Urea

Urea (figure 1 ) remains the commonly used solid nitrogen fertilizer with the highest nitrogen content, and the lowest transport costs per unit of nitrogen nutrient. This quality, combined with its suitability as a wetland fertilizer for rice, makes it one of the most widely used nitrogen fertilizers, with demand growing rapidly in South-East Asian countries.

Urea is synthesized from ammonia and carbon dioxide. Its production is almost always associated with ammonia production, and hence with the production of hydrocarbons, particularly natural gas.

Manufacturing processes have not undergone major changes since 1990, the main objectives of the improvements made remaining the reduction of energy consumption, the reduction of pollution and the optimization of investment costs.