Annual production of ammonia

Chevron s WWT (wastewater treatment) process treats refinery sour water for reuse, producing ammonia and hydrogen sulfide [7783-06-04] as by-products (100). Degassed sour water is fed to the first of two strippers. Here hydrogen sulfide is stripped overhead while water and ammonia flow out the column bottoms. The bottoms from the first stripper is fed to the second stripper which produces ammonia as the overhead product. The gaseous ammonia is next treated for hydrogen sulfide and water removal, compressed, and further purified. Ammonia recovery options include anhydrous Hquid ammonia, aqueous Hquid ammonia, and ammonia vapor for incineration. There are more than 20 reported units in operation, the annual production of ammonia from this process is about 200,000 t. 

Ammonia reactor during construction of the plant. The worldwide annual production of ammonia Is in the region of 150 million tonnes. [44] 40% of the nitrogen content of every European and US citizen s body has already seen the inside of an ammonia plant. For the Chinese, this value is even at 66 %, due to differences in diet. [47]... 

The annual production of ammonia is about 1.8 x 10 tons (from FAO), while the annual demand of the catalyst is about (18 — 23) x 10 tons in the world. In China, the capacity of ammonia synthesis catalysts is about 7,000 tons, the production is about 5,000-6,000 tons recently. Among these catalysts, about 4,500-5,000 tons are supplied to domestic market and the rest, about 1,000 tons, are exported. 

The aim of this chapter is to relate the detailed analysis of the ammonia synthesis reaction, as examined in other sections of this book, to the commercial operation of one of the major processes of the worldwide chemical industry. The present annual production of ammonia is in excess of 120 million tons per year and virtually all of this ammonia is produced from a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen over a promoted iron catalyst operating at elevated temperature and pressure. Over 90% of ammonia produced is used as a fertilizer, principally in the form of urea or ammonium nitrate. 

Annual Production of Ammonia and Consumption of Inorganic Nitrogen Fertilizers in the United States, 1900-1997... 

Titanium Alkoxides. Titanium alkoxides are made from titanium tetrachloride and the corresponding alcohols in the presence of ammonia. Higher titanium alkoxides are manufactured from lower alkoxides by alcoholysis. Titanium isopropoxide and -butoxide are commercially available in barrels. Annual production of titanium alkoxides is estimated at 3000—4000 metric tons at an average price of about 4/kg. 

Two of the most important classes of chemical compounds are acids and bases. A small sampling of acids and bases found around the home demonstrates their importance in daily life. A few of these include fruit juice, aspirin, milk, ammonia, baking soda, vinegar, and soap. Beyond their presence in numerous household items, acids and bases are key ingredients in the chemical process industry. More sulfuric acid is produced than any other chemical in the United States with an annual production of 40 million tons. While the commercial applications of acids and bases illustrate their importance in everyday life, on a more fundamental level each one of us inherited our characteristics and genetic make-up through the acid DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid. 

Caprolactam [105-60-2] (2-oxohexamethylenimine, hexahydro-2.fi-azepin-2-one) is one of the most widely used chemical intermediates. However, almost all of the annual production of 3.0 x 106 t is consumed as the monomer for nylon-6 fibers and plastics (see Fibers survey Polyamides, plastics). Cyclohexanone, which is the most common organic precursor of caprolactam, is made from benzene by either phenol hydrogenation or cyclohexane oxidation (see Cyclohexanol AND cyclohexanone). Reaction with ammonia-derived hydroxylamine forms cyclohexanone oxime, which undergoes molecular rearrangement to the seven-membered ring 8-caprolactam. 

One of the principal goals of chemical synthesis is to maximize the conversion of reactants to products while minimizing the expenditure of energy. This objective is achieved easily if the reaction goes nearly to completion at mild temperature and pressure. If the reaction gives an equilibrium mixture that is rich in reactants and poor in products, however, then the experimental conditions must be adjusted. For example, in the Haber process for the synthesis of ammonia from N2 and H2 (Figure 13.7), the choice of experimental conditions is of real economic importance. Annual U.S. production of ammonia is about 13 million tons, primarily for use as fertilizer. 

How many tons of hydrogen are required for the annual U.S. production of ammonia (13 million tons) ... 

In 1960, almost all of the 260 million lb annual production of acrylonitrile was based on acetylene. Ten years later, the volume had risen to 1.1 billion lb, which was based almost entirely on an ammoxidation process with ammonia, propylene, and air as feeds. However, in the latter 1980s the growth rate had slowed considerably. 

About half of the ammonia produced in the United States is made from coal. Assuming that coal contains 1% nitrogen, 30% of which can be recovered as ammonia, what weight of coal is treated for the annual production of 100,000 ions of ammonium sulfate in this way ... 

Ammonia is a natural compound, as well as a manufactured compound. In nature, most ammonia probably comes from decomposing animal excreta, with the decay of organic materials from plants, dead animals, and the like also contributing significant amounts. It is also exhaled by animals. Production of fixed nitrogen (NH3) by plants and microorganisms is estimated at 90-130 metric tons annually. Manufacture of ammonia within the United States was 9.5 million metric tons in 2001, which is down from 16.6 million metric tons in 1999. Commercially produced ammonia is used primarily as fertilizer, with plastics, synthetic fibers and resins, explosives, and other uses accounting for most of the remainder. 

Human production of fixed nitrogen (NH3) is now estimated to be 140 TG N per year, an amount that is similar to non-anthropogenic sources (NSF 1999 Socolow 1999). The total annual commercial production of ammonia was estimated to result in atmospheric emission of ammonia representing approximately 1-5% of nature s global ammonia emission budget (ApSimon et al. 1987 Buijsman et al. 1987 Crutzen 1983 Galbally 1985 Rosswall 1981). 

The total installed capacity for production of ammonia worldwide is about 135 million tons per year, corresponding to about 370 plants each with a capacity of 1000 tons per day (the plants actually existing have, of course, a range of capacities from less than 100 TPD to above 1500 TPD). The ammonia is mainly used for production of fertilizers, and the annual growth rate is in the next decade expected to be 3.2% per year. It has been estimated that there will (including replacement of outdated capacity) be a demand for construction of about 80 new plants (1000 MTPD) before 1995 [ij. 

Nitric acid is one of the three major acids of the modem chemical industiy and has been known as a corrosive solvent for metals since alchemical times in the thirteenth centuiy. " " It is now invariably made by the catalytic oxidation of ammonia under conditions which promote the formation of NO rather than the thermodynamically more favoured products N2 or N2O (p. 423). The NO is then further oxidized to NO2 and the gases absorbed in water to yield a concentrated aqueous solution of the acid. The vast scale of production requires the optimization of all the reaction conditions and present-day operations are based on the intricate interaction of fundamental thermodynamics, modem catalyst technology, advanced reactor design, and chemical engineering aspects of process control (see Panel). Production in the USA alone now exceeds 7 million tonnes annually, of which the greater part is used to produce nitrates for fertilizers, explosives and other purposes (see Panel). 

The production-scale fermentation unit, with a projected annual capacity of over50,000 tonnes was fully commissioned in 1980. The bioreactor (Figure 4.8) is 60 m high, with a 7 m base diameter and working volume 1,500 m3. There are two downcomers and cooling bundles at the base. Initial sterilisation is with saturated steam at 140°C followed by displacement with heat sterilised water. Air and ammonia are filter sterilised as a mixture, methanol filter sterilised and other nutrients heat sterilised. Methanol is added through many nozzles, placed two per square metre. For start-up, 20 litres of inoculum is used and the system is operated as a batch culture for about 30 h. After this time the system is operated as a chemostat continuous culture, with methanol limitation, at 37°C and pH 6.7. Run lengths are normally 100 days, with contamination the usual cause of failure. 

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)... 

Ammonia is produced in huge quantities, and it is by far the most common and important compound of nitrogen and hydrogen. Approximately 30 billion pounds of NH3 are used annually with a large portion being used as fertilizer or in the production of nitric acid. Ammonia is produced by the Haber... 

Industrially, ammonia has been produced from dinitrogen and dihydrogen by the Haber-Bosch process, which operates at very high temperatures and pressures, and utilizes a promoted iron catalyst. Millions of tons of ammonia are generated annually for incorporation into agricultural fertilizers and other important commercial products. The overall reaction is exergonic, as indicated in equation 6.1 ... 

In this chapter, you learned about the Haber process for manufacturing ammonia. You used this process to help you understand various concepts related to equilibrium. As you can see in Figure 7.11, ammonia is a valuable industrial chemical. Its annual global production is well over 100 million tonnes. The vast majority of ammonia, roughly 80%, is used to make fertilizers. You will now examine how the equilibrium concepts you have been studying work together to provide society with a reliable, cost-effective supply of ammonia. 

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