Granulation Equipment - FerTech Inform

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Granulation
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 Granulation equipment
 1236 views  0  February 21, 2020  Updated on August 16, 2022
Contents
1. Drum granulator
2. Pug mill
3. Spherodizer
4. Pan granulator
Manage consent
https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-equipment/#drum 1/15
Granulation (particulation) equipment is closely connected to the various specific operations involved in
a production plant, in particular within the granulation loop. The same specific operations may be
provided for a prilling (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/prilling-drop-formation/), compaction
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-by-compaction/), or pastillation
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-terminology/#past) plant.
Particulation equipment:
Granulator, which can be, for example, a drum granulator, a pug mill, or a pan granulator.
Drying equipment, for example, a drying drum or a fluidised bed
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/fluidised-bed-and-drum-granulation/).
Screens for filtering out the on-size particles.
Crushers for crushing oversize and sometimes on-size product.
Weighing equipment for determining the absolute and relative amounts of oversize, on-size and
fines. The determination of the various fractions is relevant if advance process control is installed.
Bucket (or other type) elevator.
The above specific operations are usually part of the granulation loop. The screened-out on-size product
is further treated in additional units, from which a certain amount of product may be returned to the
granulation loop:
Cooling equipment, for example, a cooling drum, a fluidized bed cooler or a bulk flow cooler.
Coating equipment.
Final screening equipment and return of off-size to the granulator.
Transport equipment, for example, conveyor belts, bucket elevators.
Granulation.
The condition for granulation (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/the-two-main-granulation-pro-
cesses/) is that a bed of solid particles moves, with simultaneous intensive mixing, in the presence of a
liquid phase. This motion provides the particle collisions and bonding needed for granule growth. There
are many types and models of granulating equipment, most of which use one of three basic intensive
mixing mechanisms (Skauli, 1979):
1. Rotation of one or more shafts carrying staggered paddles in a fixed trough (pug mill).
2. Rotation of the whole device, such as drum or pan.
3. Movement of particles by a third phase, as by blown air in a fluid-bed granulator. In slurry

granulation the third phase is usually hot air or hot combustion off-gases, which can serve as a drying
medium at the same time. In this way, two processing steps in the granulation loopconsent
Manage can be carried out in
a single apparatus, for example in a so-called Spherodizer (Polo, 2001).
In order to improve granulation conditions or granule qualities, binding agents

(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/physical-and-chemical-parameters-for-the-granulation-of-ag-
glomerated-npks/#Ins) can be added along with the granulation liquid. The binding agents may be solid
or liquid, may form films, crusts, or crystals, and may harden at standard temperature or at higher
temperature (Stokka, 1988).
The granulating devices used most often in the fertiliser industry are drums, pans, and pug mills. Fluid-
bed granulation has become popular for the production of straight fertilisers.
Pug mill (Blunger)
The pug mill (also called a blunger) process is still one of the often used options for producing CAN (cal-
cium ammonium nitrate (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/calcium-ammonium-nitrate/), nitro-
limestone, 26-28% N) and in earlier years for NPK fertilisers. One pug mill plant is capable of producing
the whole range of N contents from 22-33.5% N. The switching from AN (ammonium nitrate
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/ammonium-nitrate-properties/), 33.5% N) to CAN is done
quickly. The pug mill process is very tolerant with respect to the filler materials and additives. The
addition of additives to achieve desired levels of sulphur
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/secondary-nutrients/#sulphur) or micronutrients
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/micronutrients/) is straightforward. These do not have to be
added as solutions, but can be fed directly into the granulator. The high solid recycle makes the plant
very stable and self-regulatory. All disturbances will balance over time and minor disturbances rarely
require operator action. The kneading action of the pug mill produces a hard and uniform product.
Scalping screens or a sophisticated seed preparation system is not required. With very few exceptions
easily obtainable standard equipment is used in the plant design. The amount of proprietary equipment
is very low, spare parts can normally be obtained or produced locally. The electrical power consumption
is lower than for other granulation processes. The total plant costs are comparable or even lower than
for other granulation processes (Kamermann, 2006).
However it should be borne in mind that dust emissions in the plant can be excessive and very high
capacities (> 1.800 t/d) are better achieved for CAN in a drum granulator. In practice pug mills are
mostly used for single nitrogen production, less so for the production of compound NPK products.
Switching a pug mill over from AN / CAN to NPK (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/npk-com-
pound-fertilisers-raw-materials-and-processes/) products is cumbersome.
A pug mill (Figure 1) consists of a U-shaped trough and, inside the trough, one or two shafts bearing
strong paddles staggered in a screw-thread fashion. Two-shaft pug mills are by far the most frequently
used in industry (Anon, 1995). The shafts rotate at equal speeds in opposite directions in the horizontal
or slightly inclined trough. The solid particles (fresh feed plus recycle) are fed in at one end of the trough
and are thrown up in the middle of the trough, where they are wetted with Manage consent liquid. In the
the granulation
trough, the paddles move, knead, and transport the

moistened particles toward the discharge end. The
particles can be given a better-rounded external
shape either in a downstream tumbling drum or in
the feed zone of the drying drum. Placement of a
perforated NH3 inlet pipe (or sparger) at the bottom
of the trough makes it possible to ammoniate and
agglomerate the fertiliser at the same time. The pug
mill is sturdy and can adapt to variable service
conditions; it produces hard granules of uniform
composition. If the angle between the paddles and
the shafts is optimised, the energy consumption can be reduced. The paddles are usually provided with
a wear-resistant coating to prevent abrasion. Processes have been described for granulating in a pug
mill an ammonium phosphate melt (12–57–0), with urea (28–28–0) (Lee, 1974), and also with KCl (19–19–
19) (Anon, 1970a). The combination of a pipe reactor
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-using-tank-type-neutralisers-and-pipe-type-
reactors/#Pipe) with a pug mill for the granulation of NPK has been reported (Milborne, 1986).
Drum granulator
The drum granulator (Figure 2), which is the type of granulator in widest use for fertilisers, in particular
for NPK, is an inclined rotating cylinder.
Various features of such a drum are relevant for a good and efficient granulation effect:
rotational speed,
inclination,
length to diameter ratio,
type, direction of spray, and number of spray nozzles,
distribution elements (vane, paddle, baffle, bucket),
lifting flights,
light flights for rounding the particles,
the degree of filling of the drum, usually controlled by an internal ring separating the spraying and
tumbling sections,
possible further internal rings or dams control the degree of filling and therewith the residence time
of a particle in the drum,
hammers (or equivalent methods like balls moving up and down in a cylindrical shaft) on the outside
of the rotating drum will remove (part of) the caking on the inside drum walls,
Manage consent
proper flights at the exit end of the drum for removing the product into transport equipment,
recycle ratio (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-terminology/#Recycle),
air flow and air condition (amount, speed, temperature and humidity of the air).
The rotation speed is usually adjustable. For a given drum and a given granular product, there is an
optimal peripheral speed that gives the highest yield of granules.
An inclination of up to 10º from the horizontal

ensures adequate movement of product toward the
discharge end. Because, however, this inclination is
not enough to effect classification, the discharged
product has a fairly broad grain-size distribution, in
contrast to a pan-granulator product.
Drums in which the lengthwise axis is inclined

upward from the feed end to the discharge (Heinze,
1986) give a narrower particle-size spectrum. Such an
upward inclination also increases the amount of material in the drum. Few such inclined granulation
drums are operational for fertilizers.
In drums currently used in the fertiliser industry, the length-to-diameter ratio is ≥1 and may reach 6 : 1.
The feed end may have empirically designed distributing elements on the inside wall to spread the feed
material. In the adjacent part of the drum, where the granulation liquid is fed in, a good tumbling
motion should be ensured. This can be achieved with light lifting flights, but the proper degree of lifting
needs to be considered (often experimentally). In the remainder of the drum, the pre-granulated
material should be tumbled to a round shape and further compacted. This is also achieved with ‘light
flights’ on the drum wall and appropriate drum filling. The filling in the spray and tumbling areas can be
controlled by means of internal ring dams. The cylinder may be either open ended or fitted with ring
dams at the ends (Perry, 1973), to prevent overflowing at the feed end and to control the bed depth and
thus residence time. Fixed or movable scrapers inside the drum, or hammers, or other rapping devices
outside on the drum can be used to remove or reduce excessive product caking inside the drum. Some
material build-up on the drum wall may promote granulation (Hardesty, 1955). Cylindrical drums are
used for continuous granulation with and without internals.
As in the case of the pug mill, recycled product (undersize and crushed oversize, if needed even
(crushed) on-size material) generates a moving bed of material in the drum; a slurry containing, say, 3–
8% water can be sprayed onto the bed (Schmidt, 1972).
Powdered feed materials (mixed and wetted in an upstream mixer, if necessary, to provide granule
nuclei) can be granulated in the drum through spraying with water, solutions, suspensions, and highly
concentrated slurries, or through blowing with steam. The bed volume should be 20–30% of the cylinder
Manage consent
capacity (Nielsson, 1987). The recycle ratios (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-

terminology/#Recycle) for drum granulation are generally between 1:3 and 1:6. Optimisation of these
plant parameters for each product class is done by trial and error.
The drum granules are more rounded but less dense than the pug-mill granules. Drums 4.5 m in
diameter and 16 m long are in use in the fertiliser industry.
TVA ammoniator-granulator
An important modification of drum granulation is the Tennessee Valley Authority
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/short-history-of-granulation/#TVA) (TVA) ammoniator –
granulator (Figure 2).
This is a drum roughly equal in length and diameter, with ring dams at the ends but no lifting flights.
Ammonia reacts with phosphoric and sulphuric acids below the surface of the tumbling bed of fresh
feed and recycle. The reaction generates heat, which vaporises the water at the same time that
granulation takes place. The heat is removed by injected air. The ammonia and the acids are supplied to
the bed through perforated distribution pipes mounted parallel to the drum axis. The requisite bed
depth is maintained by the ring dam at the drum discharge end.
In a modern process, a mixture of phosphoric

(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/phosphori
c-acid-production-introduction/) and sulphuric acids
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/the-di-
hydrate-process/#sulf) and ammonia
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/ammonia-
introduction/) is neutralised in a pipe-cross reactor
situated upstream of the granulating drum (Figure 3).
The slurry is then fed to the drum along with recycle. While additional phosphoric acid is sprayed onto
the tumbling bed, ammonia is fed into the bed for further neutralization. In this way, also NPK fertilisers
can be produced (Anon, 1976).
In a specific variation, in the SA CROS process for monoammonium phosphate production, phosphoric
acid and ammonia are mixed and reacted in a pipe reactor (Anon, 1977); the obtained slurry is
distributed over the tumbling bed together with the steam generated; no subsequent ammoniation
takes place in the bed (More, 1977). The use of the pipe reactor in combination with the granulating
drum for the manufacture of granular ammonium phosphates was introduced by TVA in 1973 (Anon,
1976) and was later incorporated in many plants (Anon, 1986b). A possible improvement to the drum
granulator is provided by the double-pipe granulator, which is especially well-suited to fertiliser
mixtures with a high proportion of recycle. For example, by virtue of the high recycle ratio with
corresponding residence times, an ammonium nitrate – ammonium phosphate mixture can be
granulated which yields hard particles.
Manage consent
Spherodizer
Another modification of the drum granulation process described above is the spray-drum process
(spherodiser, Figure 3). In a rotating drum, pre-neutralised slurry is sprayed onto a dense curtain of
granules cascading from baffles inside the drum. The water content of the slurry usually is in the range
of 12–18% to allow for good spray dispersion (Schmidt, 1972), depends on the quantity of additional
solids added, and is often determined by trial and error. During granulation, hot combustion gases flow
through the drum in co-current manner (Anon, 1987), so that drying takes place at the same time. The
dried particles will pass through the granulation loop over and over until they obtain the desired size
and are screened out. The grains grow in shell fashion with an onion structure and are very hard.
Spherodiser units are built in capacities of up to 650 t/d. A spherodizer drum can have a diameter of 4.5
m and a length of 12 m (Schmidt, 1972). The spherodiser, developed by C & I Girdler (More, 1977), was
first used on an industrial scale in 1959. The cold and hot versions of the spherodiser describe the
condition of the air that flows through the drum. The cold version is used with melt feeds, especially
ammonium nitrate and urea, while the hot version is for granulation and spraying with slurries (NPK
fertilisers, nitrophosphates and ammonium phosphate – nitrate, urea – ammonium phosphate) (Anon,
1975; Anon, 1985). Granulation and (partial) drying thus take place in the same device. Under optimal
service conditions, the recycle ratio (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-
terminology/#Recycle) is approximately 1 : 1. In many plants, however, an additional drier is installed.
In summary granulation is achieved through proper proportioning and controlled mixing of the liquid
phase with dry material. Capillary action and surface tension hold the particles together in agglomerates
when mechanical tumbling in the rotating cylinder brings them into contact. Continued mechanical
contact strengthens the bond and forms the agglomerate into a more spherical configuration. The liquid
phase, which is significantly affected by temperature, must be controlled by the operator to attain
optimum granulation. The formulator must choose his raw materials very carefully, to provide the best
combination of soluble salts to achieve strongly bonded granules (de la Vega, 2001).
Pan granulator
Dry recycled material is fed at a controlled rate to the inclined rotating pan granulator; in the granulator
a hot melt, which is virtually moisture free, is sprayed onto the moving bed of solids and solidifies on
the cool particles. Round granules are formed by agglomeration
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-terminology/#Agg), and, as their size increases,
they move upwards in the rotating pan, finally rolling over the rim. For a given pan size, if the inclination
of the pan axis to the horizontal is increased, the granules roll upward less steeply but have a longer
residence time in the pan. The granulation nuclei and the small granules initially move in the vicinity of
the pan bottom. During granulation, the rotation of the pan and the force of gravity cause them to
follow a spiral path. The tumbling motion of granules during agglomeration can also take place on a
rotating inclined pan (Figure 4, lower).
Manage consent
Melts or slurries
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-
terminology/#Slur) are often sprayed onto the bed, but
water or solutions can also be used as granulation aids, and
steam can be injected into the bed. Experience has shown
that, the finer the solids, the more finely the spray liquid
must be dispersed, for granulation (Klatt, 1958). Because the
overflow product has a rather uniform grain size,
downstream classification can often be dispensed with. By
means of an advancing and retreating scraper blade, the pan
bottom can be kept fairly clean and the formation of crusts
can be avoided. Here, as in the drum, some material coating
of the pan prevents wear and promotes the correct tumbling
action (Perry, 1973). The pan can also be made in the shape
of a truncated cone, or can have a tumbling ring at its
periphery, onto which the granules fall from the pan rim. Coating agents
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/anti-caking-and-coating-agents/) can be applied. Pan
granulators are manufactured with diameters of up to 7.5 m (Anon, 1985). Typically, the height of the
rim is one-fifth of the diameter.
The granulation temperature is controlled by the rate at which solids are fed to the pan. An optimum
temperature range for agglomeration, within which a high growth rate of the particles is obtained, is 5 –
25 °C below the temperature at which the fertiliser melt solidifies. The recycle ratio
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-terminology/#Recycle) under these conditions is
about 0.5 -0.7 : 1 in case of ammonium nitrate (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/ammonium-ni-
trate-properties/). Granules leaving the pan are plastic and have a somewhat irregular surface. They
enter a polishing drum where they are exposed to mild mechanical forces and smoothed. A certain
amount of cooling also occurs. Cooling to the desired product temperature is then performed in normal
cooling equipment, such as a fluidised bed (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/fluidised-bed-and-
drum-granulation/#fluidised-bed-granulation) or a rotary drum
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/fluidised-bed-and-drum-granulation/#fluidised-drum-granu-
lation). Depending on the climatic conditions at the plant site and the desired product temperature, the
cooling air may be conditioned. Cooled granules are conveyed to a screen. Oversize material from the
screen is fed to a crusher and the crushed material, undersize granules, and dust from the cyclones, are
recycled to the pan.
Because of the high melt concentration and temperature, a ‘blue fume’ of submicron ammonium nitrate
– similar to the fume during prilling of high-density ammonium nitrate – has to be recovered for
treatment. However, the air flow from the pan and polishing drum is relatively small. A wet scrubber
may be used for recovery; this is not usually practical in a prilling process
(https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/prilling-drop-formation/) with a high rate of air flow from the
top of the prilling tower. The air from the product cooler is treated in wet or dry cyclones.
Manage consent
For the production of granular triple superphosphate (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/triple-

superphosphate-tsp/), phosphoric acid (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/phosphoric-acid-pro-
duction-introduction/) is added to digest finely milled crude phosphate in a granulator – mixer; this step
yields a moist, crumbly product, which is directly processed in a subsequent pan to the required pellet
size with the injection of steam and the addition of hot phosphoric acid (Molerus, 1981; Ries, 1970).
Granulators, pug mills, drums and pans, usually require subsequent drying of the granules by means of,
for example, rotary driers or fluidized beds. Often granulation continues in the co-current driers due to
an increase in temperature while the water has not yet evaporated (Leger, 1953, Mutsers, 1983).
References
Anon, (1970a). New Developments in Fertiliser Technology, 8th Demonstration, Tennessee Valley
Authority, Muscle Shoals, Ala., pp. 41–47.
Anon, (1975). Phosphorus Potassium, no. 76, 48–54.
Anon, (1976). New Developments in Fertiliser Technology, 11th Demonstration, Tennessee Valley
Authority, Muscle Shoals, Ala., pp. 33–35.
Anon, (1977). ‘The Cross Fertiliser Granulation Process’, Phosphorus Potassium, no. 87, 33–36.
Anon, (1986). Phosphorus Potassium, no. 144, 27–33.
Anon, (1987). Nitrogen, no. 166, 39.
Anon, (1995a). Best Available Techniques for Pollution Prevention and Control in the European Fertiliser
Industry, Booklet No 7 of 8; Production of NPK Fertilisers by the Nitrophosphate route, EFMA.
Anon, (1995b). Best Available Techniques for Pollution Prevention and Control in the European Fertiliser
Industry, Booklet No 8 of 8; Production of NPK Fertilisers by the Mixed acid route, EFMA.
de la Vega, J.R.L. (2001). ‘Fundamentals of Granulation’. Prepared by IFDC, Advanced Fertiliser

Production Technology Workshop, Corsendonk, Turnhout, Belgium, October 15-19.
Hawksley, J.L. (1971). ‘Some Advances in Compound Fertiliser Process Technology,’ Chem. Eng. (London)
October, P.P. 364-369.
Heinze, G. (1986). ‘Pelletizing of carbon black,’ Chem. Tech. Heidelberg 15, no. 6, 16, 18, 21.
Klatt, H. (1958). Zem. Kalk Gips 11, no. 4, 144–154.
Lee, R.G., Norton, M.M. and Graham, H.G. (1974). Proc. Annu. Meet. Fert. Ind. Round Table, 24th, 79.
Manage consent
Leger, E.J. (1953). ‘Study of Granulation by Means of a Rotating Drier with Practical Application to the
Designing of an Apparatus and Production Control,’ ISMA Technical Conference, Cambridge, United
Kingdom, 15-17 September.
Milborne, R.J. and Philip, D.W. (1986). ‘Adapting a Pipe Reactor to a Blunger for NPK Production,’
Proceedings, International Fertiliser Society, 244.
Molerus, O. (1981). ‘3rd International Symposium on Agglomeration’, Part. Tech., Nürnberg, G2- G15.
Molerus, O. (1981). ‘3rd International Symposium on Agglomeration,’ Partikel Technologie Nürnberg, F2-
F15.
More, A.J. (ed.) (1977). Granular Fertilisers and Their Production, The British Sulphur Corp., London.
Nielsson, F.T. (1987). Manual of Fertiliser Processing, vol. 5 of the Fertiliser Science and Technology
Series, 1987.
Perry, R.H. and Chilton, C.H. (1973). Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, pp.
57–65.
Polo, J. (2001a). ‘Formulation of Compound Granular Fertilisers,’ IFDC, Advanced Fertiliser Production
Technology Workshop, Corsendonk, Turnhout, Belgium, October 15-19.
Polo, J. (2001b). ‘Temperature Control During Agglomeration-Type Granulation,’ IFDC, Advanced Fertiliser
Production Technology Workshop, Corsendonk, Turnhout, Belgium October 15-19.
Ries, H.B. (1970). ‘Apparatus and process for granulation,’ Aufbereit., Tech. 11, 262–280.
Schmidt, A. (1972). Chemie und Technologie der Düngemittelherstellung, Hüthig-Verlag, Heidelberg.
Skauli, O. and Lie, O.H. (1979). ‘The Pan Granulation Process,’ Proceedings, International Fertiliser Society,
186.
Stokka, P. (1988). ‘Recent Developments in the Pan Granulation Process,’ IFA Technical Conference,
Edmonton, Canada, 12-15 September.
Links to related IFS Proceedings and presentation recordings

215, (1983), Computer Simulation of Fertiliser Granulation Plants (https://fertiliser-
society.org/store/computer-simulation-of-fertiliser-granulation-plants/) , S M P Mutsers, H J M Slangen, H.J.
Rutten, I K Watson .
Manage consent
235, (1985), Fluid Bed Granulation of Ammonium Nitrate and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (https://fertiliser-
society.org/store/fluid-bed-granulation-of-ammonium-nitrate-and-calcium-ammonium-nitrate/), J P
Bruynseels.
415, (1998), Fluid Drum Granulation for Ammonium Nitrate (https://fertiliser-society.org/store/fluid-drum-

granulation-for-ammonium-nitrate/),
L Dall’Aglio.
451, (2000), Design of Rotary Driers and their Application in the Fertiliser Industry (https://fertiliser-
society.org/store/design-of-rotary-driers-and-their-application-in-the-fertiliser-industry/), I C Kemp, R J
Milborne.
767, (2015), Update on Fluidised Drum Granulation Technology and its Applicability for Different Fertilisers
(https://fertiliser-society.org/store/update-on-fluidised-drum-granulation-technology-and-its-applicability-for-
different-fertilisers/), S Valkov.
Recording of ‘Update on Fluidised Drum Granulation Technology and its Applicability for Different Fertilisers
(https://vimeo.com/134630836?width=1080)‘, (2015), S Valkov (Required password is 2015Tech05)
782, (2016), Granulation Technology with Flexibility to produce a Range of Specialist Products
(https://fertiliser-society.org/store/granulation-technology-with-flexibility-to-produce-a-range-of-specialist-
products/), N. Kargaeva.
Recording of ‘ Granulation Technology with Flexibility to produce a Range of Specialist Products

(https://vimeo.com/173897559?width=1080)‘, (2016), N. Kargaeva (Required password is 2016Tech04)
820, (2018), Fluidised bed granulation of ammonium sulphate – a new process (https://fertiliser-
society.org/store/fluidised-bed-granulation-of-ammonium-sulphate-a-new-process/), C. Renk, P. Banik.
Links to external resources

Bowness, M.W. and Ivell, D.M. (2002). ‘Granulation Plant Revamps – Methodology and Design Options,’
IFA Technical Conference, Chennai, India, 24-27 September.
Chinal, P., Debayeux, C., Lacroix, H. and Peudpiece, J.B. (1986). ‘Process to Produce Large Granules of
Ammonium Nitrate from Prills,’ IFA Technical Conference, Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia, 28-30 October.
Davis, Ch., Meline, R.S. and Graham, H.G. (1968). ‘TVA mixed acid nitric phosphate process,’ Chem. Eng.
Prog. 64, no. 5, 75–82. (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rbXrLyqtSNEC&pg=RA4-PA42&lpg=RA4-
PA42&dq=Davis,+Ch.,+Meline,+R.S.+and+Graham,+H.G.+
(1968).+%E2%80%98TVA+mixed+acid+nitric+phosphate+process,%E2%80%99+Chem.+Eng.+Prog.+64,+n
o.+5,+75%E2%80%9382.&source=bl&ots=SxeVuuX5ME&sig=ACfU3U1GfuNOQ3Asa6CVdA1hmjPwBBv2RA
&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbpenI3O7nAhVPZcAKHZGoCAsQ6AEwAHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Davis
Manage consent
%2C%20Ch.%2C%20Meline%2C%20R.S.%20and%20Graham%2C%20H.G.%20(1968).%20%E2%80%98TVA
%20mixed%20acid%20nitric%20phosphate%20process%2C%E2%80%99%20Chem.%20Eng.%20Prog.%20
64%2C%20no.%205%2C%2075%E2%80%9382.&f=false)
Eimers, J. (1981). ‘Granuliertechniken bei der Düngemittelherstellung,’ paper presented at the congress
AGRICHEM 81, Bratislava.
Formisani, C. (2006). ‘Modern Regional Granulation in Eastern Europe,’ IFA Technical Symposium on
Innovation and Core Technologies for Sustainable Growth: Technical Developments in Fertiliser
Production for Greater Efficiency and Environmental Stewardship, Vilnius, Lithuania, 25-28 April.
Franzrahe, H. and Niehus, P. (2002). ‘Pugmill Granulation: A State of the Art Process for CAN and Other
Ammonium Nitrate Based Fertilisers,’ IFA Technical Conference, Chennai, India, 24-27 September.
Hawksley, J.L. (1971). ‘Some Advances in Compound Fertiliser Process Technology,’ Chem. Eng. (London)
October, P.P. 364-369.
Hicks, G.C., McCamy, I.W., Parker, B.R. and Norton, M.M. (1978). ‘Basis for Selection of Granulators at
TVA,’ paper presented at the Proc. Annu. Meet. Fert. Ind. Round Table, 28th.
Hignett, T.P., (ed.) (1985). Fertiliser Manual, Martinus Nijhoff/Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, The
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2. Rotation of the whole device, such as drum or pan.

3. Movement of particles by a third phase, as by blown air in a fluid-bed granulator. In slurry

a single apparatus, for example in a so-called Spherodizer (Polo, 2001).

In order to improve granulation conditions or granule qualities, binding agents

Pug mill (Blunger)

trough, the paddles move, knead, and transport the

An inclination of up to 10º from the horizontal

Drums in which the lengthwise axis is inclined

capacity (Nielsson, 1987). The recycle ratios (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/granulation-

In a modern process, a mixture of phosphoric

For the production of granular triple superphosphate (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/triple-

Anon, (1975). Phosphorus Potassium, no. 76, 48–54.

Anon, (1986). Phosphorus Potassium, no. 144, 27–33.

Anon, (1987). Nitrogen, no. 166, 39.

de la Vega, J.R.L. (2001). ‘Fundamentals of Granulation’. Prepared by IFDC, Advanced Fertiliser

Klatt, H. (1958). Zem. Kalk Gips 11, no. 4, 144–154.

Schmidt, A. (1972). Chemie und Technologie der Düngemittelherstellung, Hüthig-Verlag, Heidelberg.

Links to related IFS Proceedings and presentation recordings

415, (1998), Fluid Drum Granulation for Ammonium Nitrate (https://fertiliser-society.org/store/fluid-drum-

Recording of ‘ Granulation Technology with Flexibility to produce a Range of Specialist Products

Links to external resources

Spain, 23-28 September.

Vuorinen, P. (1985). ‘Modernisation of NPK plants,’ Chemtec+Ort.

Need more information?

Obtain more information

 Granulation – introduction  Short History of Granulation

 Granulation terminology  The two main granulation processes

 Physical and chemical parameters for the granulation of agglomerated NPKs

Fluidised bed and drum granulation (https://fertechinform.org/knowledgebase/fluidised-

is a TradeMark of the International Fertiliser Society

Terms Of Use (Https://Fertechinform.Org/Fertechinform-Liabilities-Disclaimer-Statements/)

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© International Fertiliser Society (https://fertiliser-society.org/) 2022. All Rights Reserved.

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