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Ammonia Applications:
y Agricultural industries are the major users of ammonia,
representing nearly 80% of allammonia produced in the United
States. Ammonia is a very valuable source of nitrogen
that is essential for plant growth. Depending on the particular
crop being grown, up to
200 pounds of ammonia per acre may be applied for each growing
season.
y Ammonia is used in the production of liquid fertilizer
solutions which consist ofammonia, ammonium nitrate, urea and aqua
ammonia. It is also used by the fertilizer
industry to produce ammonium and nitrate salts.
y Ammonia and urea are used as a source of protein in livestock
feeds for ruminatinganimals such as cattle, sheep and goats.
Ammonia can also be used as a pre-harvestcotton defoliant, an
anti-fungal agent on certain fruits and as preservative for the
storage
of high-moisture corn.
y Dissociated ammonia is used in such metal treating operations
as nitriding,carbonitriding, bright annealing, furnace brazing,
sintering, sodium hydride descaling,
atomic hydrogen welding and other applications where protective
atmospheres are
required.
y Ammonia is used in the manufacture of nitric acid; certain
alkalies such as soda ash;dyes; pharmaceuticals such as sulfa
drugs, vitamins and cosmetics; synthetic textile fibers
such as nylon, rayon and acrylics; and for the manufacture of
certain plastics such as
phenolics and polyurethanes.
y The petroleum industry utilizes ammonia in neutralizing the
acid constituents of crude oiland for protection of equipment from
corrosion. Ammonia is used in the mining industryfor extraction of
metals such as copper, nickel and molybdenum from their ores.
y Ammonia is used in several areas of water and wastewater
treatment, such as pH control,in solution form to regenerate weak
anion exchange resins, in conjunction with chlorine
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to produce potable water and as an oxygen scavenger in boiler
water treatment.
yAmmonia is used in stack emission control systems to neutralize
sulfur oxides fromcombustion of sulfur-containing fuels, as a
method of NOx control in both catalytic and
non-catalytic applications and to enhance the efficiency of
electrostatic precipitators for
particulate control.
y Ammonia is used as the developing agent in photochemical
processes such as whiteprinting, blue printing and in the diazo
duplication process.
y Ammonia is a widely used refrigerant in industrial
refrigeration systems found in thefood, beverage, petro-chemical
and cold storage industries.
y Ammonia is used in the rubber industry for the stabilization
of natural and synthetic latexto prevent premature coagulation.
y The pulp and paper industry uses ammonia for pulping wood and
as a casein dispersant in
the coating of paper.
y The food and beverage industry uses ammonia as a source of
nitrogen needed for yeastand microorganisms.
y The decomposition of ammonia serves as a source of hydrogen
for some fuel cell andother applications.
y Ammonia is used by the leather industry as a curing agent, as
a slime and moldpreventative in tanning liquors and as a protective
agent for leathers and furs in storage.
