The Solex fertilizer indirect cooler guarantees highly efficient thermal performance and ongoing, reliable operation.

Each cooler is custom designed taking into account:

• Typeoffertilizer

• Requiredthermalperformance

• Localambientconditions

• Selectionofoptimumwatertemperatures

• Selectionofoptimumpurgeairflowrateanddewpointtopreventcondensation

Optimized Fertilizer Cooling

• Solexhasover100fertilizerreferenceplantsinalltypesoffertilizer,includingurea,ammoniumnitrate,MAP/DAP,NPKandspecialtyfertilizers

• TheSolexCoolerreducesenergycostsbyupto90%comparedtotraditionalfluidbedcoolers

• Unitshavebeeninstalledinarangeofdifferentclimates,fromthetemperatemid-westUnitedStatestotropicalIndiaandMalaysia

• Theunitdoesnotrequireregularcleaningresultinginlongruntimesandlowmaintenancecosts

Solex Fertilizer Cooling System

The Science Behind Cooling Fertilizers

FertilizersareHygroscopic

Fertilizersarehygroscopic.Whenmoisturetransfersfromtheproduct

totheairinthespacebetweenthegranules,thehumidityoftheair

willincrease.Thiscan

causecondensationon

thesurfaceofthecold

heatexchangerplates.

Condensationonthe

plateswillquicklyleadto

cakinginthecooler.

TheSolexFertilizerCooler

isdesignedforlongterm,reliableoperationwithouttheneedfor

regularcleaning.Toachievethis,themechanismofcondensation

andproductcakingmustbeprevented.Topreventcondensationthe

dewpointoftheairinthevoidspaceofthecoolerneedstobelower

thanthetemperatureoftheplateexchanger.

Thedewpointoftheairintheheatexchangerchangesrelativeto

thetemperatureoftheproduct.Therelationshipbetweendewpoint

andtemperatureisgovernedbythecriticalrelativehumidity(CRH)

ofthefertilizer.EachfertilizerhasauniqueCRHcharacteristic.Asthe

fertilizercoolswhenitpassesthroughtheexchanger,thedewpoint

lowers.Therelationshipbetweenproducttemperature,dewpoint

andwatertemperatureisshownonthebelowgraph.Thisgraph

demonstratestheimportanceofcounter-currentwaterflowtoavoid

cakingandoptimizeenergyefficiency.Understandingthescience

behindfertilizercoolingenablestheSolexheatexchangertobe

customizedforeachtypeoffertilizerandanyambientconditions.

The CompleTe SySTem

Solexsuppliesafullyintegratedsystem–thefertilizerindirectcooler

andancillaryequipment.

SoleX FeRTIlIZeR CoolING SySTem

DUST

MOISTURE TRANSFERCOOLED SURFACE

CAKING

CONDENSATION

DUST

DUST

VENT

HOT PRODUCT IN

GATE FEEDER

COLD PRODUCT OUT

ACTUATORPOSITIONER

PURGE AIR

COOLING WATER IN

COOLING WATER OUT

TO PLANT CONTROLSYSTEM

TEMPEREDWATER

MODULE

INSTRUMENTATION& CONTROL

PURGE AIRMODULE

HOT PRODUCT IN

GATE FEEDER

COU

NTE

R-CU

RREN

T FL

OW

COLD PRODUCT OUT

PURGE AIR

COOLINGWATER OUT

COOLINGWATER IN

DEWPOINT MUST BE BELOW WATER TEMPERATURE TO PREVENT CONDENSATION

200 40 60 80 100

DEWPOINT

WATER TEMPERATURE

PRODUCT TEMPERATURE

Ancillary equipment

Water Temperature Control ModuleTheWaterTemperatureControlModule(WTCM),openorclosed

loop,controlsthecoolingwatertemperaturesandwaterflowrate

throughtheSolexCooler.

KeyFeatures:

• Openloopoperatesstrictlyonplantcoolingwaterwitharecirculationcircuitforwatertemperaturecontrol

• Closedloop(usedinhighchloridecoolingwaterandotherpoorwaterqualitysources),operatesonasecondaryself-containedwaterloopwithaplateexchangerisolatingtheSolexCoolerfromtheprimaryplantcoolingwatersupply

• Bothopenandclosedloopdesignsincludeastart-upheatertopreheattheplates

• Pumpscanbestandaloneorstandbydependingoncustomerrequirements

• Skidmounted

Chiller / Dry Cooler System – Optimized to Reduce Energy CostIfplantwaterisnotavailableoristoowarmtomeetprocess

requirements,theWTCMmayincludeadrycoolerand/orachiller.

Thiscombinedsystemwillbeoptimizedsothatthechillerwillonly

operateduringsummermonths.Theremainderoftheyearthesystem

willoperatesolelywithdrycoolerstosaveenergycosts.

Purge Air Module ThePurgeAirModuleprovidespurgeairtotheSolexCooler.

Wherepossible,ambientairisused,reducingoperatingcostsand

minimizingcapitalcosts.Ifconditionedairisrequired,duetoprocess

requirementsorambientconditionsanairdehumidificationsystemis

usedtoreducetheairdewpoint.

Comprehensive Instrumentation & ControlsTheSolexWaterTemperatureControlModuleandPurgeAirModule

aresuppliedwithcomprehensivecontrolsandinstrumentation

including:

• Waterinletandoutlettemperaturecontrols

• Watertemperature,pressureandflowratecontrols

• Purgeairdewpointcontrols

• Purgeairflowrate,temperature,pressureanddewpointcontrols

ThecontrolfunctionsfortheWTCMandPurgeAirModulecanbe

integratedintotheoverallplantcontrolsystemorprovidedbyalocal

panelmountedPLC.

SoleX FeRTIlIZeR CoolING SySTem

Water Temperature Control Module

mAXImIZeS eNeRGy eFFICIeNCy

* www.solexthermal.com/products

Solex Fertilizer Cooling Technology uses 90% Less Energy

Estimatedoperatingpowerrequirements,typicalfora3600t/dureaplantinaGulfCoast,USAlocation.

^Fluidbedchillerloadisanaveragecalculatedbasedonmeanmonthlydayandnightambientconditions.

kW.h

/ton

ne

pATeNTeD TeChNoloGy* ThAT

Solex Thermal Science Inc.

250, 4720 – 106 Ave SE

Calgary, AB, Canada, T2C 3G5

Tel: +1 403 254 3500

Fax: +1 403 254 3501

www.solexthermal.com

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TYPICAL ENERGY REQUIREMENT:UREA GRANULE COOLER

6.9kW.h/tonne

0.6kW.h/tonne

FANS

AIR

CHILL

ER

SOLEX INDIRECTCOOLER

FLUID BEDCOOLER

Fluid Bed Cooler Solex Cooler

Fans (FD fan + ID fan) 540kW -

Air Chiller^ 500kW -

Cooling Water Pump - 20kW

Conditioned Air Blower - 45kW

Bucket Elevator (typ.) - 20kW

Total Power Consumption 1040kW 85kW

Total Energy Cost/Year ($0.10 / kW.h – 8000 h) $832,000 $68,000