Nitrogen-based fertilizers

Scientists have learned how to control chemical reactions to produce many useful materials—nitrates and other nitrogen-based fertilizers from atmospheric nitrogen, metals from rocks, plastics and pharmaceuticals from petroleum. These materials and the thousands of others produced by chemical reactions, as well as the abundant energy released when fossil fuels take part in the chemical reaction called combustion, have dramatically improved our living conditions. 

Australia currently produces approximately 200 000 tonnes of nitric acid (100% basis) per year (Ref. MD5). It is a cyclical market that responds directly to the performance of the agricultural and mining sectors. This occurs because Australian nitric acid is used almost exclusively for the production of ammonium nitrate (a nitrogen-based fertilizer and a mining explosive). The nitric acid industry has grown from a production capacity of 32 000 tonnes in 1967 (Ref. MD1 ). During the last decade, large deviations in production levels have occurred (Refe. MD3, MD4, and MD5). The overall trend has been for a 3% increase each year. 

Suburbia turned into a sea of green as homeowners bought lawn-mowers, pesticides, fertilizers, and sprinklers to maintain a lush green carpet. Oil and natural gas are the chief components in the production of nitrogen-based fertilizer. Power mowers use fossil fuels and contribute to air pollution. An hour of mowing grass can produce as much pollution as driving a car 350 miles. 

As a result of human activities ranging from the combustion of fossil fuels to the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers to large-scale deforestation, concentrations of key GHGs are increasing. Increased concentrations of CO2 coincided with the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 1860s and the use of fossil fuels. Based on an analysis of ice cores, scientists... 

The gliding arc has been known for more than one hundred years in the form of Jacob s ladder and was first used for producing nitrogen-based fertilizers by Naville and Guye (1904). Recent contributions to the development of gliding arcs have been made by A. 

Ammonia is also produced in ammonia plants as a raw material for the manufacture of urea and other nitrogen-based fertilizers. Ammonia in synthesis gas at temperatures between 450 and 500 °C causes nitridation of steel components. When synthesis gas is compressed to up to 34.5 MPa (5000 psig) prior to conversion, corrosive ammonium carbonate is formed, requiring various stainless steels for critical components. Condensed ammonia is also corrosive and can cause stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of stressed carbon steel and low-alloy steel components. 

---