AMMONIA + NITROGEN CYCLE

By: Berenice Mendoza

AMMONIUM

It is a pungent colorless gaseous alkaline compound of nitrogen and hydrogen NH3 that is very soluble in water and can easily be condensed to a liquid by cold and pressure. Plants use ammonia in the soil as a source of nitrogen, which is needed to build proteins that are essential to their life. Ammonium can be toxic to some crops, it is rarely applied as a sole nitrogen source.

BACTERIA & AMMONIUM

"…bacteria that grows by eating inorganic compounds" (Wikipedia)

When a plant or an animal decomposes, bacteria comes in and creates ammonium (NH4+)

nitrogenous material in dead plants and animals -> ammonia molecules

Bacteria takes in dead organic matter and turns it into organic compounds, done by plants

INDUSTRIAL PROCESS AND FERTILIZER FACTORIES (INDUSTRIAL FIXATION)

Ammonia is used as a synthetic nitrogen fertilizer to enrich land for crop growth

Burning of fossil fuels release nitrogen oxides into the environment

The ozone is weakening due to nitrous oxide being released.

“The price of nitrogen fertilizers is directly related to the price of natural gas (methane). Manufacturing 1 ton of anhydrous ammonia fertilizer requires 33,500 cubic feet of natural gas. This cost represents most of the costs associated with manufacturing anhydrous ammonia. When natural gas prices are $2.50 per thousand cubic feet, the natural gas used to manufacture 1 ton of anhydrous ammonia fertilizer costs $83.75. If the price rises to $7.00 per thousand cubic feet of natural gas, the cost of natural gas used in manufacturing that ton of anhydrous ammonia rises to $234.50, an increase to the manufacturer of $150.75” - The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation

HABER-BOSCH PROCESS

This process is used by industries and it is the implementation of the reaction of nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas. It is the main industrial route to ammonia