Ammonia production statistics

The data in this example represent an investigation of ammonia production in the presence of a particular catalyst. The measured yield in percent is shown in the far right column of Table 8.10. Suppose we wish to achieve a prediction error less than fi = 1.5% in an example, where the standard deviation (measurement error) is y.2 = 1.05 estimated with 11 measurements, i.e., with degrees of freedom v= 10. The critical value of Student s /-statistic is found to be t10A95 = 2.228. At IV = 16 experiments, we check to see if the desired level of accuracy is achieved and obtain Kj-a Jd = 2.228 0.438 x 1.05 =1.51 > 1.5. At N= 16 experiments, weobtain tvl aJd =1.48 < 1.5 therefore, we can stop at N = 17 and be assured that, 95% of the time, we will achieve a prediction error not worse than +1.5%, which is considerably smaller than the range of the variation in the response value. 

World Ammonia Production, Consumption and Trade , Statistical supplement, Nitrogen 217 (1995) 22. 

Germany. The Statistisches Bundesamt, the federal West German statistical office, publishes statistics in Die Industrie der Bundesrepublik 30), Part I gives monthly statistics of employment and unemployment, hours and wages, and fuel and electricity supplies and consumption by individual industries. Part II gives monthly production statistics for mining, fuel and power, and the main industries. Chemicals included are sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, chlorine, caustic soda, synthetic ammonia. 

Synthesis of ammonia in the Haber-Bosch process is one of the best studied catalytic processes. The process was developed by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch and patented in 1910 (Haber, 1910) Haber was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1918 for this work. Today, almost all ammonia production is based on the Haber-Bosch process, and it is one of the largest chemical processes in the world with a yearly production of approximately 120 million tonnes (from the International Fertilizer Industry Association, World Ammonia Statistics for 2005). The main use of ammonia is as fertilizer for agriculture, which constitutes 80% of the world production. 

The phthalonitrile process has the particular advantage over the phthalic anhydride process of forming ring-substituted chloro-copper phthalocyanines. Using copper(I)chloride produces so-called semi-chloro Copper Phalocyanine Blue, a pigment which possesses a statistical average of 0.5 chlorine atoms per copper phthalocyanine molecule. Copper(II)chloride, on the other hand, affords a product which comprises an average of one chlorine atom per copper phthalocyanine molecule. A prerequisite for the formation of the chloro substituted compound, however, is the absence of ammonia or urea in the reaction mixture. 

The Bureau of Mines is a source of many chemical statistics. The monthly Coke and Coal Chemicals report, part of the bureau s Mineral Industry Surveys, contains, in addition to data on oven and beehive coke production, figures on production of ammonium sulfate, ammonia liquor, naphthalene, benzene, toluene, xylene, solvent naphtha, pyridine, crude coal tar, and cresote oil. Sales and end-of-month stock figures are also shown in the report. A useful feature of the report is the year-end supplement which gives year s totals by months. 

The Italian chemical journal, Rassegna Chemica 50), contains articles on technical and industrial developments and on chemical markets in Italy. Monthly statistics on Italian chemical production (quoted from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce) include the following synthetic ammonia, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, sodium carbonate, caustic soda, alumina, trichlorethylene, calcium carbide, carbon disulfide, explosives, superphosphates, ammonium sulfate, calcium cyanamide, calcium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, copper sulfate, dyestuffs, ethyl alcohol, methanol, tanning extracts, tartaric acid, citric acid, wood pulp and cellulose, and sodium nitrate. 

The official statistics annual for Norwegian industry 61) gives general statistics for the different branches of the industry and detailed tables of output of products which include figures for the consumption of individual raw materials and auxiliary materials in the various industries. Figures are available for paints and lacquers (separate products), dry colors, tars, pharmaceuticals, polishes, baking powders, flavors, superphosphate, calcium nitrate, sodium bicarbonate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium bicarbonate, lime-ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrate, ammonia, sodium carbonate, nitric acid, carbide, cyanamide, explosives, ammunition and matches, and chemical pulps (separate products). 

Before the challenges that face the industry can be reasonably discussed, the industry itself must be defined. Specific statistics that give adequate comparisons on sales, pounds, and total value of synthetic organic chemicals sold are not easy to determine, and it becomes necessary to define the industry by a process of elimination. The United States Department of Commerce reports that the aggregate of sales among chemicals and allied products accounted for about 23 billion in 1957. In Table I, it can be seen that almost 18 billion of this aggregate were accounted for by finished product sales synthetic rubber, paints, soaps, fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals or by inorganic chemicals such as sulfuric acid, ammonia, and chlorine. 

SS, 3 X 2nun). A Nal detector continuously measures the passing activity through the sample loop. A GC run is remotely started at the moment that the sample loop is filled with [ NJ-NHs. The GC is equipped with a Haysep P column (SS, mesh 80-100, O.D. 1/8). The GC run is started at 90°C, and after 1 minute, the temperature is increased with 10°C/min to 130°C. The products are analysed by a thermal conductivity detector (TCD). A Nal detector, directed at the TCD, monitors labelled products. Behind the TCD detector, a heated electrical 3-way valve selects a small part from the [ NJ-NHg peak. Depending on the experiment, a pulse time of 2-10 s is used to inject the labelled gaseous ammonia into the reactant stream. The required specific activity of the radioactive ammonia pulse is 0.1 MBq/ml minimum to meet the statistical requirements of the positron emission profiling experiments. 

---