【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】1690–2012: China’s first online urea monitoring device put into use

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The Institute of Technical Biology developed China’s first online monitoring device for urea product quality. Happy May Day 2024 – safety first! Let’s give praise and support to the achievements in China’s chemical industry equipment sector. **********************[A Decade of Progress in Chemical Industry Equipment] Continuous updates and summaries are available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum) ***************** On November 18, 2012, the scientific and technological achievement transformation project carried out by the Institute of Technical Biology of Hefei Research Institute and Henan Xinchuanxin Fertilizer Co., Ltd. was approved by experts, marking the successful development and practical application of China’s first online monitoring device for urea product quality. 　　The structure of fertilizer products in our country is dominated by nitrogen fertilizers, which account for 60% of the total fertilizer volume. Of these nitrogen fertilizers, more than 60% is urea, and the quality of urea has a significant impact on agricultural production. However, during the production of urea products, high temperatures cause the formation of biuret. When the concentration of biuret is high, it can have an inhibitory effect on crops. Moreover, since urea is soluble in water and tends to absorb moisture and form clumps, the levels of urea, biuret, and moisture are the most important quality indicators for urea products. Traditional testing methods are complex to operate, time-consuming, costly in terms of chemical reagents, and not environmentally friendly; therefore, it is important to develop rapid testing methods for urea product quality. 　　With the support of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ technology transfer projects in Henan Province, researchers have developed devices for on-line monitoring of urea, biuret, and moisture content – key parameters related to urea quality – in urea production lines. This was achieved on the basis of models for quantitatively analyzing these components using near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIR) technology. Through debugging and improvements, the effects of excessive vibration in industrial environments and fast movement of fertilizers on measurement accuracy were overcome. On-site tests showed that the device operates stably, offers high detection accuracy, and has good repeatability, achieving the goal of online quality monitoring for urea products. 　　Henan Xinlianxin Fertilizer Co., Ltd. is one of the largest urea producers in China, with an annual urea production capacity of 2.15 million tons. Its urea features low production costs, high quality, and good profitability. The company was successfully listed in Singapore and ** in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Xinlianxin Company attaches great importance to the quality control of urea products, and the successful development of the NIR online rapid testing device for urea quality provides a reliable guarantee for the company to enhance product quality. The two parties agreed to develop one set of online quality control procedures and one set of standards for all of the company’s urea production lines, on the basis of optimizing the performance of the equipment, thereby laying a foundation for their application and adoption by other similar companies.