Nitric acid industrial uses

HNO3. Nitric acid is a very strong acid about 6.8 million metric tons per year are manufactured for industrial purposes in the US. Most of it is produced from ammonia by the catalytic oxidation to NO, which is then further oxidized to NO2. Addition of water forms HNO3. Most of the nitric acid produced is used in the manufacture of fertilizers, and a lesser amount is used to make explosives. 

Acid rain. Lakes in some areas of the world are now registering very low pH s because of excess acidity in rain. This was first noticed in Scandinavia and is now prevalent in eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S. Normal rainfall is 5.6 (because of CO2 in the air forming H2CO3). However, excessive use of fossil fuels (especially coal) with high sulfur and nitrogen content cause sulfuric and nitric acids in the atmosphere from the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide products of combustion. Some rain in the Adirondack Mountains of upper New York State has been measured with a pH of 3.0. This problem is not specific to the chemical industry but should be of concern to all of us. 

There are two main factors supporting an optimistic view of the possibility of entering this foreign market. The first is the present low value of the Australian dollar. The fall of the Australian dollar between 1984 and 1987 compared to the US dollar, many of the European currencies, and particularly the Japanese yen, has given all Australian export industries a new competitiveness in the world market. This competitiveness extends to the chemical industry, and in this case to nitric acid producers. 

The demand for nitrogen in a chemically fixed form (as opposed to elemental nitrogen gas) drives a huge international industry that encompasses the production of seven key chemical nitrogen products ammonia, urea, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, nitrogen solutions, ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphates. Such nitrogen products had a total worldwide annual commercial value of about US 50 billion in 1996. The cornerstone of this industry is ammonia. Virtually all ammonia is produced in anhydrous form via the Haber process (as described in Chapter 2). Anhydrous ammonia is the basic raw material in a host of applications and in the manufacture of fertilizers, livestock feeds, commercial and military explosives, polymer intermediates, and miscellaneous chemicals35. 

Nitration of fatty acids was Ttrsl crfecied by Bo us in IK55 (2051 who nitru capry lic acid with nitric acid. Claus and Bfciffer 1206] nitrated stearic acid v. nitric acid (d 1.48) in glacial acetic at the solutions boiling temperature. In i search for an industrial application for the nitrated saponifiable oils. Kadch... 

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