CA2093377A1 - Solid agricultural adjuvants - Google Patents

Abstract

SOLID AGRICULTURAL ADJUVANTS

Abstract of the Disclosure Solid free-flowing adjuvants for use with agricultural chemicals, such as pesticides, are formed by physically combining urea with at least one surfactant selected from ethoxylated aliphatic alcohols or acids having at least 10 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of acid or alcohol and 8 to 24 carbon atoms in the acid or alcohol chain; block or random co-polymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide; and block or random copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide based on aliphatic alcohols having 4 to 18 carbon atoms.
These adducts may also include other fertilizers, such as diammonium phosphate; acidifying agents, such as anionic phosphate esters of the formula ROP(O)(O)2 wherein R is alkyl, alkyaryl, alkoxylated alkyl, or alkoxylated alkylaryl; and/or sticking agents, such as fatty acids or alkoxylated novolac resins. The adducts are formed by mixing and heating the components to a uniform liquid melt and then cooling the adduct into a solid free-flowing powder. The adjuvants may be built-in or tank mixed of dry blended with pesticide formulations. They function as activator adjuvants compatibilizers, buffers, dispersants, wetting and/or sticking agents.

Description

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04/05~3 16:12 ~416 823 0044 ICI SllE~IDA~i PRK ~1005 ~ ICIAM 37512 Be)LID a5RICTI~I!I~ AW~AJ77rlt ~$-1~ of th- S~v-nt~on The pre--nt lnventlon rel~te~ to eol~d, free-flowing ~d~uvant-, p~rticularly for u~e w1th ~gr~cultural chemie~l~, auch ~B pe~tlCid~L, in dry form.

Baokgroun~ oX th- ~v-ntlon Agricultural ad~uvant6 ~rQ mat~rial~ which aid or ~odi~y the pQrfor~ance o~ nn agrlch~micnl. Ad~uvants may al~o improve the phy~ical properties of an agricultural for~ul~tion. ~or ~xample, an actlvator adjuvant incr~a~e~ t~e b~olog~cal e~lcacy o~ a pHsticido (e.g., lnc~otlc~de, her~loi~e, ~ungicld-). A
compatibility ~g-nt pr-vente th~ ohæmlcal lnteractlon of two or ~or~ ~griche~ic~l formulatlons in a tank ~ix or lmprove~ th~ ho~ogeneity Or llqui~ ~rtillzer with other ~grlcho~cal~ in ouc~ ~ixturo~. A wettlng ag~nt or Epreadlng agent incr~a~es th~ eur~ace are~ covered by a glvsn volune of ~pr~y ~ixture. Fertilizer~ l~kQ urea or ~la~onlu~ pho~phato ar~ fr-qu~ntly u~ed a~ ad~uvant~ or Wlth other ~djuv~nt6 to i~prov~ ef~io~cy of pe~ticlde formulatlons. Follar fortillzatlon c~n be u~ed to ~upply uroa nitrogen ~nd other nutri~nt~ to crop~.

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!.C.'.' 04/05/~3 16:13 ~416 8~3 0044 ICI SHERIl)A:`I PRK 1~006 - 2 - 2~93377 The ~djuvant systems commonly use non-ionic ~urraatant6, but ~Q~t o~ these ~urfactant~ ~re liguid6 or wnxy ~ . Hence, thoy ~re difficult to include in a dry ~ormul~ unless ~d~orbent~, 6UC~ A~ ~lay~ or n11icas, are employed a~ solid carrier~. How~ver, the~Q
~olld carrier~ are not 60luble ~n w~ter, not biologlcally ~ctive, may clog ~pray l$n~ and nozzl~ or $ncreaae nozzle wear. Example~ o~ ~uch granulated pe~tlcide ~aterials which may include an ndsorbent carrier are described, for example, in Canadlan P~tent ,20g,363 o~ BASF Wyandotte Corporation.
Tt h~o al~o ~en known to ~orm ~olid agrl~ultura~ formulations in which the dgric~ltural chemical 18 lncorporated directly in the powd~r particle~ oS the rormulaticn. An ~x~mple of ~uch a ey~tem i~ di~clooed ~n ~.S. P~t~nt 4,283,525 i~sued to Amerlc~n cyanamld Co., wherein a pyrazolium salt (an herbicide), urea, and a li~uid, non-ionic ~ur~actunt ~re ~ixed and heate~ togsther to ~orm ~ ~olten mlxtur~ w~ich i~ th~n solidir~ed lnto granulss, bsad~, prillc, fl~ke~, or th2 like.
~ owever, ouch co~po~it~ons lack th~
versatility of sy~t~3 in which ho ~d~uvant may ~e manufactured, ~hipped and stored Geparately from the agricultural chemic~ls and ~ixed at the tlme and site of appllcation of the pe~tic~de. E~pecially important is `''',' . ' , . . .
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04~'Q5/93 16 :14 g5~41ff 823 0~44 ICI SHERIDA~I PRK ~1007 tha fact th~t ~ eront level~ of ad~uvant are use~ with given level o~ pe6ticide for dlr~ersnt crop appl~c~t~on~, v~rious ~t~ge~ of crop growth or dif~erent woath~r or cli~ate. With her~icide~, fid~uv~nt requiroment~ ~ay al~o dep~n~ on target wo~d 3~p~cle~.
Al~o known ~rom USSR Patent 242,59z o~ Simoncv ~t al. ~All-Un~on ~ientific-Research In6tltut2 of Chemical~ for Pl~t Protection) ~re peeticidal lubricating powder~, containing et~ylene oxide or ~lo poly~thy~en~ ~lyccl ~ur~act~nt~ wi~h urea co~pounds.
:S~c al~o V. D. Slmonov t al., "U~Q 0~ Cl~thrate Co~pound~ of ~rea with Surfact~nts ~n the Production of Pesticid~l Preparation~," po~l. Neftekhim. Sekts.
Ba~hkir. Respub. Pravl._V6es. Xhi~. Obs~chQst. 6:32~-9 15 ~1971) and USSR Patent 523,895 Of E~e19YanOV t a1., ~Perhydrates of urea Clathrat~ ~ith 6UrfaCtant~ . "
However, ln USSR Patent 2~2, 592, the princ~pal ChemiCa1 fUnCt~ on i~ one of pr~vention o~ c~Xing o~ the POWder ~OrmU1~t~0n rllthe~ thlln biO10g1Ca1 ~CtiV~t10n 0 the ~ctlvo pesticide componQnt. Other ~mportant ~d~uvant ~ctivity whish is not dl~clo~ed or clai~ad ~n thi~ patent ~ncludes enbanc~d biol~gicsl e~f~c~cy, ~mproved spray tahk co~patibility, better wetting or sticklng properties.

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04~05/~3 16:14 ~41R 823 0044 ICI SHERIDA.~ PRK 1~008 3u~ry of tho S~v-~tlou According to the pre~nt inv~n~ion aolid, ~r~e-flowing ~djuvants, whlch di~solve oo~plfftely and r~pidly ~n wat~r, ~re provifled ~n th~ Sor~ of ~ow~er~d adducts of urea and at lea8t on0 surfact~nt, pr~erably non-ionic, in ~hich the sur~actant i~ G~lecte~ ~rom an ethoxy~at~d linear or branch~d chain aliphat1c nlcohol or acl~ containing at least 10 mol~c of ethylene oxide per mole of acid or alcohol ~nd 8 to 24 oarbon atoms ln the alipha~ic cbaln; ~lock or rando~ copolymer~ of ethylene oxidz and propylene oxide: an~ block or random copoly~er~ of ethylRne oxide ~nd prspylen~ oxide ba~ed on ~liphatic alcohol~ h~ving 4 to 18 carbon atomc.
Additional acldifying surfActants may include anionic phosp~ate e~ters of th~ ~ormula ROP(O)(OH)2 wherein R is alkyl, alkylaryl, alkoxylatod alkyl, or ~lkoxylat~d alkyl~ryl. The ~dduct~ of the ~v0ntion ~ay furt~er include additional f~rtilizer component~ ~uch hS
diam~onium pho~phat~, ~nd/or ~tlckl~g agent~, ~u~h a~
~atty ~cid~ ~aving 12 to 24 earbon~ in the aliphatic chain or ~lkoxylat~d novolac re-in#.
The ad~uvant~ of t~e ~nvent~on ~ay be ~ormed by m~xing and hQating tha urea, ~urSactnnts a~d ot~er componsnt~ to form a uniform liquid melt, and then 8praying the liquid ~elt ~nto a cool~ng tower to produce a free-flowlng powder. The~a ~dducts can then ~e built ,~.,,: . -'f, J~
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04~'05/93 16:15 ~416 823 00~4 ICI SIIERID.~N PX~ 12100~

_ 5 _ 2093377 into ~ dry pesticid~ for~ulation to lmprove wetting, comp~tlblllty, buffering, disper3ibility and~or provide ad~uvancy. Alternatively, t~e adducte can be added directly to the spray t~nk like ~ny other t~nk-mix ad~uvant. Reg~rdle~s of the ~etho~ o~ u~e, the ad~uvant~ o~ the invention will activate pe~ticlde~
biologic~lly a~ well a~ functioning as wetting agents, co~patibllity agent6 or fertilizer-nutrient. Enhanced actl~ity, b~ologically o~ otherwi6e, achieves the ~o de~ired pe~tlcidal effact with lower level~ of the more ~xpen~iv~ pesticide6.

D~t~ Do~or~ptio~ of Pse f erro~ E~ i~e~ts Urea ~nd diammoniu~ pho#phate ~re commonly used as ~ertilizer~. According to the pre~ent lS inventlon, it h~s been found that urea, wlth or without dia~monium phosphatQ or oth~r ~ertilizer6, ~orm~ ~ ~olid adduct with certain non-ionlc surfwtant~. This ~dduct or complex ~ largely a type o~ phy~ical "lnclusi~n compound" or "clathrate.~ While tha ex~ct structur~ i5 not known, it i~ believ~ that at l~ast a phy~lcal combi~tion exists, which will be roferred to herein a~
an ~dduct.
The ~pecific sur~actante ~urface actlve ~gents) which have been found to complax with urea include the ethoxy~ated aliphatic alcohol~ or acids , . , - ~ ~ , , : ~. : . ~ . ~ .

_ _04/05/03 _ ~16:15 SE~416 82S 00~4 ICI SHEI'~IDA~I PRK ~0~0 .

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having B to ~4 carbon ~toms in the ~lcohol or aci~ chaln an~ containlng ~t lea~t 10 and prefer~bly 10 to 50 mole~
of ~thylono oxide per mole o~ ~cid or alcohol. Wh$lR
ethylene oxl~e i8 prererred, it will be understoo~ that other ~lkylene oxides, particularly propylene ox~ ay be 6ub~tituted.
Yreferred surractznts of this type ~or U6~ in the pre~ent invent~on includ2 othoxylated C13 to C15 aliphatic alcohol~ Yhera the degree o~ othoxylat~on rangee from ll to 20 ~0108, which ~re commercially av~ilabl~ from ICI Americas Inc. under the trademark 5YNPERONIC~ A-ll through A-~O, and ~thoxyl~ted tridecyl (C13) alcohols where the ~egree of etboxylation range~
from 12 to 15 mole~, ~hich are commercially ~v~llable 1~ from ICI Am~ricac Inc. under the tr~dem~rks RENEX~ 30 and 31. Al~o sultable ~r~ the ethoxylated for~o of C8 to C24 fatty ~ci~, prderably othoxyl~ted C14 to C18 f~tty acidc, w~ere the degree of ethoxyl~tion ~ B at leagt 10 ~018~, pref-rably 20 to 4~ ~oleo, per mole of 20 acid. ~or xampla, polyoxyethylene ~40) st~ar~c ~ci~, co~m~rci~lly ovaila~le from ICI Americ~s, Inc. a~ ~Y~g 52, i~ ~ preferred example.
Al~o suitabl- for complexing with ure~
nccording to the precent lnvention are ethoxylDted Cl2 to C~8 alcohole teaturated or unsaturated~ having 15 to 30 moles of ethylene ox$de per mole o~ alcohol, 6uch ~s ~ ,. .

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_ _ 04/05~3 16:16 2~416 823 0044 ICI S~ERIDI~i PRK ~011 polyoxyethylenQ (20~ cetyl alcohol an~ polyoxyethylene (20) oleyl alcohol. The number ~n parenthesi~ in~icate~
the degree of ethoxyl~tion.
Anoth~r ~it~le cla~s o~ non-ionic our~act~nt~ for ~o~plexing w~th uro~ ~ra variou~ random ~nd/or block ~opoly~er~ of Qthylene oxide ana propylene ox;de, or r~ndom and~cr blo~k copolym~r~ Or ethylene oxld2 ~nd propylene oxide ba~ed on ~liphatic alcohol~
having 4 to 18 carbon atoms, pre~erably having a molecular weight ln the r~nge Or 500 to 8000. Preferred examples o~ the form~r are com~erclally avail~ble from ICI Americ~6 Inc. such a~ SYNPERONIC ~tP103. The l~tter ~re copolymsr~ in wh. ~h the molecular welgnt i~
built up w~th ~thylQne oxide ~nd propylene oxide unlts, an exa~ple being polyoxyethylene l45) polyoxypropylene (38) butyl carbitol.
It ~hould be under~too~ th~t m~ny ~urfactants, includin~ many polyoxyethylen~ (PO~B) have been tried, but ~any nre not compatlb~e with urea and/or do not produce complexes wi~h urea or do not for~ 6atisfactory solid adduct~ ~or use in tho pre~ent in~ention.
~ he uroa 1~ proferably present in the adducts of tbu ~nvention ln an a~ount o~ about 40 to 75 weight percent of the complex, and the nonionic ~nd~or anionic sur~actants are preferably pre~ent in an amount of about 25 to 60 welght percent of th~ complex. However, the ,.~ . :' ,'~ . : ' i: . ' .
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__04/05~3 16:17 2P41~ 823 0044 ICI SI~ERIDAN PRR 1~012 complox~ of the invention may al60 lnclude ether fartiliz~rs in amount~ up to about 30 we~gbt perc~nt, suoh a6 ~lammoniu~ pho~phat~ or a~onlum nitrate. Where the eo~plax inelude~ another fert~lizRr beslde urea, a typleal forDulat~on aay lnelude, for example, about 40%
urea, about 40% surfactant and about 20% of diammoniu~
pho~phate or other fert~lizer.
Th~ ~dduet~ of the lnvention may al~o include ~:
an anion~e ~urfAetant nc aeidify~ng agent, ~uch a~ nn lo organlc pho~ph~te e~ter derivod f~om aleohol6 or ~thoxylat~d alcohol~ . ~h~ ae1difying agent m~y be pr~ent in an amount up to about ~0 weight percent.
Aeldl~ying agent~ are u3ed to lower the p~ o~ pe~ticide ~pray mixturo~. Some pe~tieido betives are more effeetlvQ or ~table ~n the aeid form. Pho~phate esters may aloo ~unction ~s aetivator ad~uvants, wetting ~g~nts, dlsper~nte or oompatibillty ag~nt~. An exa~ple of a ~u~tablo pho~ph~te e~ter ~nionie curfaetant is polyoxyet~yleno (12) tr$decyl alGohol phosphate, av~ilablQ ~rom ICI am-riea6 Ine. a~ ATPHOS- 3232.
The ~dduet~ of the invention ~ay further lnelud- stleklng ag~nt~, wbieh ara e~cntiAlly known to i~prove raln-~a~tn~ of the pestieid- Sormul~tlon.
Such ~ticking agent~ $nclude aliph~tie fatty aeids having 12 to 24 c~rbon ~to~ ~nd ~r~ ~nown a~ anlonic ~urf~ctants. Other su$t~ble ~ticking agents include '.', ~
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, ,~ . ' ___04/05/~3 16:17 ~416 823 0044 ICI SHERID~?~ PRK 1~013 g alkoxylated novol~c re~ln~ whlch ~re non-ionic ~ur~actants which may b~ de~cr~ed g-nerlcally a8 poly~metbylen~-p-alkylphenoxy~-poly~oxyalkylene) ~thanol havinq ~ to 12 mole~ o~ alkoxylatlon (i.e., oxyethylene or oxypropyl~ne). The ~cking agqntfi mAy be pr~sent ln the adducts o~ the ~nvention up to about 20 weight percont, ~nd prefer~bly ~ to 20 w~$ght percent of the adduct.
In addition to the a~ove components, the complexQs o~ the ~boYe ~nvention ~ay al~o ln¢lude up to about 6 weight percent water and an ~rfcctlve amount of an ~nti-foa~ing agent.
The co~plexes oP the invontio~ ~re ~ormed by mixing and heating all of the compon~nts together at about 90-130C and ~tirring the mlxture unt~l a uniform melt 1~ forced. ~h~ re~ulting melt i~ then cooled and ~ormed into ~ powde~, prefor~bly by ~prAying the liquid m~lt in a conventional ~prny coollng tower u~ing comention~l ~pray nozzl~ and oper~tlng conditions which w~ll be readily ~pparent to those s~illed in the art. In tho cooling tower the ~prayed mixture solidiSie6 in the ~orm o~ ~ prilled powd~r resembl$ng eoap powder. Thic powder will typically pa~s through ~
20 me~h ccreen. ~ho~ skilled in the art will recognize that oth~r ~ethod~ of cooling the molten mlxture ~na 7~
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04/05/~3 lB:18 2~416 823 0044 ICI SHERIDA.~i PRK 1~014 .

Pormlng the powder ~ay be u~ed, ~uch A~ pouring th~ melt on ~ cold surf~c~ and then gri~ding the solidified product ln a micropulverlzer or the like.
~he ~Qsulting powdered complex may be for~ulated lnto a variety o~ ~olld agrlcultural che~lcal~ or formul~tions, ~uch as p~sticlde~, hor~icldes, growth-promotion agHnta, funglc~de~, f~rtillzers~ otc. Such pest$cldQ ~ormulation typss includQ water-d~spersibl~ gr~nul~ ~WDG1, wetta~le 10 powder~ (WP) or ~imple granules. The composltlons of the invention ~ay exhibit one or moro of the following adjuvant ~unctio~alitle~ depending on its specif ic composition, th~ use level and the way it is ueed ~tank-mlx or built-in3: wetting or ~ticking ngent, dlsper~ant, ~u~fer, co~patibility agent, biological p-st~clde activator or fertilizar.
For ~xa~ple, a rel~t$v~1y c~all amount o~ the SUb~QCt compocitlon i~ needed to proviae wett$ng or di-persant ~unot~onality ~or a WDG or WP ~orm of ZO pecticid~. Howov-r, h~gher l~vel~ ~ay b~ requlred to ~nh~nce t~e b~ological act~vity of a p~st~cide. Be~ldes being built lnto pe~ticid~ ~or~ulstions, She oomplexes can be dry blended with gr~nulated po~ticide products.
Finally, th~ cubject complex~s can be used alons as tank-mix a~uv~nt~ ln order to lmprove comp~tl~ility and other above-~entio~ed ~unctionalities ::

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04/05/~3 lô:l~ ~416 823 0044 ICI SHERIDA:~ PRK 1j~015 , between v~rious pesticide formulatlon~ ~nd~or fortilizer ~olutlons. ~ol~d ad~uvant~ have Dany advantageB over liquid a~uvants, $ncluding ~llm$nation og ~xtraneous ~olvent, reduc~d ~ol~tillSy, safcty and ~a~ of h~ndling. A~o, the ~u~eot ~olid a~uvant~ are ~eent$~11y 100~ actlve ln that there i~ no non-functional ~olid c~rrier such a~ cl~y or ~ilica.
Ihe invc~tlon will now be illu~trated in ~Dre detail with reference ~o tho ~ollowing speciflc, non-li~itlng example;

~xu~ple I
An ad~uvant according to the ~nvention wasprepared ~rom the following components:

Co~po~t ~t %
15 p~lyoxyethylene (12) tridecyl ~lcohol 50.o uraa 48.0 w~t~r 2.0 The components were all ~eltsd tog~ther at 120~C and stirrsd untll a uni~orm llquld ~elt ~a~ ~btained. The l~quid melt was th-n ~prayed into ~ ~ooling tower at an inlet t~perature o~ 90-130C and a ~axi~um pressure o~
200 p~ig. The resulting powder particle6 were in the form o~ prill6 whlch pa~s a 20 ~sh screen.

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Oq/05/~3 1~ 416 823 0044 ICI S~lERIDA~i P~K 1~016 , :~ .
` 2~93377 ~ u~pl- A
~ ~Q ~olid ~gricultur~l ~djuvant ~n Ex~mplo I
b enhnnce5 tb~ biologlcal ~ct~vity o~ var~ou~ herblcide~
a~ well as improv~ng phy~ical prop~rtiec cuch ns w~tting ~nd di6perslb11~ty. For ex~ple, when 0.5~ of th1~
' ad~uvant co~po~ltion i~ ~dded to ~pray dllutlon ~olut~on $ o~ N-phosphonomethylglycinotri~ethylsulfonium 6alt (~ul~o~ato), herbicide activlty ag~inst com~on ~Qd I speC12S iS improv~d. Th$~ dsmonstr~tes thQ octivator functlon~lity of thls sub~oct adjuvant.
W ~ % Control (1~ days æ t~r treatment) 8ul~o~at- ~ulro~ amplo I
I ber~uda gra~ ~CYNDA) 37 54 1 15 quackgrase (AGRR~) 46 86 field bindwe6d (CONAR) 15 ~7 purple nutsedg~ ~CYPRO) 34 37 ~u~p~- 2 ~hlG ~xa~pl~ illustrate~ the u~ of an ~idl~ying agent, ~.e., polyoxy0thylen~ (12) tridocyl ~ phosph~te, bu~lt into the adduct of ~xample 1. ~he I resultin~ uvant would ~l~o lmprove cc~patibility betw~en variou~ p~cticide ~oroulation- ~nd~or fertill~er ~olution~. :

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_ _04/05/~3 1~:20 SE~418 823 0044 ICI SHERIDAN PRK b~ol7 , Co~po~ent ~lght %
polyoxyethylon~ ~12) trl~ecyl ~lcohol 39.7 polyoxyethylonQ ~12) tridecyl hlcohol phosphate 10.0 ure~ 48.0 S w~ter 2.0 anti-fo~m 0.3 The ~etho~ o~ preparation ie the s~ma a~ in Example 1.

g ~his example lllustrate~ that ~ertil izer co~ponents other than urea c~n be incorporat~d into the adduct .
Compone~t 'deight polyoxyethylene (12) trldecyl alcohol 29.7 polyoxyethylone (12) tridecyl alcohol phosphate 10.0 urea 3B.0 dia~onium pho~phste 20.0 water 2.0 anti-~oa~ 0.3 The ~ethod of p~eparation 1~ the 3a~e as ~n Ex~mple 1.
The precent lnvention m~y he e3bodled in other ~:
~s~ecif ic forms witl~out dep~lrting from the ~-pir1t or ~6~ntial ~ttributec thereot and, nccordingly, ~eferenc~
shoul~ be m~de to the ~ppend~d cl~lms, r~t~er th~n to the ~or~going ~pecification ~5 indicating the ~cope of the lnv-ntion.

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Claims (23)

1. a solid free-flowing adjuvant comprising a water soluble adduct of urea and at least one surfactant selected from the groups consisting of an ethoxylated linear or branched aliphatic alcohol or acid having 8 to 24 carbon atoms in the aliphatic chain and containing at least 10 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of acid or alcohol; block or random copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide; and block or random copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide based on aliphatic alcohols having 4 to 18 a carbon atoms.

2. An adjuvant according to claim 1 wherein said adduct comprises about 40 to 75 weight percent urea and about 25 to 60 weight percent surfactant.

3. An adjuvant according to claim 1 wherein said adduct is formulated into an agricultural chemical composition.

4. An adjuvant according to claim 3 wherein said agricultural chemical is a pesticide.

5. An adjuvant according to claim 4 further comprising a fertilizer other than the urea component in an amount up to about 30 weight percent of said adjuvant.

6. An adjuvant according to claim 5 wherein said fertilizer is selected from the group consisting of diammonium phosphate and ammonium nitrate.

7. An adjuvant according to claim 1 further comprising an acidifying agent in an amount up to about 20 weight percent of said adjuvant.

8. An adjuvant according to claim 7 wherein said acidifying agent comprises an anionic phosphate ester surfactant of the formula ROP(O)(OH)2 wherein R is alkyl, alkylaryl, alkoxylated alkyl, or alkoxylated alkylaryl.

9. An adjuvant according to claim 1 further comprising a sticking agent in an amount up to about 20 weight percent of said adjuvant.

10. An adjuvant according to claim 9 wherein said sticking agent comprises an aliphatic acid having 12 to 24 carbon atoms in the aliphatic chain.

11. an adjuvant according to claim 9 wherein said sticking agent comprises a poly(methylene-p-alkylphenoxy)-poly(oxyalkylene)ethanol having 4 to 12 moles of alkoxylation.

12. An adjuvant according to claim 1 wherein said adduct is formed by mixing and heating said urea and surfactant to form a uniform liquid melt, cooling said melt and forming a free-flowing powder therefrom.

13. An adjuvant according to claim 12 wherein said urea and said surfactant are heated to about 90-130 C.

14. An adjuvant according to claim 12 wherein said cooling and powder-forming steps comprise spraying said liquid melt into a cooling tower.

15. An adjuvant according to claim 1 wherein said surfactant comprises an ethoxylated C13 to C15 aliphatic alcohol having a degree of ethoxylation from 11 to 20 moles per mole of alcohol.

16. An adjuvant according to claim 15 wherein said surfactant is an ethoxylated tridecyl (C13) alcohol having a degree of ethoxylation from 12 to 15 moles per mole of alcohol.

17. An adjuvant according to claim 1 wherein said surfactant comprises an ethoxylated C12 to C18 fatty alcohol having a degree of ethoxylation from 15 to 30 moles per mole of alcohol.

18. An adjuvant according to claim 1 wherein said surfactant comprises an ethoxylated C14 to C18 fatty acid having a degree of ethoxylation from 20 to 40 moles per mole of acid.

19. An adjuvant according to claim 1 wherein said random or block copolymers have molecular weights in the range from 500 to 8000.

20. A solid, free-flowing adjuvant for an agricultural chemical comprising an adduct of about 40 to 75 weight percent urea, about 25 to 60 weight percent of a non-ionic ethoxylated aliphatic alcohol or acid surfactant wherein said alcohol or acid has 8 to 24 carbon atoms in its chain and contains at least 10 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of acid or alcohol, up to about 30 weight percent of additional fertilizer selected from the group consisting of diammonium phosphate and ammonium nitrate, up to about 20 weight percent of an anionic phosphate ester surfactant, up to about 20 weight percent of a sticking agent, up to about 6 weight percent water and an effective amount of an anti-foam agent.

21. A solid free-flowing adjuvant according to claim 20 wherein the adjuvant is built into an agricultural pesticide.

22. A solid, free-flowing adjuvant according to claim 20 wherein the adjuvant is mixed with a tank mix pesticide.

23. A solid free-flowing adjuvant according to claim 20 wherein the adjuvant is blended with a granular pesticide.