Slow-release urea fertilizer from sulfur,gypsum, and starch-coated formulations |
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| Authors: | Ayaz Mehmood Arshad Hussain Bilal Beig Zaib Jahan Nida Zafar |
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| Institution: | Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan |
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| Abstract: | To address nitrogen (N)-related environmental pollution, development of an economical, slow-release urea fertilizer is the need of the hour. A study was conducted on the reduction of nitrogen released from granular urea fertilizer by applying sulfur, gypsum, bentonite, and starch as coating material. Paraffin wax was used as a binder. The dissolution rates were studied by changing the composition of coating mixture using high-performance liquid chromatography. SEM was used to study the morphology of coated urea in terms of smoothness and uniformity. The ultraviolet spectroscopy analysis further authenticated the release behavior of coated urea in terms of nitrogen concentration. Coating material reduced the release rate of nitrogen from urea fertilizer, significantly. Mixture of sulfur and gypsum coating on urea gave slowest release rate of nitrogen from urea fertilizer, i.e., 37%, as compared to uncoated urea and thus seems to be the most promising binding material for product development. |
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| Keywords: | coated urea dissolution rate slow-release fertilizer sulfur coating |
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