Ammonia production historical developments

It follows that biomass will play a role complementary to other resources such as electricity from nuclear and hydraulic sources, as well as relatively inexhaustible supplies of natural gas, non-conventional oil and oil sands. The end use of these forms will be dictated by a combination of historic development and technological inertia such that substitution products electricity, methanol, hydrogen, or tonnage chemicals like ammonia, will provide the major outlets for biomass carbon... 

Dybkjaer, I., Development in ammonia production technology—Historical review. Nitrogen 91 International Conference Preprints, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 4—6, 1991. 

The absorption of carbon dioxide in water at elevated pressure was formerly an important industrial process, particularly for the purification of synthesis gas for ammonia production. The process has now generally been replaced by more efficient systems which employ chemical or physical solvents with much higher capacities for carbon dioxide than water. Such systems are described in Chapters 2, 3, 3, and 14. A description of the water wash process for carbon dioxide removal is included in this chapter because of its historical interest, its technical value as a classical liquid film-controlled operation, and the hope that the extensive work done on the process will prove usefril in the development of new processes or applications. 

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