Ammonia direct application

Ammonium Nitrate Calcium Ammonium Nitrate Ammonia - Direct Application Nitrogen Solutions Mono- Ammonium Phosphate/ Di-Ammonium Phosphate Other NP compounds NK / NPK compounds Others3 Total nitrogen... 

In general the principle of operation depends upon the capability of water to absorb large quantities of ammonia vapor, which can be released from the solution by the direct application of heat. ... 

Ammonia is one of the most important inorganic chemicals, exceeded only by sulfuric acid and lime. This colorless gas has an irritating odor, and is very soluble in water, forming a weakly basic solution. Ammonia could be easily liquefied under pressure (liquid ammonia), and it is an important refrigerant. Anhydrous ammonia is a fertilizer by direct application to the soil. Ammonia is obtained by the reaction of hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen, the synthesis gas for ammonia. The 1994 U.S. ammonia production was approximately 40 billion pounds (sixth highest volume chemical). 

Uses. Since 1947, 70 to 85% of the annual USA production of nitric acid has gone into the production of NH4 nitrate fertilizer, initially in the form of solid prills currently, increasing amounts have been supplied mixed with excess ammonia and/or urea as aqueous nitrogen solution for direct application to the soil. Some 15% is used in explsj (nitrates nitro compds), and about 10% is consumed by the chemical industry. As the red fuming acid or as nitrogen tetroxide, nitric acid is used extensively as the oxidizer in proplnts for rocketry. It is estimated that current USA capacity for nitric acid is in excess of 10 million tons (Refs 30, 34, 36 37)... 

Table 21.2 lists all important direct application materials and their percentage of direct application fertilizers. Direct application use is increasing mainly because of anhydrous ammonia gas becoming popular. It can be pumped in 3-6 in. beneath the soil during plowing and is absorbed by the soil rapidly. Nitrogen solutions can also be applied in this manner (mixture of free ammonia, ammonium nitrate, urea, and water). 

It is assumed that the reader has previously learned, in undergraduate inorganic or physical chemistry classes, how symmetry arises in molecular shapes and structures and what symmetry elements are (e.g., planes, axes of rotation, centers of inversion, etc.). For the reader who feels, after reading this appendix, that additional background is needed, the texts by Cotton and EWK, as well as most physical chemistry texts can be consulted. We review and teach here only that material that is of direct application to symmetry analysis of molecular orbitals and vibrations and rotations of molecules. We use a specific example, the ammonia molecule, to introduce and illustrate the important aspects of point group symmetry. 

AMMONIA. [CAS 7664-41-7]. Known since ancient Irmes. ammonia, NH3 has been commercially important for well over 100 years and has become tlie second largest chemical in terms of tonnage and the first chemical in value of production. The first practical plant of any magnitude was built ill 1913. Woildwide pioduction of NH as of the. early 1980s is estimated at 100 million metric tons per year or more, with the United States accounting for about 14% of the total production, A little over three-fourths of ammonia production iii tlie United States is used for fertilizer, of which nearly one-third is for direct application, An estimated 5.5% of ammonia production is based in the manufacture of fibers and plashes in termediates. 

Notably, all commercial nitric acid production methods used today are centred around the oxidation of ammonia. It is therefore appropriate to investigate the chemistry of this process, in the knowledge that it is directly applicable to any of the production... 

In 2002 it was estimated that anhydrous ammonia is produced in about 80 countries, and about 85% of all ammonia production is used to make nitrogen fertilizers. About 6% of the ammonia production is applied directly to the fields36. In the United States the distribution of ammonia use differs slightly from the worldwide uses. In the USA only 80% of the ammonia is used to make fertilizers, but 20% is used as a direct application fertilizer. Chemical intermediates (such as acrylonitrile and caprolactam) account for 19% of the ammonia use while the remaining 1% is used in pulp and paper, metals and refrigeration applications37. 

Another important aspect of the ammonia business is seasonality. The major end use for anhydrous ammonia (excluding production of downstream nitrogen products) is as a direct application fertilizer. The application season, particularly in Canada and the northern United States, is limited and significant storage capability is needed. As a result, it is normal to expect a plant to produce a downstream nitrogen product (such as urea) that is 1) easier to store and handle and 2) does not have such a limited application season. Industrial markets are normally nonseasonal57. 

Attention is directed to the fact that arsenites are reduced in alkaline solution by aluminium, Devarda s alloy, etc., to arsine, which blackens mercury(I) nitrate paper and also gives a positive tannic acid-silver nitrate test. Hence neither the mercury(I) nitrate test nor the tannic acid-silver nitrate test for ammonia is applicable if arsenites are present. 

Systems and Equipment for the Direct Application of Ammonia in Agriculture... 

Ammonia can enter the soil by direct application of fertilizers. Of the total U.S. production of anhydrous ammonia, 30% is applied directly to the soil under pressure (Kramer 2000). Approximately 80% of the U.S. production of ammonia is applied to soil in fertilizer formulations designed to release ammoniacal nitrogen. Application of natural fertilizers obtained from livestock excreta will also result in the release of ammonia to the soil (Asman et al. 1998 Beauchamp et al. 1982 Hoff et al. 1981 Olivier et al. 1998). High levels of ammonia in soils can result from the decomposition of animal wastes on cattle feedlots or other confinement areas. Ammonia in soil can also arise from the decay of organic material from plants and animals, etc. (Dawson 1977 Dawson and Farmer 1984). Microbial fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere is a natural and continual source of ammonia in soil (Galbally 1985 National Science Foundation 1999). 

Markets. Industrial use of ammonia varies according to region. For example, industrial usage represents 20% of the ammonia production in the United States and Western Europe, 10% in the USSR, 1—10% in Asia, and 5% in Latin America and North Africa (79). Fertiliser ammonia consumed domestically in most countries is converted to straight or compound fertilizers such as urea, ammonium nitrate, diammonium phosphate, and various grades of mixed fertilizers. However, almost 29% of ammonia nitrogen in the United States is consumed as direct application material. The use of nitrogen solution such as urea and ammonium nitrate (UAN) has also become popular in the United States and the USSR. 

Transportation and Distribution Cost. Although much ammonia serves as feedstock for other processes, the largest single use in the United States is as a direct application fertilizer without further processing. This direct application consumption is mosdy in the farm belt and ammonia produced in the Gulf Coast states is shipped to terminal facilities and then distributed by retail outlets to the farmer. 

Another commercially important aromatic amine is p-nitroaniline (PNA) and its derivative p> phenylenediamine (PPD). PNA is currently produced at Monsanto by the reaction of ammonia with PNCB (Figure 10). Recently a new example of NASH chemistry directly applicable to the... 

Transportation of anhydrous ammonia by pipeline is economically attractive in some cases. Examples of long distance ammonia transport by pipeline are found in Mexico, the former Soviet Union, and the United States. Pipelines may be used to transport ammonia from manufacturing plants to maritime terminals for shipment to factories that produce finished fertilizers or to market areas for direct application. A pipeline may serve some combination of these purposes. 

Truck transportation is the most expensive method of moving anhydrous ammonia and hence is used mainly for short distance. The trucks used in the United States consist of a tractor and a detachable trailer. Truck capacity is in the range of 16-18 tonnes. The trailers are also used to transport LPG. Some examples of truck transport costs are shown in Table 7.14. In the United States, about 4.0 million tonnes of anhydrous ammonia is used for direct application each year. FVobably as much... 

The United States uses the most fluid fertilizers. Table 10.2 summarizes fluid consumption by type in the United States during the period, 1960-93 [2] These and-other— data indicate that in 1993 about 40% of the total fertilizers applied in the United States were in the fluid form over one-half of the nitrogen was in the fluid form. The data also show that the most popular fluid in the United States is anhydrous ammonia its use remained constant for several years and decreased slightly during 1993. The popularity of anhydrous ammonia for direct application is essentially nil in all other countries except Canada. The next most popular fluid in the United States is a nonpressure nitrogen solution that contains between 28% and 32% nitrogen (N). 

Direct application of anhydrous ammonia started with rather humble equipment in the early 1940s. A horse-drawn applicator with a laboratory, 20-pound gas cylinder was used first. As the agronomic effectiveness of anhydrous ammonia was proven, more sophisticated equipment was developed and used. 

Ammonia is used extensively in the fertilizer industry to produce solid material such as ammonium salts, nitrate salts, and urea. Ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, and ammonium phosphate are made directly by neutralizing the corresponding acids—sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and phosphoric acid—with ammonia. Urea is an organic compound formed by combining ammonia and carbon dioxide. Ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, and urea are used for direct application to the soil in dry form and in combination with other phosphate and potassium salts. 

Ammonia is also used in the production of nitrogen fertilizer solutions that consist of ammonia, ammonium nitrate, urea, and water in various combinations. Some are pressure solutions and others are not. Nonpressure and low-pressure solutions are widely used for direct application to the soil. Pressure solutions containing free ammonia are used in the manufacture of high-analysis mixed fertilizers. 

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