Modelling of urea gas phase thermolysis and theoretical details on urea evaporation

A model study of droplet decomposition of a urea–water solution (UWS) for selective catalytic reduction applications (SCR) has been undertaken. A new vapour pressure equation for urea has been adopted to predict the rate of urea evaporation. The vapour pressure above liquid urea is obtained by extrapolating the vapour pressure above solid urea. Gas phase decomposition of urea into ammonia and isocyanic acid is further assumed to be fast, dictating the boundary conditions for the evaporation process. The rate of UWS evaporation is compared to recently published data and shows good agreement. A set of Antoine parameters was fitted to the derived vapour pressure to facilitate future simulations