Report On Urea Production Plant - IFFCO Kalol

Siddamalla Harshavardhan
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur

June 10, 2024

Aknowledgement

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperation,

Kalol for providing me with the opportunity to undertake this training program. Special
thanks to Mechanical Department for their support and resources.

I am deeply thankful to my supervisor, Mr. Rakesh Kumar Singh, Joint General Man-
ager, whose guidance, encouragement, and valuable insights greatly enhanced my learning
experience. I would also like to thank Mr. Akhilesh Kumar Maurya, Senior Manager,
Mr. Uday Gogulapati, Deputy Manager, Mr. Mayank Kumar, Manager, for their
expertise and assistance throughout my training.

I am profoundly grateful to Mr. Amarkant Choudhary, Joint General Manager, whose

support and facilitation made this training possible. Your belief in my potential and your
efforts in arranging this opportunity are deeply appreciated.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Mr.Yashvant Mistry, Chief Manager Train-
ing, for his initial guidance and support. Your direction set a strong foundation for my
learning experience.

Special thanks to Mr. Alok Mittal, Deputy General Manager Instruments, for taking
the time to share their knowledge and insights with me. It was a privilege to have meaning-
ful discussions with you.

A special thank you goes to my academic advisor, Dr. Bijan Kumar Mandal, from
Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, for his continuous support
and for facilitating this training opportunity.

I would also like to express my appreciation to my family and friends for their unwaver-
ing support and encouragement during this period.

Thank you all for your contributions and support.

Siddamalla Harshavardhan

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Contents

1.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Nitrogen Requirement for Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Role of Urea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Urea Production in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 IFFCO Kalol Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.0 Plant Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1 Ammonia Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Urea Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.0 Steam Turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1 Parts of Steam Turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 Working Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 Types of Steam Turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 Turbine Bearings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.5 Turbine Lubrication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.0 Prilling Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.1 Performance of Vibro Priller at Urea Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.0 Design Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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1.0.0 Introduction
This is the detailed report of my Summer Training at Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperation
Kalol. To start with the chemical components required for Urea is one of the most important
Fertilizers used in India nearly 35.7 million tonnes in the year 2022-23. Before diving into
Plant Specification, let us know the importance of urea in Agriculture in which 54.6% of
the population is engaged and in its allied activities (census 2011). Agricultural urea is a
nitrogen-based fertilizer widely used in modern agriculture to promote soil health and crop
yield.

1.1 Nitrogen Requirement for Plants

Nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for plant growth because it is necessary for the synthesis of
amino acids, proteins, and chlorophyll. Plants that don’t receive enough nitrogen can become
stunted, with yellowing leaves, and their overall yield may suffer.

1.2 Role of Urea

Urea supplies nitrogen to the soil, which is then absorbed by plant roots and used for growth
and development. When applied to the soil, urea is rapidly converted by soil bacteria into
ammonium, which plants can utilize. Urea helps regenerate nitrogen in soil that has been
depleted over time, thus improving soil fertility. Nitrogen is a vital component of chlorophyll,
the pigment that allows plants to perform photosynthesis. By supplying nitrogen, urea
enhances the plant’s ability to photosynthesize and produce energy.

1.3 Urea Production in India

As of 2017-18, India has achieved 76% self-sufficiency in the production capacity of Urea. As
a result, India could manage its substantial requirement of nitrogenous fertilizers through
the indigenous industry besides imports. Similarly, 56.5% indigenous capacity has been
developed with respect to phosphatic fertilizers to meet domestic requirements. However,
the raw materials and intermediates for the same are largely imported. For potash (K),
since there is no viable source/reserves in the country, its entire requirement is met through
imports. The sector-wise production of Urea, DAP and complex fertilizers are given in the
table below.

Table 1: Fig. Sector-wise production of Fertilizers in India1 (in : LMT)

S. No Sector 2017-18 2018-19 (Estimated)
Urea DAP Complex fertilizers Urea DAP Complex fertilizers
1 Public Sector 69.88 - 11.72 69.71 - 13.10
2 Cooperative Sector 63.64 17.87 23.50 64.00 19.84 20.62
3 Private Sector 106.72 25.78 44.44 108.80 30.52 56.66
Total 240.23 43.65 79.66 242.51 50.36 90.38

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1.4 IFFCO Kalol Unit
IFFCO Kalol unit operates 1100 MTPD ammonia plant based on steam reforming of natural
gas and 1650 MTPD urea plant based on CO2 stripping process. Presently, the natural gas
is used as feed and fuel for ammonia production. Power demand of Kalol Unit is being met
by power import from state electricity grid through two supply feeders. Desppite increase
in capacity of urea plant by 37.5% from 1200 MTPD to 1650 MTPD in 1997 under kalol
Expansion Project, no modification were envisaged in the original prilling tower and four
number of Induced Draft (ID) Fan installed at top of prilling Tower2 . During summer
months, when the ambient air temperature approaches about 45 ◦ C during peak hours of
the day, prilling tower operation was limiting at 100% plant load. This bottle neck had been
overcome by slightly modifying the blade angle of the ID fans at prilling tower.

2.0.0 Plant Overview

IFFCO Kalol Unit has two main portions, an Ammonia Plant and a Urea Plant.

2.1 Ammonia Plant

Ammonia is the second-largest global chemical products, utilized as agricultural fertilizer,
food production, industrial materials, refrigerants, and additives. Recently, the utilization
of ammonia as the energy carrier (secondary energy source) has attracted many interests,
due to its high volumetric hydrogen density, low storage pressure, high stability
for long-term storage, high auto-ignition temperature, low condensation pres-
sure, and lower gas density than air. in general, ammonia production includes the
currently adopted thermochemical (Haber–Bosch), electrochemical, and photochemical cy-
cle processes3 . The currently adopted ammonia production process basically employs the
system invented by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch about 100 years ago. Therefore, this sys-
tem is well known as Haber–Bosch process. About 85% of total production of ammonia
worldwide is produced by this process. The ammonia synthesis occurs according to reaction
(1).

3 H2 + N2 −
↽−
−⇀
− 2 NH3 ∆H = −46.35kJ/mol (1)

To effectively synthesize ammonia from its main components (hydrogen and nitrogen), the
reaction should be performed at a relatively high temperature and pressure of 400–500 °C
and 10–30 MPa, respectively, with the assistance of an iron-based catalyst. This condition
is demanded due to the high dissociation energy (941 kJ/mol) of triple-bonded nitrogen.
However, to bring the reaction under this high temperature and pressure, about 30 MJ/kg-
NH3 of energy is required 4 .
The production of ammonia from natural gas is conducted by reacting methane (natural gas)
with steam and air, coupled with the subsequent removal of water and CO2. The products
of this process are hydrogen and nitrogen, which are the feedstock for the main ammonia
synthesis. During the process, the removal of sulfur and other impurities is important,

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 Figure 1: Haber–Bosch process.3

because they can reduce and damage the catalyst’s performance during synthesis. In the
ammonia synthesis process, both nitrogen and hydrogen are compressed to relatively high
pressure to be fed to the synthesis reactor, where the catalyst is immersed inside. The
produced ammonia, together with the unreacted hydrogen, argon, and other impurities, is
then cooled down for ammonia condensation in order to separate the ammonia from the other
gases. The unreacted hydrogen and nitrogen are then recycled back and mixed together with
the new feedstock. To avoid a build-up of impurities, such as argon, a small part of the gases
is purged from the process. Ammonia synthesis produces a small amount of heat, which is
released from the reactor; therefore, it can be recovered and utilized for other processes, such
as steam.

2.2 Urea Plant

Urea is a vital nitrogen fertilizer that serves as the “food of food.” It plays a crucial role in
meeting the rising demand for food from an expanding population. The current method for
urea production uses the Bazarov reaction 5 , in which carbon dioxide (CO2) and ammonia
(NH3) are first converted to ammonium carbamate(2) which is then dehydrated to urea(3).

CO2 + 2 NH3 −−→ NH2 COONH4 (2)

NH2 COONH4 −−→ NH2 CONH2 + H2 O (3)

Reaction ?? is strongly exothermic that occurs in the urea synthesis tower, where rapid
removal of reaction heat is needed at a pressure high enough to liquefy ammonia and carbon
dioxide. Reaction ??, which occurs in the prilling tower, is slow and slightly endothermic,
and this reaction typically limits the yield of urea. Even at the severe conditions of 12.5–25.0
MPa at 170–220 ◦ C employed in a typical commercial operation, the single pass yield of urea
is low ≤ 10%, but the carbon intensity is high due to the high energy demand (≥ 24.8 GJ/t
urea)6 .

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3.0.0 Steam Turbine
Since the steam turbine is a rotary heat engine, it is particularly suited to drive an electrical
generator. Note that about 90% of all electricity generation in the world is by use of steam
turbines 7 . Steam turbine was invented in 1884 by Sir Charles Parsons, whose first model
was connected to a dynamo that generated 7.5 kW (10 hp) of electricity. The steam turbine
is a common feature of all modern and also future thermal power plants. Also, the power
production of fusion power plants is based on the use of conventional steam turbines

Figure 2: Construction of Steam Turbine.8

3.1 Parts of Steam Turbine

Steam Chest and the Casing
The steam chest connects to the high-pressure steam supply line while the low-pressure steam
exhaust line affixes to the casing. The steam chest positions between the casing houses the
governor valve and the overspeed trip valve. The nozzles inside the casing direct the flow of
steam onto the rotating buckets.

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Turbine Blades
Steam turbine blades are not exposed to such high temperatures, but they must withstand an
operation with two-phase fluid. High content of water droplets can cause rapid impingement
and erosion of the blades, which occurs when condensed water is blasted onto the blades.
For example, to prevent this, condensate drains are installed in the steam piping leading to
the turbine. Another challenge for engineers is the design of blades of the last stage of the
LP turbine. These blades must be (due to the high specific volume of steam) very long,
which induces enormous centrifugal forces during operation. Therefore, turbine blades are
subjected to stress from centrifugal force (turbine stages can rotate at tens of thousands of
revolutions per minute (RPM), but usually at 1800 RPM) and fluid forces that can cause a
fracture, yielding, or creep failures. Turbine blades are usually divided into three parts:
Root: The root is a constructional feature of turbine blades, which fixes the blade into the
turbine rotor. Profile:The profile converts the kinetic energy of steam into the mechanical
energy of the blade. Shroud:The shroud reduces the blade’s vibration, which the flowing
high-pressure steam can induce through the blades.

Rotor
The rotor consists of a bucket-equipped
shaft and disc sections. The shaft emerges
from the casing and through the bearing
cases. A driven pump connects to one end of
the shaft and the speed governor and over-
speed trip system are located on the opposite
end.

The Bearing Cases

The bearing cases support the rotor and the
assembly steam chest and steam chest. The
bearing cases contain journal bearings and
rotating oil seals. The oil seals keep oil inside
and water, dust, and steam out. The steam
end bearing case also includes the rotor po-
sitioning bearing and the rotating parts of
the overspeed trip system. The steam end- Figure 3: Turbine.
bearing case covers the moving parts.

Casing Sealing Glands

A seal exists between the casing and the
shaft provided by the casing sealing glands. For this, the system uses spring-backed, seg-
mented carbon rings. These rings are supplemented by adding a spring-backed labyrinth
section that makes the exhaust steam work better.

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Governor System
Governing of a steam turbine is the procedure of controlling the flow rate of steam to a
steam turbine to maintain the speed of the turbine fairly constant irrespective of load on
the turbine. The typical main turbine in nuclear power plants, in which steam expands
from pressures about 6 MPa to pressures about 0.008 MPa, operates at speeds about: The
primary objective in the steam turbine operation is to maintain a constant speed of rotation
irrespective of the varying load. This can be achieved using governing in a steam turbine.
The principal methods of governing which are used in steam turbines are:
Throttle governing:The main parts of a simple throttle governing system are the throttle-
stop valves and especially control valves between steam generators and the main turbine.
The primary aim of control valves is to reduce the steam flow rate. Incidental to reducing
the mass rate of flow, the steam experiences an increasing pressure drop across the control
valve, which is an isenthalpic process. Although throttling is an isenthalpic process, the
enthalpy drop available for work in the turbine is reduced because this causes an increase in
the vapor quality of outlet steam.
Nozzle governing:In the nozzle control governing, the steam supply from the main valve
is divided into two, three, or more lines. The flow rate of steam is regulated by the opening
and shutting of sets of nozzles rather than regulating its pressure.
Bypass governing:This is generally used for the overload valve, which passes the steam
directly into the latter stages of the steam turbine. During such operation, bypass valves
are opened, and live steam is introduced into the later stages of the turbine. This generates
more energy to satisfy the increased load.

Over-Speed Trip System

The governor takes control of the rotating system, swiftly sealing the trip aperture to inter-
rupt the flow of steam to the engine upon detecting an excessive speed. This arrangement
comprises of a turbine shaft collar featuring a pin or weight under spring tension, an expedi-
tious closure valve distinct from the governor valve, and an interconnecting linkage. As the
pin rotates within the turbine shaft, it generates a centrifugal force surpassing the spring’s
opposition at a specific velocity.

Labyrinth Seal
A labyrinth is a structure that is meant to keep fluid from going from a high-pressure zone
to a low-pressure zone by letting only a small amount of fluid leak out. Maintaining the
smallest possible clearance between the labyrinth and the shaft is important.

Nozzle Ring and Curtis Stage

Assembly of the nozzle ring and reversing blade in the steam end casing is a meticulous
process. The nozzle ring firmly secures to the lower section of the steam end casing through
bolts. The nozzle ring interfaces with what is called a Curtis stage. This Curtis stage provides
an essential part of the turbine’s design, especially in turbines with a significant drop in steam
pressure. A Curtis stage typically consists of one or two sets of highly specialized blades

8
that normally undergo a specialized heat-treating process to align the grains directionally.
After the blades, exists a set of stationary nozzles or guide vanes. The high-pressure steam
first passes through the stationary nozzles, where it expands rapidly, converting the thermal
energy of the steam into kinetic energy. This high-velocity steam then strikes the moving
blades, imparting momentum and thus rotating the turbine shaft. The reversing blade system
strategically lies inside the Curtis stage, housing two rows of blades. Acting as conduits,
the nozzles embedded in the nozzle ring propel the steam from the steam box to the initial
row of blades in the Curtis stage, held securely by the nozzle ring. Once the steam traverses
the first row of blades and progresses towards the subsequent blades, the reversing blades
help alter the flow direction. The entire unit stabilizes along its length by spacers, reducing
vibration and ensuring a smooth-running turbine.

Sentinel Valve
This part is at the top of the exhaust end of the turbine casing and acts as a warning
system. It activates when the pressure inside the turbine’s exhaust end casing becomes
too high. When the pressure inside the casing rises above a certain level and exceeds the
standard working pressure, the valve will release a small quantity of steam that can be seen
and heard.

Auxiliary Steam Valves

Auxiliary valves improve working efficiency when there are changes in load or steam condi-
tions. The valves are inside the steam tunnel, between the steam chest and the nozzle ring at
the lower end of the turbine casing’s steam end. The tube splits into three separate sections.
One section stays open all the time so that steam can keep going to a bank of nozzles in the
nozzle ring. The other two sections contain auxiliary hand valves to control steam flow to
two other banks of nozzles within the same nozzle ring.

Turning Gears
Large turbines come with gears that rotate to make it easier for the rotors to turn slowly
while they warm up and cool down. To keep the shaft or rotor straight and balanced, this
is done to ensure consistent temperature around its entire diameter.

Carbon Ring Seals

The structure is made up of pieces of a carbon ring that are held together by a spring. The
anti-rotation stops fit firmly into the notches in the bottom half of the interstage casing. In
addition, the carbon rings are used to successfully stop any rotation from happening.

Turbine Cylinders
Turbine cylinders have to withstand the pressure of the steam, so they need to be built
solidly with thick walls. Because they are exposed to high steam temperatures, thick-walled
components are not desirable. When temperature differences exist inside stiff parts, they

9
put a lot of stress on the material. These stresses can break down materials when added to
the mechanical stress that comes from pressure.

3.2 Working Principle

The thermal energy contained in the steam is converted to mechanical energy by expansion
through the turbine. The expansion takes place through a series of fixed blades (nozzles)
that orient the steam flow into high-speed jets. These jets contain significant kinetic energy,
which is converted into shaft rotation by the bucket-like shaped rotor blades as the steam
jet changes direction. In moving over the curved surface of the blade, the steam jet exerts
pressure on the blade owing to its centrifugal force. Each row of fixed nozzles and moving
blades is called a stage. The blades rotate on the turbine rotor, and the fixed blades are
concentrically arranged within the circular turbine casing. In all turbines, the rotating blade
velocity is proportional to the steam velocity passing over the blade. If the steam is expanded
only in a single stage from the boiler pressure to the exhaust pressure, its velocity must be
extremely high.

3.3 Types of Steam Turbine

Steam turbines may be classified into different categories depending on their construction,
working pressures, size, and other parameters. But there are two basic types of steam
turbines:
Impulse turbines
Reaction turbines
The main distinction is how the steam is expanded as it passes through the turbine.

7
Figure 4: Types of Steam Turbine.

Impulse Turbine
The impulse turbine is composed of moving blades alternating with fixed nozzles. The
steam is expanded in fixed nozzles in the impulse turbine and remains at constant pressure
when passing over the blades. Curtis turbine, Rateau turbine, or Brown-Curtis turbine are

10
impulse-type turbines. The original steam turbine, the De Laval, was an impulse turbine with
a single-blade wheel. The entire pressure drop of steam takes place in stationary nozzles only.
Though the theoretical impulse blades have zero pressure drop in the moving blades, practi-
cally, for the flow to take place across the moving blades, there must be a small pressure drop
across the moving blades also. The steam expands through the nozzle in impulse turbines,
where most of the pressure potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. The high-velocity
steam from fixed nozzles impacts the blades and changes its direction, which in turn applies a
force.
The resulting impulse drives the blades for-
ward, causing the rotor to turn. The main
feature of these turbines is that the pressure
drop per single stage can be quite large, al-
lowing for large blades and a smaller num-
ber of stages. Except for low-power ap-
plications, turbine blades are arranged in
multiple stages in series, called compound-
ing, which greatly improves efficiency at low
speeds. Since the Curtis stages reduce the
pressure and temperature of the fluid sig-
nificantly to a moderate level with a high
proportion of work per stage, a usual ar-
rangement is to provide one or more Cur-
tis stages on the high-pressure side, followed
by Rateau or reaction staging. In general,
when friction is taken into account reaction
stages, the reaction stage is found to be the
most efficient, followed by Rateau and Cur-
tis in that order. Frictional losses are signif-
icant for Curtis stages since these are pro-
portional to steam velocity squared. Fric-
7
tional losses are less significant in the reac- Figure 5: Pressure and Velocity Variation.
tion stage because the steam expands con-
tinuously, so flow velocities are lower.

Reaction Turbine
The reaction turbine is composed of moving blades (nozzles) alternating with fixed nozzles.
In the reaction turbine, the steam is expanded in fixed nozzles and also in the moving nozzles.
In other words, the steam is continually expanding as it flows over the blades. There is
pressure and velocity loss in the moving blades. The moving blades have a converging steam
nozzle. Hence when the steam passes over the fixed blades, it expands with a decrease in
steam pressure and increases in kinetic energy. The steam expands through the fixed nozzle
in reaction turbines, where the pressure potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. The
high-velocity steam from fixed nozzles impacts the blades (nozzles), changes their direction,
and undergoes further expansion. The change in its direction and the steam acceleration

11
apply a force. The resulting impulse drives the blades forward, causing the rotor to turn.
There is no net change in steam velocity across the stage but with a decrease in pressure
and temperature, reflecting the work performed in the driving of the rotor. In this type
of turbine, the pressure drops occur in many stages because the pressure drop in a single
stage is limited. The main feature of this type of turbine is that the pressure drop per stage
is lower than the impulse turbine, so the blades become smaller, and the number of stages
increases. On the other hand, reaction turbines are usually more efficient, i.e., they have
higher “isentropic turbine efficiency”. The reaction turbine was invented by Sir Charles
Parsons and is known as the Parsons turbine. Modern steam turbines frequently employ
both reaction and impulse in the same unit, varying the degree of reaction and impulse from
the blade root to its periphery. The rotor blades are usually designed like an impulse blade
at the rot and a reaction blade at the tip.

Figure 6: Impulse Reaction Blade.7

In the case of steam turbines, such as would be used for electricity generation, a reaction
turbine would require approximately double the number of blade rows as an impulse turbine
for the same degree of thermal energy conversion. While this makes the reaction turbine
much longer and heavier, the overall efficiency of a reaction turbine is slightly higher than
the equivalent impulse turbine for the same thermal energy conversion.

Condensing Turbine
In a condensing steam turbine, the maximum amount of energy is extracted from the steam
because there is a very high enthalpy difference between the initial (e.g. 6MPa; 275°C; x
= 1) and final (e.g. 0.008MPa; 41.5°C; x = 0.9) conditions of steam. This is achieved by
passing the exhaust steam into a condenser called a surface condenser, which condenses the
exhaust steam from the main turbine’s low-pressure stages and decreases the exhaust steam’s
temperature and pressure. The exhaust steam is condensed by passing over tubes containing
water from the cooling system.
Flow simulation of the surface condenser which converts the exhaust steam of the turbines
into liquid and reused in the boiler. Temperature variation of the liquid and steam passing
through the surface condenser in counter flow and uni-direction type heat exchanger.

Back-Pressure Turbine or Non-Condensing Turbine

Back-pressure steam turbines or non-condensing turbines are most widely used for process
steam applications. Steam is a principal energy source for many industrial processes. The

12
 Figure 7: Temperature Variation of the surface condenser.

popularity of process steam as an energy source stems from its many advantages, which
include: high heat capacity, transportability, and low toxicity The process steam can be pro-
duced by back-pressure steam turbines, generating mechanical work (or electrical energy).
Back-pressure turbines expand the live steam supplied by the boiler to the pressure at which
the steam is required for the process. The exhaust pressure is controlled by a regulating
valve to suit the needs of the process steam pressure. Back-pressure turbines are commonly
found at refineries, district heating units, pulp and paper plants, and desalination facilities
where large amounts of low-pressure process steam are needed.

Extraction Turbines
These are the turbines that help with the
process of steam. The extraction turbine
allows for the intermediate extraction of
the steam which is used for other processes
where low-pressure steam is required.

3.4 Turbine Bearings

The load coming on the rotor is taken by
the bearings (main bearings ). In addition,
while the unit is running any amount of re-
sultant thrust is also taken by the bearing
9
Figure 8: Diagram of Extraction turbine.
13
where no balancing piston is provided. Spe-
cially for small units both the bearings may
be either a ball or roller bearing. But for
large units and severe operating conditions,
both the bearings; the journal or main bear-
ings, and the thrust bearings are of sliding
type white metal babbitted bearings. The main bearings for larger units are plain white
metal bearings, babbitt lined backed by a steel shell. Bearings are horizontally split in two
halves and properly secured by dowel pins and holding down bolts. For proper lubrication,
oil grooves are provided on the inside bearing surface and in some cases chamfering near the
horizontal faces. Oil passages are also provided in the bearing body through a tapped hole
for temperature measurement.
In some designs the main bearings may be of multiple tilting pad type. The number of
tilting pads varies from design to design. Oil lubrication is achieved by pressure feed. Oil
is admitted to the individual pad through an orifice radial opening in the lower half of the
bearing housing.
Thrust bearing for larger units are usually a segmental type ( kings bury ) and provided
to maintain the axial position of the rotor under all operating conditions. The bearing is lo-
cated in the bearing bracket at the high-pressure ( inlet or steam end ) end of the turbine10 .
The thrust bearing consists of a rotating collar, ), which forms a part of the rotor shaft,
operating between two thrust elements the two thrust elements may be thrust shoes on both
sides or one thrust shoe on one side and a Babbitt-faced thrust bearing ring on the other
side. These thrust shoes rest on interlocking leveling plates which are held in place in a
base ring. This same base ring also holds the shoes against rotation. There are provisions
for placing shims in the thrust bearing housing on one end in impulse turbines generally
for maintaining the clearances between the nozzle and the first row of wheel whereas in the
reaction turbines, there are provisions for placing the shims on either end for maintaining
the clearances between the moving and stationary blade ( axial ) and between the dummy
and the dummy strip and for oil clearance also ( axial- float ). Pressure oil feed is employed
for the lubrication of the bearing. Here the thrust bearing is said to be “equalizing” or self-
adjusting as the thrust shoes are free to assume positions to ride on oil wedges on both sides,
there is an oil film on both sides of the collar, between the collar and the thrust shoes or
faces as the case may be. The automatic equalization of film thickness assures that the entire
surface of the bearing will be equally loaded. These equalizing features will also compensate
for slight misalignment or deflection of the rotor.

3.5 Turbine Lubrication

Lubrication is needed to minimize turning friction in main bearings, thrust bearings, and
reduction gears, if any, cool the journal and other bearing surfaces. Friction heats journals
and bearings, and the shaft conducts some heat from hot spots of the turbines to the bearings.
Lube oil carries the heat away and keeps the bearing temperature at a safe level, prolonging
the life of the bearing and oil Bearing carries the full weight of the spinning rotor and metal-
to-metal contact would ruin the bearing lining and journal in short order, so an oil film
is forced between the two surfaces to separate them. Frictional effects take place between

14
surface and oil, but mainly in the film. Lube oil must wet the metal surfaces it separates, yet
stay cohesive enough to resist being squeezed from the area of maximum pressure. Low unit
bearing pressures and high shaft speeds help from the needed oil wedge between surfaces. A
good lubricating system should be designed to prolong the life of the oil.10 .
In some very small units for roller or ball bearings, only greases are employed as a lubri-
cating fluid. Greases are suitable for application by hand, pressure gun, or hand compression.
The greases should remain in the solid state at operating temperature and should not sep-
arate on standing or heated below their dropping point. They should resist oxidation and
must not gum harden or decompose. They must not contain dust, fillers, abrasive matter,
moisture, free acid, or free lime.
A basic independent oil system combines a reservoir or tank, pumps, coolers, pressure
controls/reduction valves, strainers/filters, relief valve oil piping, etc. Sometimes strainers,
a very fine wire netting up to 200 mesh of brass or S. S. are provided in the reservoir only
in such a way that all the drain oils pass through this. In some closed oil circuit strainers
either single or twin are provided on the pump discharge side which can filter dirt or any
other particles larger than a drop of 3 to 5 psi at design temperature and flow. The pump
is usually of the rotating gear type and supplies oil at pressure between 3 to 15 kg/cm2 g.
Oil pressure to the bearings ranges from 0.3 to about 2 kg/cm2 g, usually obtained through
a reducing valve. Relief valves discharge any excess oil to the reservoir10 .

Figure 9: Lube Oil Filter.

Oil coolers are built in many forms with brass, copper cooling coils or in plate form of
Harrison type of steel sheets or S. S. sheets provided with self-contained strainer and rect-
angular heat exchanger surfaces, for large-size units oil coolers generally of M.S. or brass
are provided with oil baffles at intervals. Oil may circulate through the tubes or outside the
tubes. Cooling water may flow in parallel or in the counter direction. Generally, oils flow
outside the tube and cool water inside the tubes if the oil pressure is less than the C. W.
pressure. Coolers lower the temperature of oil by about 10 to 15°C. Oil should pass to the
bearings between 40 to 60°C and the bearing oil exit temperatures range from 55 to 80°C.

15
 Table 2: Oil Properties and Operating Conditions.10
Oil properties Forced - circulation Ring - oiled
Direct connected Gear drive Water cooled No Cooling
Viscosity, SSU at
100°F 140-170 250-350 250-350 375-525
130°F 76-92 120-165 120-155 180-230
210°F 40-45 47-60 40-45 50-70
Flash point 0°F 330 350 330 350
Neutralisation No. 0.20 max. 0.20 max. 0.20 max. 0.20 max.
Oxidation test hr. 1000 1000 1000 1000
Operating Conditions
Min oil temp. before start - °F 50 70 50 —
Bearing inlet temp. °F 110-120 110-120 140-160 140-180
Bearing outlet temp. °F 140-160 140-160 140-160 —

Oil coolers should be of adequate capacity. There is a typical turbine oil recommendation
as below:

4.0.0 Prilling Tower

A prill is the small aggregate of material, most often a dry sphere formed from melted liquid
by the solidification of droplets of molten material free-falling against the upward stream of
air in the prilling tower. Surface tension causes the liquid drops to adopt a spherical shape as
this result in the smallest surface area to volume ratio 2 . In the prilling process, urea melt is
pumped to the top of the prilling tower and fed into the prilling bucket. The prilling bucket
is a sieve-like conical drum that rotates about its axis. Liquid jets emerges from various holes
on the curved surface of the drum, break up due to centrifugal and capillary instability. The
liquid urea droplets formed fall downward the prilling tower. A counter-current ambient
air stream enters intake openings located at the circumference at the bottom portion of the
prilling tower. Heat and mass transfer between downward urea droplets and upward cooling
air stream along the free fall height of the tower occur and this solidification-cooling process
take place. Figure 10 provides the typical temperature profile of the prilling tower. The
products, urea prills, transfer from prilling tower bottom by scrapper, fed into conveyor belt
to storage to bagging plant.

16
 Figure 10: Temperature Profile of Prill Tower2

In prilling process, three forces have the effect on the particle during its fall through the
prilling tower, i.e. gravitational force (FW ) that acts downward, buoyancy force (FB ) and
drag force (FD ) both of which act upward.

Similarly, heat transfer between the urea and cooling air take place along the free fall
height of the tower. Three zones of state have taken place for each particle as it falls from
the top to the bottom of the prilling tower, i.e., liquid droplets lose their sensible heat to
cooling air until it reaches to the crystallization temperature, in the second zone second layer
begins to form by losing its crystallization heat and in the third zone, solid particle loses
its sensible heat to cooling ait until it reaches the bottom of the prilling tower. During the
prilling process, cooling air absolute humidity increases from the bottom to the top of the
tower which can be estimated from the water loss from the urea melt and moisture in the
final product.
At higher plant loads, the urea plant at Kalol was facing a problem of temperature at the
bottom of the prill tower and deposition of urea at the prill tower inside wall and also on the
scrapper. During summer, the prill tower bottom temperature in the urea plant goes beyond
100 ◦ C, restricting the urea plant lad at around 1740 MTPD having particular matter emis-
sion of about 150 mg/Nm3 with the operation of conventional prill bucket. Therefore, the
urea plant load was forced to reduce during the summer months on day time due to higher
urea prills temperature at the prill tower bottom.

17
IFFCO Kalol has explored various
solutions for the prill tower op-
erating limitation at higher plant
loads and plant operation in the
summer months. The original prill
tower and induced draft (ID) fans
have been in operation since the
commissioning of the urea plant in
1974. The conclusion of installing
vibro prill was selected to improve
prill tower performance. Figure
11 provides the details of the prill
tower of the urea plant at Kalol
unit.

4.1 Performance of Vi-

bro Priller at Urea Plant
With the installation of vibro
priller system, the urea plant is
able to operate at higher load of
1780 MTPD urea production on
sustained basis in comparison to
old bucket which was limited to
1740 MTPD urea production. Ben-
efits achieved with installation of Figure 11: Elevation Details of Prill tower at Kalol2
vibro priller system are as Un-
der.

• Sustained higher urea plant load at 1780 MTPD during summer month.

• Uniformed urea prill size was achieved. Urea product of size less than 1 mm size was
less than 1%. Thus, lower urea dust processing.

• Reduction in waste water generation due to lower urea dust processing

• Reduction in number of urea dust batch processing by 3 batches per day

• Reduction in urea prill temperature of 10 to 15 ◦ C at prill tower bottom with the same
air flow at 1780 MTPD load.

• Frequency in prill section shut down has reduced due to less scraper buildup.

5.0.0 Design Models

18
 Figure 12: Design model of Turbine Rotor.

Figure 13: Design Model of Surface Condenser.

19
Figure 14: Design Model of Relief Valve.

20
References
1
https://www.fert.nic.in/year-wise-production-fertilizers
2
2017-Inamdar-IFFCO-Operating-Experience-of-modified-Prilling-Bucket-at-Urea-Plant-of-Iffco-Kalol-Unit
3
Aziz, M.; Wijayanta, A.T.; Nandiyanto, A.B.D. Ammonia Production. Encyclopedia. Available online:
https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/1129 (accessed on 05 June 2024).
4
Lu Wang; Meikun Xia; Hong Wang; Kefeng Huang; Chenxi Qian; Christos T. Maravelias; Geoffrey A.
Ozin; Greening Ammonia toward the Solar Ammonia Refinery. Joule 2018, 2, 1055-1074, 10.1016/j.joule.2018.04.017.
5
Ding J, Ye R, Fu Y, He Y, Wu Y, Zhang Y, Zhong Q, Kung HH, Fan M. Direct synthesis of urea from
carbon dioxide and ammonia. Nat Commun. 2023 Jul 31;14(1):4586. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40351-5.
PMID: 37524739; PMCID: PMC10390537.
6
Lai Q, et al. Chemical looping based ammonia production—a promising pathway for production of the
noncarbon fuel. Sci. Bull. 2022;67:2124–2138. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2022.09.013.
7
https://www.nuclear-power.com/nuclear-power-plant/turbine-generator-power-conversion-system/what-
is-steam-turbine-description-and-characteristics/.
8
https://petrotechinc.com/parts-of-a-steam-turbine/
9
https://images.app.goo.gl/iG6ZaoNqBdXEGdtW6
10
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yi2Zsrff2CRUvKJL6C v2udU zDdKkaat/edit?usp = drivel inkouid =
105198781549858510183rtpof = truesd = true

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