Urea fertilizer compositions comprising rice hulls and methods of use
Compositions comprising urea containing fertilizer (e.g., urea fertilizers or urea formaldehyde reaction product fertilizers such as urea-formaldehyde fertilizer or methylene urea fertilizers) and rice hulls, as well as methods of making and using such compositions are provided.
1. A fertilizer composition comprising granules comprising rice hulls and a urea containing fertilizer, wherein the urea containing fertilizer is uniformly coated directly on an outer surface of the rice hulls, uniformly adhered directly on the outer surface of the rice hulls, or impregnated into the rice hulls.
2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said urea containing fertilizer is a urea formaldehyde reaction product fertilizer.
3. The composition of claim 2 , wherein said urea containing fertilizer is a methylene urea fertilizer.
4. The composition of claim 2 , wherein said urea containing fertilizer is a urea-formaldehyde fertilizer.
5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said rice hulls are about 20-70 SGN.
6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the fertilizer composition, when stored over 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 months, has a reduced crystal aspect ratio compared to a fertilizer composition not having rice hulls stored for the same period of time.
7. The composition of claim 6 , wherein the crystal aspect ratio of said fertilizer composition is reduced to a level in a range from about 30:1 to about 4:1.
8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said rice hulls are about 1-50% by weight of the granule.
9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said urea containing fertilizer has a urea to formaldehyde ratio of about 1.5:1 to about 8:1.
10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the fertilizer composition has an average crystal area of urea crystals of less than 60 μm 2 formed after 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 months.
11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said composition comprises less than 20% water by weight of the composition.
12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said granules are about 0.5-5 mm in size.
13. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising potassium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, 3,6-Dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid (dicamba), 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), methyl chlorophenoxy propionic acid (MCPP-P), or mixtures thereof.
14. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said granule comprises 40-60% by weight urea containing fertilizer.
15. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said granule comprises 10-25% by weight ground rice hulls.
16. The composition of claim 13 , wherein said granule comprises about 0.5-4% by weight 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), 0.5-1.5% by weight methyl chlorophenoxy propionic acid (MCPP-P), 0.04-0.2% by weight 3,6-Dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid (dicamba), or mixtures thereof.
17. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said composition further comprises fertilizer components selected from the group consisting of calcium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, sulfur-coated urea, isobutylidene diurea, ammonium nitrate, ureaform, urea formaldehyde reaction product, urea, anhydrous ammonia, ammonium polyphosphate, monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate, polymer coated urea, micro elements, mono-ammonium phosphate, potassium chloride, and mixtures thereof, herbicides, micronutrients, biostimulants, macronutrients, inert solid carriers, or mixtures thereof.
18. The composition of claim 17 , wherein said fertilizer components are calcium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, sulfur-coated urea, isobutylidene dirurea, ammonium nitrate, ureaform, urea formaldehyde reaction product, urea, anhydrous ammonia, ammonium polyphophate, monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate, polymer coated urea, micro elements, mono-ammonium phosphate, potassium chloride, or mixtures thereof.
19. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said composition has an average odor concentration of less than 550 o.u./m 3 .
20. A fertilizer composition comprising granules comprising rice hulls and a urea containing fertilizer, wherein the urea containing fertilizer is coated directly on an outer surface of the rice hulls, adhered directly on the outer surface of the rice hulls, or impregnated into the rice hulls, wherein the rice hulls are sprayed or soaked in the urea containing fertilizer.