You are on page 1of 8

Moisture pick-up of fertilizers during storage

Mechanisms & Consequences


PS Session BULA,
Cartagena – November 9th,2016
Jan Chys

Disclaimer :
"The information contained in this document is given in good faith by Yara International ASA. Yara International
ASA nor any of its affiliated companies accept any liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in such information or
arising in connection with the use of that information in any specific circumstances."
Moisture pick-up of fertilizers during storage

• Fact: uncovered storage of fertilizers will lead to moisture pick-up in the


upper layer of the product.
• Moisture uptake is mainly driven by following two mechanisms:
• Hygroscopicity of the product: product will pick up moisture from the ambient air
at any time when the relative humidity of the air is exceeding the critical relative
humidity of the fertilizer.
• Condensation: during a day/night cycle, ambient air in the warehouse can be
cooled down below it’s dew point. Condensation water will be formed and will
enter the surface layer of the fertilizer heap.

• In the next slides; calculation examples are based on a warehouse with


following dimensions:
• Exposed surface: 1000 m2
• Storage capacity: 5000 mt
• Storage height: 5m
• Free space (volume of air above the stored product): 5000 m3

LV 16/09/2014
Moisture uptake due to
condensation
10.5 g/kg 19.5 g/kg

Air at 30 C / 72% RH contains


19,5 grams of H2O / kg air

Cooling during night until 15 C

Saturated air at 15 C contains


10,5 grams of H2O / kg air

Results in condensation of
9 grams of H2O / kg air

For a warehouse with a free


(air) capacity of 5000 m3 this
will generate 5000/0.8 X 9
grams= 56 kg of water per
day/night cycle

LV 16/09/2014
Moisture uptake: calculated quantity per day

Considering the assumed warehouse dimensions and storage


capacity:

• Moisture uptake due to condensation water after one day/night cycle as


to calculation in previous slide: 56 liter.

• Moisture uptake due to hygroscopicity of the product:


– Coated CAN or AN will pick up approximately 170 grams per m2/day under
described atmospheric conditions
– For the total surface this counts for 170 liter.

• In total: 56+170 = 226 liter of water absorbed in the top layer per day.

• Calculated increase of moisture content in the upper 1 cm layer: 2,3%!

LV 16/09/2014
Moisture uptake: calculated losses

• Assume:
– Warehouse is ventilated; meaning free air capacity is displaced with fresh air.
– Moisture is migrating gradually into the heap at 1 cm per day.

• Situation after 14 days of exposure:


– More than 3000 liter of water will be absorbed in the top layer
– About 140 mt of product is affected ( 2,8% of the total volume) and separation will
be needed.
– Take also into account: costs for separation / sieving / disposal of off-specs
– Fertilizers with high AN-content: consider also the safety issue! (necessity for
rendering safe AN off-specs)

LV 16/09/2014
Moisture effect (when uncovered)

Fresh product

After a few hours

After a few days

LV 16/09/2014
Moisture effect (when uncovered for a longer period)

Example of uncovered storage of


NPK for several weeks; continuous
ventilation, open doors.

Damaged product up to 60 cm
deep!

LV 16/09/2014
Any questions ?

Thanks for your attention

You might also like