Urea
Appearance: White granular structure
Chemical Formula: (NH2)2CO -- CH4N2O
Packaging Type: 50 Kg bags
Areas of Use:
Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with the chemical formula CO(NH2)2. This amide has two -NH2 groups joined by a carbonyl (C=O) functional group.
Urea plays an important role in the metabolism of nitrogen-containing compounds and is the main nitrogen-containing substance in mammalian urine. It is a colorless, odorless solid, highly soluble in water and practically non-toxic. Dissolved in water, it is neither acidic nor alkaline. The body uses it in many processes, most notably in the excretion of nitrogen. The liver forms it by combining two molecules of ammonia (NH3) with one molecule of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the urea cycle. Urea is widely used in fertilizers as a source of nitrogen and is an important raw material for the chemical industry.
Urea can be produced in a major conceptual milestone in chemistry. It is the first known time that a substance can be synthesized in a laboratory without biological starting material, contradicting the widely held doctrine of vitality, as a byproduct of life.
Areas of Use
- Urea is the raw material for producing two main classes of materials: urea-formaldehyde resins and urea-melamine-formaldehyde, which is used in marine plywood.
- Urea can be used to create urea nitrate, a high explosive used industrially and as part of some improvised explosive devices. It is a stabilizer in nitrocellulose explosives.
- More than 90% of the world's industrial urea production is sent for use as nitrogen-releasing fertilizers.
- Urea has the highest nitrogen content of commonly used nitrogenous fertilizers. Therefore, it has the lowest transportation cost per unit of nitrogenous nutrient.
- Due to the high nitrogen concentration in urea, it is very important to ensure even distribution. Application equipment must be properly calibrated and used correctly.
- Drilling should not occur in contact with or near the seed due to the risk of germination damage.
- Urea is dissolved in water as a spray or through irrigation systems.
- In cereal and cotton crops, urea is often applied during the final cropping before planting. In high rainfall areas and sandy soils (where nitrogen can be lost through leaching) and when good rain is expected, urea may be side-dressed or top-dressed throughout the growing season. Top-dressing is also popular for pasture and forage crops. In sugar cane cultivation, urea is side-dressed after planting and applied to each tahini plant.
- In irrigated plants, urea can be applied dry to the soil or dissolved and applied through irrigation water. Urea dissolves in water by its own weight, but becomes increasingly difficult to dissolve as the concentration increases. If urea is dissolved in water, it is endothermic; the solution temperature decreases as the urea dissolves.