Fertilisers and Making Ammonium Salts

Application of Ammonia

Global market size is estimated to be worth over £150 million with roughly 200 million tonnes produced yearly
Ammonia is produced in the Haber process and an important feedstock to produce:
- Explosives
- Polymers
- Dyes
- Cleaning products
- Fertilisers

Improve growth of crop plants
Can be natural (manure) or artifical with syntheic mixtures of soluble chemicals added to the soil
Fertilisers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are very common as these elements promote plant growth
Known as NPK fertilisers
Fertilisers replace minerals used up by plants and help prevent deficiency diseases
Farmers use fertilisers to not only increase crop yields but keep yields at consistent level each year

Eutrophication occurs when excessive fertilisers run off into water, leading to nutrient overload
- Promotes algal blooms that deplete oxygenin water, harming aquatic life and disrupting ecosystems
Preventing this involves managing fertiliser application and implementing buffer zones near water bodies to reduce runoff

Vegetated area near water bodies that help absorb nutrients, filter pollutants and reduce runoff
- Thus protecting the water quality

Plays a role in water purification by removing unwanted ions and contaminants
Handling and storage of ammonium salts must be done with care to prevent hazards such as explosions, particularly with ammonium nitrate

Chemists first devise ways to make chemicals synthetically in a lab before mass production
Ammonium salts can be produced in lab:
- React an acid with ammonia (titration)
- Evaporating solution and collecting crystals of ammonium salts
- Known as batch process
After a synthesis route has been devised in the lab, this is then scaled up and optimised to be used with industrial processing
Typically increases efficiency of the process
In industy:
- Ammonia and sulphuric acid will be made on site
Production of ammonium salts is a continuous process