Uses of Urea

The major use of urea is the fertilizer field, which accounts for approximately 80% of its production (about 16.2 billion pounds were produced during 1994 in U.S.). About 10% of urea is used for the production of adhesives and plastics (urea formaldehyde and melamine formaldehyde resins). Animal feed accounts for about 5% of the urea produced.

Urea possesses a unique property of forming adducts with n-paraffins. This is used in separating C₁₂-C₁₄ n-paraffins from kerosines for detergent production