What is the use for Ammonia?

Answer 1

Fertilizer Approximately 83% (as of 2003) of ammonia is used as fertilizers either as its salts or as solutions. Consuming more than 1% of all man-made power, the production of ammonia is a significant component of the world energy budget. Ammonia is directly or indirectly the precursor to most nitrogen-containing compounds. Practically all synthetic and all inorganic nitrogen compounds are prepared from ammonia. An important derivative is nitric acid. This key material is generated via the Ostwald process by oxidisation of ammonia with air over a platinum catalyst at 700 - 850 °C, ~9 atm. Nitric oxide is an intermediate: : NH3 + 2 O2 → HNO3 + H2O Nitric acid is used for the production of fertilizers, explosives, and natural organonitrogen other chemical compounds. Minor and emerging uses Refrigeration - R717 Ammonia's thermodynamic properties made it one of the refrigerants commonly used prior to the discovery of dichlorodifluoromethane. Ammonia's toxicity complicates this application. Anhydrous ammonia is widely used in industrial refrigeration applications because of its high energy efficiency and low cost. Ammonia is used less frequently in commercial applications, such as in grocery store freezer cases and refrigerated displays due to its toxicity. == Ammonia used to scrub SO2 from the burning of fossil fuels, the resulting product is converted to ammonium sulfate for use as fertilizer. Ammonia neutralizes the nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollutants emitted by diesel engines. This technology, called SCR (selective catalytic reduction), relies on a vanadia-based catalyst. == Ammonia was used during World War II to power buses in Belgium, and in engine and solar energy applications prior to 1900. Liquid ammonia was used as the fuel of the rocket airplane, the X-15. Although not as powerful as other fuels, it left no soot in the reusable rocket engine and its density approximately matches that for the oxidizer, liquid oxygen, which simplified the aircraft's design. Ammonia is proposed as a practical and clean alternative to fossil fuel for internal combustion engines. The biggest obstacle is the enormous increase in production required since present production, although the second most produced chemical, is a very small fraction of world petroleum usage. Ammonia has no more serious issues, as an alternative vehicle fuel compared to petrol or diesel, including toxicity, flammability, use in engines, pollution, energy density .It does require twice the storage volume of petrol/diesel. It can run in existing engines. It is already widely produced and distributed, and can be manufactured from renewable energy sources, coal or nuclear power. The main down side is that overall it is significantly less efficient than batteries. The 60 MW Rjukan dam in Telemark Norway, was producing ammonia via electrolysis of water for many years from 1913 producing fertilizer for much of Europe. Ammonia is already produced, transported and stored on a vast scale. In combination with coal gas it was used to run 20 buses on 8 routes covering many tens of thousands of miles with no injuries or engine damage.It can be used in existing engines with only minor modifications to carburetors / injectors. If produced from coal, the CO2 can be readily sequestrated. (the combustion products are nitrogen and water). In 1981 a Canadian company converted a 1981 Chevrolet Impala to operate using ammonia as fuel. The use of ammonia as fuel continues to be discussed. There are prototype solid state processes to use electricity to convert nitrogen and water directly to ammonia, which are claimed to be cheaper, more efficient and capable of much smaller scale application ie to otherwise stranded assets such as remote wind turbines. The calorific value of ammonia is 22.5 MJ/kg (9690 BTU/lb) which is about half that of diesel. In a normal engine, in which the water vapor is not condensed, the calorific value of ammonia will be about 21% less than this figure. == Liquid ammonia is used for treatment of cotton materials, give a properties like mercerisation using alkalies. And also used for pre-washing of wool. == Solutions of ammonia in water can be applied on the skin to lessen the effects of acidic animal poisons, especially insect poison and jellyfish poison.

Answer 2

Ammonia is commonly used in household cleaning products as a disinfectant and degreaser. It is also used in the manufacturing of fertilizers and explosives, as well as in the production of textiles and plastics. Additionally, it is used in refrigeration systems as a refrigerant.