Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3. A stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous waste, and it contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to fertilisers. Around 70% of ammonia produced industrially is used to make fertilisers in various forms and composition, such as urea and diammonium phosphate. Ammonia in pure form is also applied directly into the soil.
Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula HNO3. It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitric acid has a concentration of 68% in water. When the solution contains more than 86% HNO3, it is referred to as fuming nitric acid. Depending on the amount of nitrogen dioxide present, fuming nitric acid is further characterized as red fuming nitric acid at concentrations above 86%, or white fuming nitric acid at concentrations above 95%.
Sulfuric acid or sulphuric acid, known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen, with the molecular formula H2SO4. It is a colorless, odorless, and viscous liquid that is miscible with water.
A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Many sources of fertilizer exist, both natural and industrially produced. For most modern agricultural practices, fertilization focuses on three main macro nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) with occasional addition of supplements like rock flour for micronutrients. Farmers apply these fertilizers in a variety of ways: through dry or pelletized or liquid application processes, using large agricultural equipment, or hand-tool methods.
The chemical industry comprises the companies and other organizations that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into commodity chemicals for industrial and consumer products. It includes industries for petrochemicals such as polymers for plastics and synthetic fibers; inorganic chemicals such as acids and alkalis; agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; and other categories such as industrial gases, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula NH4NO3. It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is predominantly used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer.
Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russian rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium mixture with nitrogen dioxide. Its molar mass is 92.011 g/mol.
Koch, Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiaries are involved in the manufacturing, refining, and distribution of petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizer, pulp and paper, chemical technology equipment, cloud computing, finance, raw materials trading, and investments. Koch owns Flint Hills Resources, Georgia-Pacific, Guardian Industries, Infor, Invista, KBX, Koch Ag & Energy Solutions, Koch Engineered Solutions, Koch Investments Group, Koch Minerals & Trading, and Molex. The firm employs 122,000 people in 60 countries, with about half of its business in the United States.
Industrial processes are procedures involving chemical, physical, electrical, or mechanical steps to aid in the manufacturing of an item or items, usually carried out on a very large scale. Industrial processes are the key components of heavy industry.
The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited, abbreviated as FACT, is an Indian central public sector undertaking headquartered in Kochi, Kerala. It was incorporated in 1943, by Maharajah Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma of the Kingdom of Travancore. It was the first fertilizer manufacturing company in independent India and also the largest Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) in Kerala. The company is under the ownership of Government of India and administrative control of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Ammonia production takes place worldwide, mostly in large-scale manufacturing plants that produce 240 million metric tonnes of ammonia (2023) annually. Based on the annual production in 2023 the major part (~70%) of the production facilities are based in China (29%), India (9.5%), USA (9.5%), Russia (9.5%), Indonesia (4%), Iran (2,9%), Egypt (2,7%), and middle Saudi Arabia (2,7%). 80% or more of ammonia is used as fertilizer. Ammonia is also used for the production of plastics, fibres, explosives, nitric acid, and intermediates for dyes and pharmaceuticals. The industry contributes 1% to 2% of global CO
2. Between 18–20 Mt of the gas is transported globally each year.
Farmland Industries was the largest agricultural cooperative in North America when it eventually sold all of its assets in 2002–04. During its 74-year history, Farmland served its farmer membership as a diversified, integrated organization, playing a significant role in agricultural markets both domestically and worldwide.
The National Petrochemical Company (NPC), a subsidiary to the Iranian Petroleum Ministry, is owned by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is responsible for the development and operation of the country's petrochemical sector. Founded in 1964, NPC began its activities by operating a small fertilizer plant in Shiraz.
Coffeyville Resources, formerly known as the COOP Refinery, is a company which owns an oil refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas, United States. The refinery is owned and operated by Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing. The refinery employs about 500 people and produces approximately 2,100,000 US gallons (7,900,000 L) of gasoline per day, and 1,700,000 US gallons (6,400,000 L) of middle distillates per day, predominantly diesel oil.
The Enterprise South Industrial Park, located in Chattanooga, Tennessee consists of 6,000 acres (24 km2). Originally the site of the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant and operated by the U.S. Department of Defense, a large portion of the property is now home to the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant as well as other industries.
The wet sulfuric acid process (WSA process) is a gas desulfurization process. After Danish company Haldor Topsoe introduced this technology in 1987, it has been recognized as a process for recovering sulfur from various process gases in the form of commercial quality sulfuric acid (H2SO4) with the simultaneous production of high-pressure steam. The WSA process can be applied in all industries where sulfur removal presents an issue.
The history of fertilizer has largely shaped political, economic, and social circumstances in their traditional uses. Subsequently, there has been a radical reshaping of environmental conditions following the development of chemically synthesized fertilizers.
Mekog was a chemical company founded 1928, that manufactured fertilizer using hydrogen from coke oven gas as a feedstock. The company's facilities were located on the site of the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken steelworks near IJmuiden in the Netherlands.
Coal gasification is a process whereby a hydrocarbon feedstock (coal) is converted into gaseous components by applying heat under pressure in the presence of steam. Rather than burning, most of the carbon-containing feedstock is broken apart by chemical reactions that produce "syngas." Syngas is primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide, but the exact composition can vary. In Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) systems, the syngas is cleaned and burned as fuel in a combustion turbine which then drives an electric generator. Exhaust heat from the combustion turbine is recovered and used to create steam for a steam turbine-generator. The use of these two types of turbines in combination is one reason why gasification-based power systems can achieve high power generation efficiencies. Currently, commercially available gasification-based systems can operate at around 40% efficiencies. Syngas, however, emits more greenhouse gases than natural gas, and almost twice as much carbon as a coal plant. Coal gasification is also water-intensive.
Monolith Inc. is an American chemical and materials producer based in Nebraska. The company is known for being the first company to use methane pyrolysis to split natural gas into carbon and hydrogen gas on a commercial scale. The carbon resulting from the process is converted into carbon black. The company is building a plant where the hydrogen gas from the process will be converted to anhydrous ammonia. Monolith was founded by Robert Hanson and Pete Johnson in 2012, in Redwood City, California.
