DEAS 909:2018  
 
© EAS 2018                                                                                                                              First Edition 2018 
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Fertilizer — Calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 909:2018    
 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  
  
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
In order to achieve this objective, the Co mmunity established an East African Standards Committee mandated 
to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives from the priva te sectors and consumer organizations. Draft East African Standards 
are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the Partner States. The comments 
received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in accord ance with the procedures 
of the Community.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standar ds 
they are implementing .   
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  Fertilizer — Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African standard specifies  requirements and methods of sampling and test for Calcium 
ammonium nitrate (CAN) fertilizer.  
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
ISO 81 57, Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners — Vocabulary   
DEAS 913 , Fertilizers – Methods of sampling   
ISO 17318 , Fertilizers and soil conditioners -- Determination of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and 
mercury contents . 
ISO 8397 , Solid fertilizers and soil co nditioners – Test sieving   
ISO 53 15, Fertilizers – Determination of total nitrogen content – Titrimetric method after distillation   
ISO 5314 , Fertilizers – Determination of ammoniacal nitrogen content – Titrimetric method after distillation  
3 Terms and de finitions  
For the purpose of this standard, terms and definitions given in ISO 8157  shall apply.  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Physical  
The fertilizer shall be free flowing and shall be in prill or granular form. It shall be free from lumps and foreign 
matter. CAN fe rtilizer shall be of uniform colour. When tested by ISO 8397 , not less than 90 per cent by weight 
of the material shall be of particles in the size range of 1 mm to 4 mm for prills or 2mm to 5mm for granular 
form.  
4.2 Chemical  
The CAN fertilizer shall con sist of homogeneous granules/ prills of ammonium nitrate with a limestone filler 
and shall comply with the requirements given in Table 1.   
   
Table 1 — Requirements for calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer  
Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
Total nitroge n as N, % by mass, min.  26.0 ISO 5315  
Nitrate nitrogen, % by mass of total 
nitrogen  50 Annex B  
Ammonical nitrogen, % by mass of total 
nitrogen  50 ISO 5314  
Calcium oxide equiv. % by mass, min.  9  
Moisture, % by mass, max.  1.0 Annex A  
5 Heavy metal cont aminants  
Heavy metal contaminants in the f ertilizers shall conform to the limits given in Table 2 when tested with the 
method specified therein  
Table 2 — Requirements for heavy metal contaminants  
Heavy metal  Requirement  Method of test  
Arsenic, mg/kg, max  20 
ISO 17318  Cadmium, mg/kg, max  7 
Mercury, mg/kg, max  0.1 
Lead, mg/kg, max  30 
Chromium, mg/kg, max  500 
6 Sampling  
Sampling of fertilizer shall be carried out as prescribed in DEAS 913.  
7 Packaging and labelling  
7.1 Packaging  
The fertilizer shall  be packaged in materials that are clean and non -defective that protect the product from 
physical, chemical and moisture contamination and withstand multiple stages of handling (transportation and 
storage).  
7.2 Labelling  
Each package  shall be indelibly lab eled in English and/or any other language with the following information:  
a) name of the fertilizer i.e. "Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) fertilizer ” 
b) name and address of the manufacturer and importer;   
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  c) nutrient content;  
d) net content by mass in kg;  
e) handling instr uctions – including the words “Use No hooks”;  
f) production date and expiry date;  
g) country of origin  
h) batch number  
i) storage conditions   
  Annex A  
(normative)  
 
Determination of moisture content  
A.1 Oven dry method  
A.1.1 General  
The method does not apply to fertiliz ers that yield volatile substances other than water at drying temperature.  
A.1.2  Procedure  
A.1.2.1  Weigh accurately 2 g of the prepared sample in a pre -weighed, clean and dry weighing bottle or 
petridish.  
A.1.2.2  Heat in an oven for about 5 hours at 105 + 2 C to constant weight. Cool in a desiccator and 
weigh. For urea, heat at 70 + 5  C for five hours to constant weight.  
A.1.3  Calculation  
Moisture per cent by weight  (%) = 
ABCB

100  
where, 
A is the w eight in gram of the empty bottle ; 
B is the weight of the bottle plus the material in gram, before drying ; 
C is the w eight of the bottle plus the material in gram, after drying ; 
A.2 Vacuum desiccator method  
A.2.1  Genaral  
The method is applicable to Ammonium Chloride, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN), Di-Ammonium 
Phosphate (DAP)  and all types of complex and mixtures of NPK fertilizers.  
A.2.2 Procedure  
Weigh accurately in duplicate 5  g of prepared sample in a weighed shallow porcelain dish. Put the sample in a 
desiccator over concentrated sulphuric acid,  close and introduce vacu um for about 10 minutes, then stop the 
vacuum pump and leave the sample for 24 hours, then release vacuum, remove the sample from the 
desiccator and weigh.  
A.2.3  Calculation  
Moisture per cent by weight = 
) () (100
1 23 2
W WW W
  
where,  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  W1 is the w eight in gram of empty porcelain dish ; 
W2 is the w eight in gram of porcelain dish with sample before putting the sample for 24 hours in the 
desiccator ; and 
W3 is the w eight in gram of porcelain dish with sample after putting the sample for 2 4 hours in the 
desiccator ; 
A.3 Karl Fischer method  
A.3.1  General  
This method is applicable to fertilizers like CAN, Urea and urea based complexes. This method is not suitable 
for phosphate rock based fertilizers and fertilizers containing monocalcium phosp hate, calcium sulphate, alkali 
carbonates as well as aldehydes and ketone groups.  
A.3.2 Apparatus  
Karl Fischer titrator  
A.3.3  Reagents  
A.3.3.1  Karl Fischer reagent(KF)  – Karl Fischer solution (pyridine free) (single solution)  
A.3.3.2  Di-sodium tartarate di hydrate  (Na 2C4O62H2O) analytical grade  
A.3.3.3  Methanol -KF grade/spectroscopy grade  containing less than 0.05 % water   
A.3.4  Procedure  
Standardization of KF reagent.  
a) Set up the instrument as per manufacturer’s manual.  
b) Add methanol to the titration vesse l until the electrodes are dipped and titrate with Karl -Fischer 
reagent to a pre -set end point persists for 30 seconds.  
c) Add 100mg of the disodium tartarate dehydrate to the titration vessel carefully and titrate with Karl 
Fischer reagent to a pre -set end p oint (the pre -set end point should persist for 30 seconds). Note the 
volume of KF reagent used as V 1 ml. 
A.4 Determination of moisture of sample  
A.4.1  Weigh accurately 1 g of the prepared sample and transfer to the titration vessel carefully and stir until  
dispersed.  
A.4.2  Titrate with KF reagent to the same pre -set end point as above and note the volume of KF reagent 
used as V 2 ml. 
A.5 Calculation  
Factor (F)(mgH 2O/1 ml of KF reagent )  = 
1added dihy drate tartarate sodiumofmg 0.1566
V  
Moisture per cent by weight = 
0001 (gram) sampleof Weight100 2
VF   
  Annex B  
(normative)  
 
Determination of nitrate nitrogen  
B.1 Determination of total nitrogen  
Total nitrogen shall be determined in accordance with ISO 5315  
B.2 Determination of ammoniacal nitrogen  
Ammoniacal nitrogen shall be determined in accordanc e with ISO 5314 . 
B.3 Calculation of nitrate nitrogen  
Nitrate Nitrogen (%)  = 
(N) nitrogen Ammoniacal (TN) nitrogen Total 