Applications ammonia

Ammonia is the starting material for the manufacture of nitric acid, urea and ammonium phosphate, as well as for the production of precursors for fibers, plastics, pesticides and many other organic products. 

By far the most important consumer of ammonia is the fertilizer sector. 

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Other agricultural applications of foam blankets include prevention of erosion and distribution of soil particulates by wind [589], and reducing ammonia and odour emissions from intensive feed-lot operations, such as in hog-farming operations, by blanketing waste slurries, both in animal houses and spread over fields. Here a cover is needed that will allow passage of fresh wastes, or rain, and that can be easily re-formed, although the foam has to be stable in the presence of ammonia. Applications of foam blankets in areas beyond the agricultural sector are discussed in Sections 9.7 and 10.5. 

In contrast to SCC of carbon and low-alloy steels in chloride, sulfide, and sulfuric acid environments by hydrogen-embrittlement mechanisms, cracking in several environments is attributed to passive-film cracking and/or active-corrosion-path anodic-dissolution penetration mechanisms (Ref 124). These environments include nitrates, hydroxides, ammonia, carbon-dioxide/carbonate solutions, and aqueous car-bon-monoxide/carbon-dioxide. Nitrate-bearing solutions are encountered in coal distillation and fertilizer plants hydroxide solutions in the production of NaOH and in crevices of steam boilers and ammonia cracking has occurred in tanks and distribution systems for agricultural ammonia applications. 

Figure 10.4. Anhydrous Ammonia Applicator Vi th 65-Foot Swath.

Curie understood that under stress, or in the presence of external electric or magnetic fields, the symmetry of a system is changed. The Neumann principle still applies but should no longer be based on the symmetry of the isolated crystal, but on that of the combined system of crystal and external field, as we have considered in Sect. 3.9. In the case of ammonia, application of an electric field has the Coov symmetry of a polar vector. The symmetry that results from the superposition of the field with the molecular point group 3 depends on the orientation (see Appendix B). In the coordinate frame of Fig. 3.1 one has ... 

Bucherer reaction Bucherer discovered that the interconversion of 2-naphthol and 2-naphthylamine through the action of alkali and ammonia could be facilitated if the reaction was carried out in the presence of (HSO3]" at about 150 C. This reaction is exceptional for the ease with which an aromatic C —OH bond is broken. It is not of general application, it is probable that the reaction depends upon the addition of [HSO3]" to the normally unstable keto-form of 2-naphthol, and subsequent displacement of —OH by —NH2. 

The Soda- lime Test. Certain classes of nitrogenous organic compounds (e.g., amides, etc.) evolve ammonia when heated with soda-lime. In view of the limited application of this test, however, it may well be reserved for Section 3, where it is included with other compounds reacting with soda-lime. 

Dilute hydrochloric or sulphuric acid finds application in the extraction of basic substances from mixtures or in the removal of basic impurities. The dilute acid converts the base e.g., ammonia, amines, etc.) into a water-soluble salt e.g., ammonium chloride, amine hydrochloride). Thus traces of aniline may be separated from impure acetanilide by shaking with dilute hydrochloric acid the aniline is converted into the soluble salt (aniline hydrochloride) whilst the acetanilide remains unaffected. 

Two compounds, which may be prepared from ethyl cyanoacetate and also find application in synthetical work, may be included here. Cyanoacetamide, prepar from ethyl cyanoacetate and concentrated ammonia solution ... 

The above is an example of the Guareschi reaction. It is applicable to most dialkyl ketones and to alicyclic ketones (e.g., cyclohexanone, cyc/opentanone, etc.). The condensation product (I) is probably formed by a simple Knoe-venagel reaction of the ketone and ethyl cyanoacetate to yield ethyl a-cyano-pp dimethylacrylate (CH3)2C=C(CN)COOCjHj, followed by a Michael ad tion of a second molecule of ethyl cyanoacetate finally, the carbethoxyl groups are converted to the cyclic imide structure by the action of ammonia. 

An important nitrile is acrylonitrile H2C=CHCN It is prepared industrially from propene ammonia and oxygen m the presence of a special catalyst Polymers of acryl omtrile have many applications the most prominent being their use m the preparation of acrylic fibers... 

Other applications of zirconium tetrafluoride are in molten salt reactor experiments as a catalyst for the fluorination of chloroacetone to chlorofluoroacetone (17,18) as a catalyst for olefin polymerization (19) as a catalyst for the conversion of a mixture of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and ammonia (in the ratio of 1 1 3 3) to pyridine (20) as an inhibitor for the combustion of NH CIO (21) in rechargeable electrochemical cells (22) and in dental applications (23) (see Dentalmaterials). 

Ammonium Ion Removal. A fixed-bed molecular-sieve ion-exchange process has been commercialized for the removal of ammonium ions from secondary wastewater treatment effluents. This application takes advantage of the superior selectivity of molecular-sieve ion exchangers for ammonium ions. The first plants employed clinoptilolite as a potentially low cost material because of its availability in natural deposits. The bed is regenerated with a lime-salt solution that can be reused after the ammonia is removed by pH adjustment and air stripping. The ammonia is subsequentiy removed from the air stream by acid scmbbing. 

Gas streams can be analy2ed for ammonia by bubbling a measured quantity of the gas through a boric acid solution to absorb the ammonia. The solution is then titrated against sulfuric acid. This analysis is applicable only if other constituents in the gas stream do not react with boric acid. 

P. Rudolph, The Eurgi Pressure Gasification and Its Application for Ammonia Manufacture, Fertilizer Association of India, New Delhi, India, 1973. 

Other Applications. Among other industrial uses of lime are causticizing agent in kraft (sulfate) paper (qv) plants recovery of ammonia (qv) from NH4CI (Solvay process) recovery of magnesium (qv) from seawater and brines via precipitation of Mg(OH)2 production of pesticides such as... 

Absorption Refrigeration Systems Two main absorption systems are used in industrial application lithium bromide-water and ammonia-water. Lithium bromide-water systems are hmited to evaporation temperatures above freezing because water is used as the refrigerant, while the refrigerant in an ammonia-water system is ammonia and consequently it can be applied for the lower-temperature requirements. 

Supercritical fluid solvents have been tested for reactive extractions of liquid and gaseous fuels from heavy oils, coal, oil shale, and biomass. In some cases the solvent participates in the reactions, as in the hydrolysis of coal and heavy oils with water. Related applications include conversion of cellulose to glucose in water, dehgnincation of wood with ammonia, and liquefaction of lignin in water. 

Hydrogen Hydrogen recovery was the first large commercial membrane gas separation. Polysulfone fiber membranes became available in 1980 at a time when H9 needs were rising, and these novel membranes qiiickly came to dominate the market. Applications include recovery of H9 from ammonia purge gas, and extraction of H9 from petroleum crackiug streams. Hydrogen once diverted to low-quahty fuel use is now recovered to become ammonia, or is used to desulfurize fuel, etc. H9 is the fast gas. 

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