The Complete Handbook of Ammonia

Chapter 1: Understanding Ammonia

Ammonia is the second most produced industrial chemical in the world, by volume. Only sulfuric acid is manufactured in greater quantities. This fact is easy to state, but hard to appreciate unless you understand what you are holding in a container. Ammonia, in the form most professionals handle, is a colorless gas at room temperature that is lighter than air. Yet you will also buy it as a liquid under pressure, or as a dissolved liquid in water. The form you use determines everything else: the equipment you need, the safety protocols you follow, and the cost of your operation.

At a molecular level, ammonia is simple. It is one atom of nitrogen bonded to three atoms of hydrogen, with the chemical formula NH3. It is a toxic, reactive, and pungent chemical. However, that simplicity is misleading. The modern world depends on it. It is the primary source of nitrogen fertilizer that feeds roughly half of the global population. Without synthetic ammonia, global food production would collapse to pre-industrial levels. If you work in agriculture, you are likely dealing with ammonia to inject nitrogen into the soil for crops like corn or wheat. If you work in industry, you might be using it as a refrigerant in an industrial ice plant or cold storage warehouse, because it is one of the most thermodynamically efficient refrigerants known, with almost zero direct global warming potential. You might treat drinking water with it to form chloramines for a longer-lasting