Experiences with Compacting Fertilisers

Keywords: Compaction, Granulation, Fertilisers.

The experience of the compaction process in Kemira Agro Oy has been rather mixed. With the help of informative and realistic marketing good results can be obtained. The physical quality of compacted products is always poorer than that of wet granulated products; the importance of the difference depends on the use of the products.

The investment cost of the compaction process is lower than for the wet granulation process, but the difference is not as big as could be expected if all the costs are calculated. Raw material costs are generally higher in the compaction process but operation costs are smaller, especially concerning production personnel. It cannot be said which process is the most economic as it depends on the case. One fact is that the selling price of equal compacted product is lower than that of wet granulated product and that that difference can have big significance in the final profitability.

Compaction has some advantages over wet granulation. The process is more flexible both regarding the different formulas and way of operation. It can also be said that the compaction process itself is environmentally friendly.

T Koivumäki, T Heiska and I Tähtinen, Kemira Agro Oy, Helsinki, Finland.

23 pages, 3 figures, 7 tables, 4 refs.