Industrial Urea Process – Simulation and Validation

Abstract

Due to a variety of applications, there is an ever-increasing demand for urea and subsequently its production process remains a popular research topic. In the current climate however, studies for solving industrial challenges and the search for a more sustainable process design are required. Previous works concerning simulation of industrial scale production have been developed, however almost none of them are reproducible nor consider urea quality parameters. The severe process operating conditions and the lack of biuret information are the main challenges in modeling and simulating such complex process. This paper proposes a systematic approach for simulation and validation of the current urea production process. Industrial data from the largest operational urea facility in Latin America are used. Simulation is validated against more than 30 industrial parameters. Deviation of less than 6% is obtained for mass composition and less than 8% for other variables considered. This work is a key point for retrofit studies and design of new processes models.