Nitrate fertilizers

Ammonia from coal gasification has been used for fertilizer production at Sasol since the beginning of operations in 1955. In 1964 a dedicated coal-based ammonia synthesis plant was brought on stream. This plant has now been deactivated, and is being replaced with a new faciUty with three times the production capacity. Nitric acid is produced by oxidation and is converted with additional ammonia into ammonium nitrate fertilizers. The products are marketed either as a Hquid or in a soHd form known as Limestone Ammonium Nitrate. Also, two types of explosives are produced from ammonium nitrate. The first is a mixture of fuel oil and porous ammonium nitrate granules. The second type is produced by emulsifying small droplets of ammonium nitrate solution in oil. 

Ammonium nitrate fertilizer incorporates nitrogen in both of the forms taken up by crops ammonia and nitrate ion. Fertilizers (qv) containing only ammoniacal nitrogen are often less effective, as many important crops tend to take up nitrogen mainly in the nitrate form and the ammonium ions must be transformed into nitrate by soil organisms before the nitrogen is readily available. This transformation is slow in cool, temperate zone soils. Thus, ammonium nitrate is a preferred source of fertilizer nitrogen in some countries. 

Ammonium nitrate fertilizer was priced at about 137/t in bulk in June 1991. The DOT label required is OXY the United Nations number is UN... 

Table 1 Mortality from cancer of the stomach and other causes between 1 January 1946 and 28 February 1981 among 1327 male workers in a factory making ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Deaths observed compared with deaths expected from statistics for workers in comparable jobs in the locality. Statistics for heavily and less heavily exposed workers combined ...

Nitrophosphate fertilizer is made by digesting phosphate rock with nitric acid. This is the nitrophosphate route leading to NPK fertilizers as in the mixed-acid route, potassium and other salts are added during the process. The resulting solution is cooled to precipitate calcium nitrate, which is removed by filtration methods. The filtrate is neutralized with ammonia, and the solution is evaporated to reduce the water content. The process of prilling may follow. The calcium nitrate filter cake can be further treated to produce a calcium nitrate fertilizer, pure calcium nitrate, or ammonium nitrate and calcium carbonate. 

AMMONIUM NITRATE FERTILIZER (NITROGEN/POTASH OR PHOSPHATE) 2071 ... 

AMMONIUM NITRATE FERTILIZER, uith less than 0.2X COMBUSTIBLE 1942 ... 

The Grandcamp was loaded with 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, 29,000 bales of sisal twine, 9.334 bags of shelled peanuts, automobile.s, trucks, and agricultural machinery, oil. 

Instead of using sulfuric or phosphoric acid, nitric acid can be used to treat the phosphate lock to produce calcium nitrate fertilizer. Instead of neutralizing phosphoric acid with calcium which is useless, ammonia can be used to give ammonium phosphate, hence, two fertilizing elements. 

Nitric acid is one of the most used chemicals. The 1994 U.S. production was approximately 17.65 hillion pounds. It is a colorless to a yellow liquid, which is very corrosive. It is a strong oxidizing acid that can attack almost any metal. The most important use of nitric acid is to produce ammonium nitrate fertilizer. 

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)... 

Applies to straight ammonium nitrate fertilizers which comply with Directive 80/876/EEC and to compound fertilizers where the nitrogen content derived from the ammonium nitrate > 28% by weight (a compound fertilizer contains ammonium fertilizer together with phosphate and/or potash). 

In Smoke. We compared the gas chromatograms of nitrosamines in matching aliquots of mainstream smoke derived from Burley type cigarettes that were identical except for the degree of nitrate fertilization during cultivation (Figure 2). This comparison supports the concept that the nitrate concentration in tobacco is a determining factor for the nitrosamine yields in the smoke. The data in Table II confirm this concept. These studies have... 

In general, improvised explosives are too complicated to prepare or too weak for steel cutting and most other sabotage tasks. However, if the problem is to get a quantity of lower velocity explosive for cratering or moving a large volume of earth or rock, a good simple one can be prepared from ammonium nitrate fertilizer. 

Porter W P, Jaeger J W and Carlson I H (1999). Endocrine, immune, and behavioral effects of aldicarp (carbamate), atrazine (triazine) and nitrate (fertilizer) mixtures at groundwater concentrations . Toxicology and Industrial Health, 15,133-150. 

CAN [calcium ammonium nitrate] A process for making calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Developed by BASF (hence the alternative process name BASF/CAN) and engineered by Uhde. 

A lire disaster costing 67 million occurred in Texas City, Texas, on the SS Grandcamp (16 April 1987) due to spontaneous ignition of stored fertilizer in the ship s hold. A release of steam from an engine leak caused the atmosphere of the ammonium nitrate fertilizer to be exposed to temperatures of 100 °C. Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) decomposes exothermically releasing 378 kJ/g mol. Its rate of decomposition can be described by the Arrhenius equation ... 

Carlson, Ian H., James W. Jaeger, and Warren P. Porter, 1999. Endocrine, Immune, and Behavioral Effects of Aldicarb (Carbamate), Atrazine (Triazine) and Nitrate (Fertilizer) Mixtures at Groundwater Concentrations. Toxicology and Industrial Health, Volume 15, No. 1-2, Janu-ary-March 1999, p. 133-50. 

Cotterill [100] studied the effect of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on the electron capture or nitrogen specific gas chromatographic determination of Triazine plus other types of herbicide (Atrazine(2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino, 1,3,5 triazine), Simazine (2-chloro-4.6 bis ethyl amino 1,3,5 triazine), Linuron (3,4,-chlorophenyl-l-methoxy-l-methyl urea), Metribuzin, Triallate and Phorate) residues in soil. 

USEPA s Risk Management Program monitors large chemical producers, including petroleum refiners, petrochemical manufacturers, and nitrate-fertilizer manufactur-... 

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