ABSTRACT

In the United States of America, the practice of physically dry blending two or more fertilizer materials was believed to be feasible only for small regional plants that custom blended and applied the finished product, mostly in bulk. Prilled sized urea, incorporating formaldehyde, which used as successfully in dry bulk blending but, is otherwise acceptable as a straight, is offered by several US and foreign manufacturers, notably in Venezuela and Mexico. Most of the countries in the Americas that have dry bulk blending plants have resorted to using the previously mentioned woven polypropylene, with ultraviolet stabilization, outer bags. In the Americas it is more common to see a combination of both production planning strategies, but with a definite preference to one of the extremes. A sound policy in production planning, as well as plant design, is to allow the least handling of the products possible, with the highest integration of the different components involved in the dry bulk blending process.