Biuret Formation:

Two moles of urea are converted into one mole of biuret and one mole of
NH3 by heating.
2 NH2CONH2-------------> NH2CONHCONH2 + NH3
Because the biuret is injurious to germinating seeds, and pine apple
and citrus trees wither when the fertilizer is sprayed on the leaf. The biuret
content in fertilizer grade urea on the world market is required to be below
1.0%. biuret forms almost everywhere in urea production steps.
The following conditions are favorable for biuret formation.
• High residence times.
• High temperature.
• Low amount of water.

Dissociation Pressure

The equilibrium partial pressure of oxygen is the pressure at which the

driving force for the reaction is zero. From equation 14 we see that if the
partial pressure of oxygen is greater than this value, the free energy
change for the reaction is negative and there is a driving force for the
reaction to take place. Metal will be oxidised, and the partial pressure of
oxygen will drop until it reaches equilibrium. This is effect described by Le
Chatelier’s principle.

If the partial pressure of oxygen is below the equilibrium value, oxidation is

avoided. (In fact, the metal oxide will disassociate to form metal plus
oxygen gas-this is because there is a driving force for the reaction to
proceed backward. For this reason the equilibrium partial pressure is often
known as the dissociation pressure.)