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          Urea production in single step

         

             Urea is the Carbamide i.e. the diamide of carbonic acid having formula H2NCONH2. It is acts as fertilizer and feed supplement. It is also used for the manufacturer of plastics and drugs. Urea is the most important nitrogenous fertilizer in the Market. It is with highest Nitrogen content. Urea fertilizer is used to provide the plants with nitrogen to promote green leafy growth and make the plants look lush. The MRP of urea fertilizer is fixed by Government of India as Rs 268 for a 50 kg bag of urea. 

          Manufacturing of Urea fertilizer considered as organic fertilizer because of it contains large amounts of nitrogen, which is essential for healthy plant growth. It is an expensive form of nitrogen fertilizer with an NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) ratio of 46-0-0. It is naturally produced in humans and animals. 

              Urea was 1st isolated from urine in 1773 by the French Chemist Hilaire-Marin Rouelle. Urea was first produced Industrially by the hydration of calcium cyanamide. But the easy availability of ammonia led to the development of ammonia/ carbon dioxide technology. This are the 2 step process where ammonia and carbon dioxide react to form ammonium carbamate which is then dehydrated to gives urea. 

                  Now, Researchers produces Urea in single step at room temperature. In West Bengal the group which is lead by Dr. Uttam Kumar Ghorai, head of Industrial and Applied Chemistry, Ramakrishna Misson Vidyamandira, produced a Green urea. This urea production involves only single step and using a nano-catalyst.

                Thus process involves an environment-friendly liquid urea fertilizer at normal pressure and temperature by electro-catalysis method, using nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide gas present in the air. This electrochemical ammonia synthesis using the nitrogen reduction reaction can provide a substitute for the Haber-Bosch process.  

        

                These research will bring a big change in the fertilizer manufacturing industry and the price of urea fertilizer will also come down a lot. And this is very applicable for the economy of agricultural countries. This research paper is also published in the Cambridge University Press. 

          Moreover, the study has been published in journals by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Society.  The practical method has also been theoretically confirmed for the formation of Urea in single step. This is confirmed by a team of collaborating researchers from SRM university with the help of computational facilities and quantum theory.