What Are Fertilizers

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Fertilizer industry is one of the most important industries. To study that what are fertilizers, the basics of chemical engineering are required. Types of fertilizer depend on the thorough study of the nature of the soil, and the type of the plants. So first, it is important to review the plants physiology and needs then we can move on to what are fertilizers.

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Plants have the natural ability to convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and inorganic components of the earth directly into the fats, proteins and high energy carbohydrates. So the plants are the essential elements for the nutrition and growth of humans as well as the animals too. For a plant to grow properly, it needs sun light, air, water and minerals. As discussed above, the plant takes these minerals from the earth, but some times the soil has the deficiency of the certain minerals so these minerals are added manually, and are named as fertilizers. So,

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“The fertilizers are the minerals [nutrients], which are added to soil to improve its fertility”.

Some decades before, the agriculture was totally based on the empirically developed agricultural practices. But now, the plant physiology, and its nutrition involves a general process engineering knowledge, as scientific study leads a chemical engineer to required fertilization or photosynthesis level.

The plant needs approximately 22 different chemical elements for proper growth. The three primary nutrients of fertilizers are nitrogen [N – helps in the growth of plants], phosphorous [P – encourages blooming, rooting and fruit production], or potassium [K – resists plant diseases and resist in winter hardness, the 3 secondary nutrients are Magnesium (Mg) , Calcium (Ca) and Sulfur (S), while the 3 essential elements are Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H) and Oxygen (O). Plants obtain these elements from carbon dioxide (CO_2) and water (H_2O).

Types Of Fertilizers

The types of fertilizer are:

1) Organic/natural fertilizers

These fertilizers are derived from the organic / naturally occurring sources. The human or animal wastes, slurry [needs to be metal free], bones, fish meal, blood and similar substances are the main content of the fertilizer. Normally these types of nutrients are not chemically treated. The mineral content of these fertilizers is comparatively lower than the synthetic one, but has the benefit of being natural, increase biological and physical nutrient storage of the soil; increases soil moisture content, and also mitigate the risk of over fertilization.

2) Synthetic fertilizer

These fertilizers are composed of synthetic minerals or chemicals, so these are also named as synthetic fertilizer or inorganic fertilizers. As all the minerals used for the production of these fertilizers are synthetic, so we use several other processes to prepare the raw materials. A process engineer normally recommends using the Haber-Bosch process for the production of synthetic ammonia. This synthetic ammonia is generally used in other nitrogen fertilizers like urea or anhydrous ammonium nitrate. These synthetic fertilizers are generally used to treat maze, barley, soy, sunflower fields. Also the studies show that nitrogen fertilizers can increase the bio mass of these crops, along with the beneficial effect on the nitrogen level of the soil. Unlike the organic fertilizers, they don’t take too much time for the growth of the plant, but synthetic fertilizer provides the appropriate actions for plant growth in required time frame.

Forms Of Fertilizers:

Mostly, fertilizers are used in the granular [powder] form, however liquid fertilizers are also widely produced and used.

Environmental Concerns Of Fertilizers

There are several environmental concerns with the poor handling of fertilizers. The general environmental problems are

Eutrophication – i.e. Phosphorous is contaminated on the soil, is bound to soil particles and can not be washed out. It indirectly stimulates the growth of algae. These types of algae die, decompose and remove oxygen from the water causing harm to water life.

Contamination of water with phosphates and nitrates. The general process engineering practice describes that the higher level of nitrates in drinking water is hazardous for human health.

Nitrogen remaining in the soil is converted into nitrates by bacteria. These nitrates can be washed out from the surface into river streams, or can be leached into the ground water.

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