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Aqueous AmmoniaProduction The process to get ammonia is to combine directly nitrogen from the air with hydrogen derived mainly from natural gas (methane). The reaction is made reversible and the production of ammonia is exothermic. The catalyst is actually slightly more complicated than pure iron. It has potassium hydroxide added to it as a promoter - a substance that increases its efficiency. The pressure varies from one manufacturing plant to another, but is always high. At each pass of the gases through the reactor, only about 15% of the nitrogen and hydrogen converts to ammonia. (This figure also varies from plant to plant.) By continual recycling of the unreacted nitrogen and hydrogen, the overall conversion is about 98%.
The reaction formula can be summarized as follows : N2 (g) + 3H2 (g) = 2NH3 (g)
Aqueous ammonia is a colourless liquid with a strong pungent odour. It consists of ammonia (25%) dissolved in water (75%). The reaction between ammonia and water is spontaneous and exothermic. Ammonia in water is also called ammonium hydroxide. However, only a small fraction of ammonia reacts to form ammonium hydroxide. The main part is present as dissolved gas in water. This is the reason why the vaporization pressure of ammonia is high over ammonia water. The reaction formula can be summarized as follows: NH3 (g) + H2O = NH4+ + OH-
Applications Aqueous ammonia has several applications:
Logistics Aqueous ammonia delivered to the UK is generally sourced from Sluiskil. Normally, aqueous ammonia is delivered as a 25% solution. Yara's delivers the product in bulk tankers to end users and chemical distributor companies to the UK.
A material safety data sheet or product specification sheet will be sent on request |
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