ENGRAIS AU SILICIUM

FERTILIZER COMPOSITION CONTAINING A SILICON ADDITIVE

Abrégé anglais

Abstract
The invention relates to a fertilizer promoting the
take-up of phosphorus ions.
The composition of the invention contains 2 to 10
per cent by weight of a silicon additive while the silicon
content of the additive expressed in silicon dioxide lies
between 2 and 10 per cent by weight.
Using the composition of the invention the quantity
of the used phosphorus fertilizer may be advantageously
reduced without decreasing the yield.
The composition of the invention may be extended
to complex fertilizers, too, which include phosphorus and
potassium as active agent.

Revendications

Claims:
1. A process for the preparation of fertilizer
compositions promoting the take-up of phosphorus and
potassium ions, characterized in that raw kieselguhr is
passed through a sieve of a diameter of at most 6 mm, the
water content of the thus-obtained purified kieselguhr is
reduced to 5 to 8 % by drying at a temperature of 100 to
110°C, the dried kieselguhr is ground to a particle size
of 40-200 µ, then admixed in a quantity of 2 to 20 per
cent by weight related to the total weight of the product
with fertilizer containing phosphorus and/or potassium,
and the obtained mixture is granulated.
2. A fertilizer composition promoting the take-up
of phosphorus and potassium ions prepared by a process
wherein raw kieselguhr is passed through a sieve of a
diameter of at most 6 mm, the water content of the thus-
obtained purified kieselguhr is reduced to 5 to 8 % by
drying at a temperature of 100 to 110°C, the dried kiesel-
guhr is ground to a particle size of 40-200 µ , then admixed
in a quantity of 2 to 20 per cent by weight related to the
total weight of the product with fertilizer containing
phosphorus and/or potassium, and the obtained mixture is
granulated.

Description

lZ10603
-- 1 --
Fertili2er Composition Containing a Silicon Additive
The invention relates to a fertilizer composition
promoting the take-up of phosphorus ions which contains
2 to 10 per cent by weight of an additive containing
silicon, the silicon content of which - expressed in
silicon dioxide - lies between 7 and 10 %.
The essence of the invention is that the phosphorus
fertilizers are admixed with silicon containing substances,
the silicon ions are bound on place of the phosphate ions
on the surface of the iron hydroxy and aluminium hydroxy
radicals of the clay minerals, thus the cultivated plants
may utilize the phosphorus ions nearly completely.
The fertilizing is very important in respect of the
growth of the plant and the quantity of the yield.
If the plants are submitted to a chemical analysis,
one may state that the same elements may be found in them
as in the soil.
Certain elements /N, P, K, Mg, Fe, S/ are of vital
importance, other elements are significant such as micro-
elements /B, Cu, Mn, Mb, Co/ and again other elements play
a little or disputed role.
Naturally their percental ratio in the different
plants is always an other one and differs even in the
individual parts of the same plant, e.g. it is an other
in the seed and an other in the stem.
~,~

--- lZ10603
_ 2 --
In order to assure the appropriate development of
the plants it is important that elements of vital
importance may be found in the soil.
The fact, that however many elements are substituted
or given into the soil, they can never be taken up complete-
ly, has to be taken into account during the fertilizing
or dunging.
The ability of taking up is influenced by several
factors:
- the type of the soil,
- the water,
- the heat,
- the pH-value,
- the humus,
. ~
- microorganisms~
- the quality of the soil colloids,
clay minerals,
- ion exchange,
- chemicaL bonds /single or covalent bond/,
- the ratio of water and air in the surface soil.
Among the factors influencing the taking up the clay
minerals, chemical bonds, pH-value, ion exchange, the
;hydroxy groups of the iron and aluminium compounds are the
: ~: :
most important ones in respect of the phosphorus.
In the soil the quantity of the readily soluble
phosphorus is little in relation to the quantity of the
; ~ slightly soluble fractions. It is known that the plants
take up lO-25 kg of phosphorus/ha from the soil. In the soil
: ~
'

1210603
-- 3 --
itself, however, tl~ere are altogether about 0. 4a kg/ha of
phosphorus to be taken up.
As a consequence very much phosphorus has to be
added to the soil so that the quantity of the phosphorus
to be taken up assures a high yield for the plants.
The five to tenfold of the necessary quantity has
to be assured by supplying nutriment for the guaranteeing
of the above quantity of 10-25 kg/ha of the plant. Over-
feeding is necessary because 50 to 70 % of the quantity
of the added phosphorus get into a state not suitable for
taking up. The binding of the phosphorus ions in the soil
takes place in different manners: the phosphorus ions are
bound through chemosorption of iron and aluminium hydrox-
ides, clay minerals and potassium ions being in the soil.
Thus the content of absorbable phosphorus of the
soil is rather little, at least in soluble form only a
very little quantity of phosphorus can be found. Appli-
cant supposes that the reason for this is that a big part
of the phosphorus is bound within a very short time and
thus becomes unabsorbable. The advantage of the solution
according to the invention is that such a substance is
added to the phosphorus fertilizer which inhibits nearly
completely the binding by binding itself on place of
the phosphorus on the surface of the clay minerals and
hydroxides.
In a surprising manner it was observed that

"` lZ1 060:~
-- 4
kieselguhr is very suitable for this purpose.
A solution was sought where this substance is ad-
mixed under the possible most advantageous conditions to
the fertilizers containing phosphorus. It was found that
the addition of kieselguhr to the phosphorus fertilizers
promotes the absorption thereof. The composition of the
kieselguhr is as follows:
SiO2 ~ 76.54 %
2 3 3.95 %
Fe2O3 1.56 %
TiO2 0.10 %
CaO 5.62 %
MgO 0.67 %
K2O 0.34 %
MnO 0.04 %
SO3 0.77 %
S2 2.40 %
Water content 7.77 %
totally 100.00 %
Thus, according to one aspect oE the invention
there is provided a process for the preparation of fertil-
izer compositions promoting the take-up of phosphorus and
potassium ions, characterized in that raw kieselguhr is
passed through a sieve of a diameter of at most 6 mm, the
water content of the thus-obtained purified kieselguhr is
reduced to 5 to 8 % by drying at a temperature of 100 to

-` 12~0603
- 4a -
110C, the dried kieselguhr is ground to a particle size
of 40-200 ~, then admixed in a quantity of 2 to 20 per
cent by weight related to the total weight of the product
with fertilizer containing phosphorus and/or potassium,
and the obtained mixture is granulated.
According to another aspect of the invention there
is provided a fertilizer composition promoting the take-
up of phosphorus and potassium ions prepared by a process
wherein raw kieselguhr is passed through a sieve of a
diameter of at most 6 mm, the water content of the thus-
obtained purified kieselguhr is reduced to 5 to 8 % by dry-
ing at a temperature of 100 to 110C, the dried kieselguhr
is ground to a particle size of 40-200 ~, then admixed in a
quantity of 2 to 20 per cent by weight related to the total
weight of the product with fertilizer containing phosphorus
and/or potassium, and the obtained mixture is granulated.
The fertilizer containing kieselguhr exerts an ad-
vantageous effect not only due to its silicon content but
to the fact, too, that it includes microelements which are
necessary for the plants. Otherwise these elements may be
rather expensively inserted into the different fertilizers
containing trace elements or into leaf manure containing
trace elements /e.g. Agromax* 24 mg. /5.6 Mg/ 69,480 Ft,
Agromax* 54 /45 % Mn/ 1000 litres 130,000 Ft/.
The present solution is extremely cheap, 2.5 to 5
kg. of kieselguhr are admixed to 95-97 kg. of phosphorus
fertilizer and thus the price of the above fertilizer is
* Trade Mark

--- 1210603
raised by only 5-lo Ft/q.
In the case of the fertilizer enriched with the
kieselguhr the effect is double:
1. It makes the phosphorus nearly 100 % absorbable
5 for the plant /the silicon is inserted into the clay
minerals, hydroxides instead of phosphorus/.
2. It assures other macro- and microelements for
the plants.
The advantage of the solution according to the inven-
tion may be summarized as follows:
1. Almost 20-30 % less phosphorus has to be added
to the plants.
2. The above macro- and microelements assure a yield
surplus of 5 %~
If, however, the same quantity is added, than in
~ ,
` the case of the plain fertiIizers, a yield surplus of
` 10-15 % is attained.
The advantages of the solution according to the inven-
tlon are demonstrated by the following examples:
~ Example 1
If l ha of wheat is treated with a fertilizer rely-
ing on a~yield of 60 q/ha, according to the usual technology
the foIlowing quantity of nutriment has to be added on an
area of 100 ha:
P}ant ha plannedN P205 K20 Total
yield
q/hakg/ha kg/ha kg/ha kg/ha
wheat 100 60 150 120 120 390
~ ,
`:

` -~ 1210603
-- 6 --
Using the composition according to the invention
the following quantities are necessary:
Plant ha plan~ed N P2 5 K2o Total
yield kg/ha kg/ha kg/ha kg/ha
wheat 100 60 - 150 84 120 354
10 On an area of 100 ha 36 q of P205 may be saved /the
present value thereof is 36 x 180 Ft - 6,480 Ft/.
The increase of the yield caused by the macro- and
microelements to be found in the kieselguhr admixed to the
fertilizer is estimated to 5 %.
15 Our small-plot and large-scale experiments proved
the above results,
Such small-plot tests were performed in Tiszaigar
between 1971 and 1974.
Large-scale tests were carried out in the following
20 places /1981/: 1. Janoshida
2. Tapiogyorgye
3. Toalmas
4. Cserkeszolo
5. Csépa
6. Ocsod
7, Jaszsagi AG
that is in the agricultural co-operatives in these places.
The examinations were performed on wheat, maize

~ 12~0603
-- 7 --
and sun-~lower fields on areas of 25-lC0 ha.
Kieselguhr was added to the fertilizer applied on
the test fields in the following quantities:
a. in 10 per cent by weight
b. in 5 per cent by weight
c~ in 2.5 per cent by weight.
The best result was attained by the fertilizer to
which kieselguhr was added in a quantity of 2.5-5 per cent
by weight.
The production tehcnology of the additive super-
phosphate:
The production of the additi~e superphosphate consists of
two parts:
1. superphosphate production
2. admixing and granulation of superphsophate and
the additi~e.
1. Superphosphate Production:
In the Hungarian factories the superphosphate is
prepared by sulfuric acid reveal. This step may be describ-
ed by the following reaction formula:
Gross reaction:
2 Ca /P04/3F + 7 H2S04 = 3 Ca/HP04/2 + CaS04 + HF
The reaction takes place in two steps:
1. 2 Ca5 /P04/3F + 10 H2S04 3 4 4
2- 2 Cas /P04/3F + 14 H3P04 = 10 Ca /H2P4/2 + HF
In the course of the reveal according to reaction
formula /1/ phosphoric acid is formed and this phosphoric
acid is reacted with the still present rat~ phosphate

"-- ~2~0603
-- 8 --
according to reaction /2/,
Reaction /1/ takes about 30 minutes.
Reaction /2/ takes about 6 to 30 days.
The latter one is the post-reveal.
The disadvantageous physical properties of the fresh
superphosphate improve in the course of the after-ripen-
ing, the product becomes, however, hygroscopic owing to
the remaining acid content.
Therefore 3 to 4 per cent by weight of limestone powder
are admixed in order to bind the phosphoric acid. Instead
of this substance the additive is added in a ratio of 50 %.
2. Admixinæ and Production of the superphosphate
+ addivite:
- ~ Requirement: the post-reveal has to take at least 14 to 22
days. To the powdery superphosphate 2.5-5 % of the additive
are admixed and the thus-formed mixture is granulated /cold
granulation~,
The composition of the additive:
~ ~ -:: -
~ .
SiO2 76.54 %
A123 3.95 %
Fe2o3 ; 1.56 %
TiO2 0.10 %
CaO 5.62 %
MgO 0.67 %
K20 0,34 %
Na 0 0.24 %
~- ~ 2
MnO~ 0,04 %
03 0.77 %

- ~Z~0603
S2 2,44 o/O
water content 7.77 % .
total: 100,00 %
Composition of the additive superphosphate /18 %/:
/by adding 3 % of an additive/
P205 - 17.6 %
SiO2 2.3 %
A12 3 0.12 %
Fe203 0.05 %
10~ 2 0.003 %
CaO 0.17 %
MgO 0.002 %
K20 0,001 %
Na20 0 . 001 %
MnO
so3 0.1 %
S2 0.02 %
other carrier 79.35 %
Composition of triple phosphate /45 %/ and kiesel-
guhr:
~: 25 44,2 %
SiO2 ~ 2.3 %
A1203 0.12 %
Fe203 0.05 %
2 0.003 %
CaO 0.17 %
MgO 0,002 %

--- 12~0603
-- 10 _
K20 0.001 %
Na20 0.001 %
MnO O.OOl %
S03 O.Ol %
S2 0,02 %
Before the use of the fertilizer the fertilizer
was admixed in a quantity of 3 % with kieselguhr and this
mixture was applied onto the soil. A double control was
used, on plots of identical quality fertilizer containing
usual phosphate was applied. On the filed treated with
the composition containing silicon according to the inven-
tion the yield did not decrease though the added phosphorus
ion was smaller.
On the field not treated with the additive fertilizer
the yieId was significantly lower.
This is the first part of the further development
of the~1nvention.
Furthermore tests were performed by treating the
potassium fertilizer with kieselguhr additi~e.
20 ~ ~ Wheat~, maize and sun-flower plants were used for
the test. For~the specific fertilizer use of the potassium
add1tive /kieselguhr/ test it is apparently
characteristic that the control and the treated plots
are characterized by similar values. It means that the
25~ 1ncrease of the yield results was not followed by an
increase of the use of the specific fertilizer as it occurs
at the application of the usual plain potassium fertilizer.
In Tables l and 2 the results attained by applying the

` 12~0603
,. .
` - 11
used kiesel~uhr fertilizer and kieselguhr phosphorus
fertilizer may be found.
The results indicated in Tables 1 and 2 prove that
the use of the additive together with the potassium fer-
~5 tilizer increased the yield by S to 10 %.
From these~facts it comes clear that the positiYeeffect of the additive is significant at both fertilizers.
Thus it may presumably be~used at complex
fertilizers whlch contains phosphorus and potassium as
10 ~active~agent.~This is~ the second part of the further
dev~e~lopment~of the~lnv~ention.
Since t~he invention does not interfere with the
llfe~ of the~plant~but exerts its effect in the soil, i,e,
it~is a~chemlcal~effect~ it~exerts its effect not only
on~maize~;wheat~a~nd~sun-flowers~but it may be extended
; on all~cu;ltiYated~plants~, gr;a~pe /except~sand soils/ and
orchards~as~we}~ This~1s~the~thlrd part~of~the further
`de~elopme~nt of the invention. ~ ~ ~
.. . . . . .

~-- lZ10~03
_ 12 -
Yield results of the additive process according to Torocsik
in 1982
5 Wheat
. .
Name of the FièldAverage Yield kg/ha Surplus
co-operative No. 0treated kg~ha
-
Potassium + additive
Cserkesz810 C-2-3 5250 5440 190
Csépa C-6 4950 5865 915
Ocs~d III-10 2810 3373 563
Jaszsagi AG I-3 3943 4438 495
Toalm~s B-? 4159 5173 1014
Ocsod IV-ll 5086 6110 1024
:
Average: 4366 5067 701
Increase: + 16 %

`-- 12~0603
-- 13 -- . ,
TABLE 2
Yie ld results in the test$:
Maize
Name of theField C o n t r o 1 T r e a t e d Sur-
-o-operativeNo. K K+add,P+add. K K+add.P+add. plus
kg/ha kg/ha k~;/ha kg/ha kg/ha kg/ha kg/ha
~serkeszoloC/4 - 7305 _ - 8569 - 1?64
~sépa A/5 - 4450 _ - 5720 _ 1270
''csod IV/137922 - - 8896 - - 974
III/ll - 5044 _ _ 6799 ~ 1755
Janoshida A/3 - - 3020 - - 42 15 1105
A/5 - 3 110 - - 4018 - 908
Jaszsagi ~GI/105801 - - 6322 - - 521
- 6083 - - 6824 - 741
15 rapiogyorgye XII - - 4 140 - - 5205 1065
loa~mas A/5 - 5313 - - 7110 - 1800
A/63 150 _ 4200 - 1050
B/I-IV - 6780 - - 8010 - 1230
20 ~verage: 5624 5440 3580 6472 6721 4710 1140

lZ10~03
14 --
TABLE 3
-
Har~esting test results:
Sun-f lower
"o-operativeFieldC o n t r o l T r e a t e d Plus
No,K K+add, P+add, K K+add, P~add, yield
kg/ha kg/ha k~;/ha kg/ha kg/ha kg/ha kg/ha
Jancshida A/9 _ 1698 - _ 1955 - 303
- - 1702 - - 2015 313
10 ~apiogyorgye III/l2348 - - 2566 - - 218
III/3 - 2050 _ - 2740 - 690
roal~s B/XIV 1818 - - 2202 - - 384
B/XV - 1910 - - 2408 - 518
15 Total: 404
, , .