Humic-Coated Urea Granules Prevent Dusting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fertilizer technologies face challenges with dusting issues, breakage of hygroscopic urea particles, and the need for improved manufacturing processes for humate-coated granules, as well as the use of physical barriers that disrupt soil biology in controlled-release fertilizers.
Innovation Solution
A water-dispersible granule formulation combining soluble fertilizer particles with humic particles, where the particles adhere without a binder, forming a fused structure that promotes soil biology and reduces dusting, using a process that includes co-melting and pan agglomeration to create granules with a humic-rich coating on a urea core.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If crystallized urea particles are used alone, then nitrogen fertilizer application is simple, but the particles are hygroscopic and prone to breakage with dusting occurring
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines urea particles with humate particles to form composite granules. The humate coating (0.1-10% by weight) binds the hygroscopic urea particles together, reducing breakage and dusting while maintaining nitrogen fertilization benefits. This composite structure resolves the contradiction by preserving application simplicity while eliminating dusting losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The humate particles form a thin film coating around the urea core particles. This flexible coating layer protects the underlying urea from direct exposure to moisture and mechanical stress, preventing hygroscopic damage and particle breakage that lead to dusting, while allowing nitrogen to remain accessible for plant uptake.
2Reliability
If fulvic acid and humic acid are used in powdered form, then soil biology improvement is achieved, but dusting occurs making powdered delivery problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges fulvic acid and humic acid into a single granular formulation with fertilizer particles. By combining these beneficial soil biology agents with urea in a granular format rather than separate powdered forms, the invention eliminates dusting issues while maintaining the reliability of soil biology improvement benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical state parameter from powdered to granular form. This parameter change eliminates the dusting characteristic of powdered fulvic and humic acids while preserving their biological benefits, making delivery reliable through standard granular application equipment.
3Duration of action of moving object
If controlled-release fertilizers use physical coatings such as polymers and sulfur, then nitrogen release is improved, but the coatings act as a physical barrier disrupting soil biology
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the coating material from synthetic polymers and sulfur to natural humate substances. This parameter change allows nitrogen release control to be achieved through the chemical properties of humates (cation exchange capacity, chelation) rather than physical barriers, thereby maintaining soil biology health while providing enhanced efficiency nitrogen release.
Solution Approach 2:
The humate coating is biodegradable and breaks down naturally in soil, unlike persistent polymer coatings. This allows the coating to perform its nitrogen release control function temporarily, then decompose to benefit soil biology, effectively replacing long-lasting synthetic barriers with short-lived natural materials that serve both fertilization and soil health goals.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The granules provide improved handling properties, enhanced nutrient efficiency, and soil health by preventing dusting and acting synergistically with the fertilizer to promote soil microbiology, while maintaining nitrogen release without physical barriers, and are suitable for both spray and dry applications.
Implementation Method 1
at least one soluble fertilizer particles and plurality of humic particles adhered together to form granules without a binder
Implementation Method 2
A water-dispersible granule formulation combining soluble fertilizer particles with humic particles
Data Source
AI summary
A combined fertilizer and humics soluble granule is provided that includes at least soluble fertilizer particles admixed with a plurality of humic particles without a binder. A combined fertilizer and humics soluble granule is also provided that includes at least one soluble fertilizer-rich domain fused to at least one humic-rich domain. A process of forming a combined fertilizer and humics soluble granule is provided that includes forming a mixture of particles of soluble fertilizer and humics, the particles of urea each having a urea particle surface. The soluble fertilizer particle surface is tackified in contact with the particles of humics to create adherence between the soluble fertilizer particle surface and the particle of humics to form a granule without resort to a binder.