have a size range between 0.2 and 4.0 mm depending on their
subsequent use.
Granulation is carried out for various reasons, one of which is to prevent the
segregation of the constituents of powder mix. Segregation is due to differences
in the size or density of the component of the mix.
• One method of granulation involves putting the solid materials into a rotating
drum which has an inclined axis.

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• As the drum rotates, pieces of the solid fertilizer take on small spherical
shapes. They are passed through a screen that separates out adequately sized
particles. A coating of inert dust is then applied to the particles, keeping each
one discrete and inhibiting moisture retention.
•
• Finally, the particles are dried, completing the granulation process.
Blending
 The different types of particles are blended together in appropriate
proportions to produce a composite fertilizer.
 The blending is done in a large mixing drum that rotates a specific number of
turns to produce the best mixture possible.
 After mixing, the fertilizer is emptied onto a conveyor belt, which transports it
to the bagging machine.

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Bagging
 Fertilizers are typically supplied to farmers in large bags.
 To fill these bags the fertilizer is first delivered into a large hopper.
 An appropriate amount is released from the hopper into a bag that is held
open by a clamping device.
 The bag is on a vibrating surface, which allows better packing. When filling is
complete, the bag is transported upright to a machine that seals it closed.
 The bag is then conveyed to a palletizer, which stacks multiple bags, readying
them for shipment to distributors and eventually to farmers.

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Quality Control
• To ensure the quality of the fertilizer that is produced, manufacturers monitor
the product at each stage of production.
• Some of the characteristics that are tested include pH, appearance, density,
and melting point.
• Since fertilizer production is governmentally regulated, composition analysis
tests are run on samples to determine total nitrogen content, phosphate
content, and other elements affecting the chemical composition.

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Byproducts/Waste
• Much of the fertilizer is washed into surrounding bodies of water or filters
into the groundwater. This has added significant amounts of nitrates to the
water that is consumed by the public.
• Some medical studies have suggested that certain disorders of the urinary
and kidney systems are a result of excessive nitrates in drinking water.
• It is also thought that this is particularly harmful for babies and could even
be potentially carcinogenic.
• When nitrite ions are ingested, they can get into the bloodstream. There,
they bond with hemoglobin, a protein that is responsible for storing oxygen.
• When a nitrite ion binds with hemoglobin, it loses its ability to store
oxygen, resulting in serious health problems.

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• Nitrosamines are another potential byproduct of the nitrates in fertilizer.
They are the result of a natural chemical reaction of nitrates.
• Nitrosamines have been shown to cause tumors in laboratory animals,
feeding the fear that the same could happen in humans.

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WASTES
Variety of wastes are discharged from the Fertilizer plant as water pollutants
while
1. Processing chemicals like Sulphuric acid
2. Process intermediate like Ammonium, Phosphoric and etc.
3. Final products like urea, Ammonium sulphate, Ammonium phosphate etc.
• In addition to the above, oil bearing wastes from compressor houses of
ammonia and urea plants, some portion of the cooling water and the wash
water from the scrubbing towers, for the purification of gases, also come as
waste.
• Both alkaline and acidic wastes are also expected from the boiler feed water
treatment plant, the wastes being generated during the regeneration of anion
and cation exchanger units.
• Additional pollutants like phenol and cyanide will be introduced in the list of
pollutants in the fertilizer plant

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TREATMENT OF WASTES-
Major pollutants in the fertilizers waste water for which the treatment is necessary
include oil, arsenic, ammonia, urea, phosphate and fluoride.
• Oil is removed in a gravity separator
• Arsenic containing waste is segregated and after its concentration the solid waste is
disposed off in a safe place.
• Phosphate and fluoride bearing wastes are also segregated and chemically
coagulated by lime.
Several alternatives are there for the treatment of Ammonia bearing wastes
1. Steam stripping
2. Air stripping in towers
3. Lagooning after pH adjustment
4. Biological nitrification and denitrification

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• Biological nitrification involves oxidation of Ammonia to nitrate via nitrite
under aerobic condition, this followed by the denitrification of the nitrified
effluent under anaerobic condition, in which gaseous N2and N2O is the end
product and is released to the atmosphere. The denitrification requires
addition of some quantity of carbonaceous matter in the reactor.
• If urea removal is required the urea containing wastes must be retained for a
sufficiently long time in an earthen lagoon to allow it to decompose first to
ammonia

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THE LEADING COMPANIES –
1. Coromandel International Ltd.
2. Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd.
3. Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.
4. Chambal Fertilizers & Chemical Ltd.
5. National Fertilizers Ltd.
6. Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore Ltd.
7. Deepak Fertilizers & Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd.
8. IIFCO
9. Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd.
10. Liberty Phosphate Ltd.

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Biofertiliser
Help in fixing atmospheric nitrogen when suitable crops are inoculated .
• Bacterias that help to produce biofertilisers are-
Rhizobium, Azotobacter, PSB, Azospirillium and Acetobacter.
• The biofertilisers are sold through cooperative societies and also distributed to
the farmers as one of the component of Critical Input Package (CIP) to
promote integrated use of nutrients.

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ADVANTAGES
• Low cost
• Effective
• Environment friendly
• Renewable source of plant nutrients
• Add nutrients to soil
• Increase fertility and crop production

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INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
• The Fertilizer Association of India
• International Fertilizer Industry Association
• International Fertilizer Development Center
• Fertilizer advisory , Development and Information network for Asia and the Pacific
• Fertilizer Market Bulletin
• The World Bank Group
• Food and Agriculture Organization of UN

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The Future
Fertilizer research is currently focusing
• on reducing the harmful environmental impacts
• finding new, less expensive sources of fertilizers
• to make fertilizers more environmentally
• New sources of fertilizers are also being investigated. It has been found that
sewage sludge contains many of the nutrients that are needed for a good
fertilizer.

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