Ammonium nitrate production

The Ordnance Department built a plant at Perryville, Maryland, operated by the Atlas Powder Company, which produced 452,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate per day. Also, the two nitrogen fixation plants at Muscle Shoals and Sheffield, Alabama, were set up to fix nitrogen in the form of ammonium nitrate. 

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Ammonia and nitric acid are the two basic ingredients in the manufacture of ammonium nitrate. In addition to consuming ammonia directly, the manufacture of ammonium nitrate consumes ammonia by way of nitric acid production. The largest single use of nitric acid is that of ammonium nitrate production (see Ammonium compounds). Urea (qv) is manufactured by reacting ammonia and carbon dioxide. Urea manufacturing faciHties are often located close to ammonia plants. 

Nitric acid (HNO3) Ammonium nitrate production for fertilizers and explosives, miscellaneous chemical production ... 

The resistance of titanium in nitric acid is good at most concentrations and at temperatures up to boiling . Thus tubular heat exchangers are used in ammonium nitrate production for preheating the acid prior to its introduction into the reactor via titanium sparge pipes. In explosives manufacture, concentrated nitric acid is cooled in titanium coils and titanium tanks are... 

Figure 12.16. A prilling tower for ammonium nitrate, product size range 0.4-2.0 mm. The dryer is not needed if the moisture content of the melt is less than about 0.5%.

An annual local market (Western Australia) of 65 000 tonnes for a 60%(wt) nitric acid product is envisaged for this plant. This market assessment is based upon anticipated demand from a new 50 000 tonne/year ammonium nitrate production facility. There is also an opportunity to exploit the potential South- East Asian market for up to 60 000 tonnes per year. This market may well be viable if low-cost shipping can be guaranteed through an arrangement with Alcoa of Australia Ltd. Alcoa imports caustic soda into WA, and the ships leave empty. It is proposed to use one of these ships to export up to 27 000 tonnes of 60% nitric acid into the foreign market. 

The trend in nitrogen product production generally parallels the changes in product capacity. However, ammonium sulfate production is expected to rise as world industrial production increases, even though a significant increase in capacity is not likely. Also, ammonium nitrate production is projected to be flat even though some new capacity will be built35. 

Figure 10.3-1 Flowchart of an ammonium nitrate production process.

The ammonium nitrate product is present only in the aerosol phase either as a solid or in solution depending on the relative humidity. The author was the first to point out that HNO3 and NH3 in the gas phase may be present in equilibrium with aerosol phase concentrations of... 

Next, remove the pan or kettle from the heat, and let it cool down. When the liquid starts to reach room temperature, add two volumes of denatured alcohol for each volume of liquid in the pan. The alcohol should be added fairly slowly with strong stirring of the mixture during the addition of alcohol. Cold alcohol only dissolves 4 grams of ammonium nitrate per 100 ml of solution. By changing the solution to predominantly alcohol, most of the ammonium nitrate is thrown out of solution as white crystals. Chill the mixture down in the refrigerator to complete the crystallization of the ammonium nitrate product. 

Ammonium nitrate production became a major fiictor towards the end of World War I once the merits of amatol, an 80 20 mixture of ammonium nitrate and TNT, had been accepted by the Services as the most expedient method of extending the hmited TNT supplies. Nitrogen fixation for fertilizers was the objective of the Haber process for ammonia and the successful chenjical engineering of this process had made Germany independent of the Chile nitrate supplies by 1918. The plant at Oppau made 25 tons/day of ammonia. The British requirement for ammonium nitrate was 4000 tons/week by the end of the war, which was met largely with gas works ammonia, Chile nitrate, and some manu cture via a Birkland-Eyre oxidation furnace and calcium nitrate. 

Two further attempts have been made to establish the arc process in the United States. In 913, the Southern Electro-Chemical Company, a subsidiary af the Snuthern Power Company, incorporated under the laws of the State of New York, erected a plant at Nitrolec, South Carnliini, This plant employed the Panllng furnace and was ec[ui[ipi d for nitric acid cnnceiitratiim and ammonium nitrate production. The plant as enlarged in 1915 was of a capacily to utilize some 7,000 electrical horsepower. Tts totid consumption for tVie mouth iif March 1915, the hest perind id operation, was at tlie rate iif less than half that amount, however. 

Ammonium nitrate production is composed of the following process sections.-... 

In pressure-neutralized processes, the neutralizer usually operates at 4-5 atm and 175°-180°C. Nitric acid is fed to the neutralizer at a usual concentration range of 50%-60%. In some cases it may be preheated with byproduct steam. Ammonia is fed to the neutralizer in gaseous form. If it is available in liquid form, it is vaporized in a heat exchanger by steam or air. If. air is used the cooled air may be used to cool the prilled or granulated ammonium nitrate product. The neutralizer may be operated at a low pH (3-4) to avoid ammonia loss, and more ammonia may be added later to adjust the pH to 7. The concentration of the solution from the neutralizer is usuaDy in the range of 80%-87% ammonium nitrate. It is evaporated further by using steam from the neutralizer to a concentration of 94%-98%. In many plants, a final evaporator-concentrator is used to increase the solution concentration to 99.5%-99.8%. 

Wastewater - Direct-process liquid effluents originating from fertilizer processes are rare. In most cases in urea and ammonium nitrate production, wet scrubbers are operated at low concentrations to allow economic recovery. Solutions from scrubbers are concentrated by adding screened fines and dust to... 

Note that the stoichiometric coefficient for the ammonium nitrate product must be two, since there are two ammonium ions and two nitrate ions present in the reacting species. 

Next, we can determine which of these products is soluble. According to the solubility rules, aU nitrates are soluble, so the ammonium nitrate product will dissolve in water and we designate its phase as aqueous (aq). On the other hand, sulfides are insoluble, and copper sulfide is not an exception. Thus, copper sulfide will precipitate and the phase designation is listed as solid (s). Now, combining the phase designations with the balanced overall equation provides... 

UNIDO. 1998. Fertilizer Manual. Dordrecht Kluwer Academic, p. 221 Eben, A., and P. Kaupas. 1998. Ammonium nitrate production and operational experience. Nitrogen Methanol 235 25-30 Shah, K. D. 1996. Safety of Ammonium Nitrate Fertilisers. Peterborough Fertiliser Society. 

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