Rupture Studies on Kokum Wax Coated Urea Briquettes

Abstract

Applying a coating on the commercially available urea briquettes by materials such as kokum wax can assist in slowing down the dissolution of urea from briquettes in wet soils and hence the loss of urea-N occurring by various mechanisms can be minimized. Since Kokum wax coatings succumbed to rupture in wet soils, stability of the coating was assessed by subjecting coated briquettes to urea release in water. Results indicated that both observed lag period and time taken for rupture increased with increasing coating thickness. Time required for rupture increased relatively rapidly with increasing coating thickness than the lag period. Strength of the coating material, if enhanced by methods such as crosslinking, can delay the onset of rupture initiation.