Ammonia

Introduction
• Ammonia is a colourless gas with a pungent odour that is noticeable at
concentrations above 50 ppm.
• It is poisonous if inhaled in great quantities and is irritating to the eyes,
nose, and throat in lesser amounts.
• At normal atmospheric pressure, ammonia has a boiling point of -280F
and a freezing point of -107.86 0F.
• It is highly soluble in water, with one volume of water absorbing 1.148
volumes of ammonia at 32 0F.
 Introduction
• The danger associated with ammonia is that it is explosive when
mixed with air in certain proportions, approximately 1 volume of
ammonia to 2 volumes of air, and is much more so when mixed with
oxygen.
 Sources of NH3
• Various industries were identified as emitters of ammonia.
• These include the fertilizer manufacture industry, coke manufacture,
fossil fuel combustion, livestock management, and refrigeration
methods.
• Most of the ammonia emitted is generated from livestock waste
management and fertilizer production, comprising about 90% of total
ammonia emissions.
 Sources of NH3
• Fossil fuel combustion is different from the other industries identified
in that ammonia is not emitted from the process itself, but from the
control technology applied to the source in order to control nitrogen
oxide (NOx) emissions.
• Selective catalytic reduction and selective non-catalytic reduction are
two technologies used to control nitrogen oxides in the post-
combustion gases exhausting from combustion sources.
• These methods reduce nitrogen oxides by injecting urea or ammonia
into the exhaust gas to react with the nitrogen oxides, with or without a
catalyst present, depending on the method selected. If the reaction is
not complete, a portion of the ammonia may exit the system in the
effluent. This condition is known as ammonia slip.
 Control Techniques
• The various control technologies available to control ammonia emissions
include both add-on control devices and pollution prevention techniques.
• The wet scrubber, specifically the packed tower scrubber, has been
successfully used to control ammonia emissions, demonstrating control
efficiencies up to 99%.
• Condensers are also used to remove ammonia by converting the gas to a
liquid. Many times the condensate is returned to the process for reuse.
• Ammonia recycle, in which the ammonia is retrieved from the exhaust gas
stream and returned to the process, is a common pollution prevention
method. The recycling method is often used in the manufacture of
fertilizers, where ammonia is a feedstock and the implementation of
recycling benefits the process in addition to controlling emissions.
 Control Techniques
• In the case of fossil fuel combustion where ammonia is emitted as a
result of the controls implemented to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions,
careful application of the nitrogen oxide control method will limit the
amount of ammonia that will slip through the process.
• With regards to ammonia leakage, good management practices can
reduce the amount of ammonia that escapes. For those leaks that
cannot be prevented, capture devices such as hoods may be used to
collect the ammonia gas, which is then conveyed to a control device
for treatment.
 Fertilizer Industry
• The manufacture of fertilizers accounts for approximately 27% of the
ammonia emissions generated.
• Fertilizer production is divided into two categories: nitrogen fertilizers
and phosphate fertilizers.
• The nitrogen fertilizer industry encompasses ammonia, urea,
ammonium nitrate, and nitric acid manufacture, while the phosphate
fertilizer industry consists of ammonium phosphate, normal
superphosphate, and triple superphosphate production.
Control of Ammonia in Fertilizer Industry
• Ammonia leaks often occur when the product is being handled. Such
leaks happen when the product is being loaded into trucks or railroad
cars. Since these leaks occur at identified locations, the emissions can
be easily controlled through capture and treatment by wet scrubbers.
In order to control ammonia emissions from fugitive leaks, good
maintenance is required. Since fugitive ammonia emissions are often
low concentrations and are not hazardous, they do not warrant the
implementation of control methods.
• Ammonia can be recovered from process vents through scrubbing. The
hydrolyser/desorption system, which treats the process condensate to
recover ammonia, is also used to treat the scrubber effluent.
Control of Ammonia in Fertilizer Industry
• Ammonia and urea are recovered from evaporator emissions through
condensation, wet scrubbing, and demisting.
• Primary controls used to recover ammonia consist of venturi and
cyclonic spray towers, while the secondary controls used to control
fluoride include cyclonic spray towers, impingement scrubber, and
spray-cross-flow or vertical packed-bed scrubbers. The scrubbing
liquor often used in primary scrubbers to control ammonia is
phosphoric acid with 20-30% P2O5 , while gypsum pond water is used
in secondary scrubbers to control fluoride in ammonium phosphate
fertilizer industry.
 Coke Manufacturing Industry
• Metallurgical coke, comprised of elemental carbon and minerals, is
made by heating high quality bituminous coal to approximately
19250F in the absence of oxygen.
• Furnace coke and foundry coke are the two major types of
metallurgical coke produced.
 Control of Ammonia in Coke
Manufacturing Industry
• Coke-oven Gas Scrubbing: The temperature of the inlet gas must be
lowered to achieve effective ammonia absorption. This is performed in
the first section of the combined secondary cooler/ammonia scrubber
tower, where the gas enters at 115 to 1200F and is subsequently cooled
below 860F.
• Stripping: The system is composed of two identical stripping columns
operated in series. The columns are 4 ft-6 in x 42-ft, each with 17
valve trays. Each stripper is split into two sections, so each column is
able to strip both free and fixed ammonia. The upper section contains
five trays and functions as the free ammonia stripper, while the lower
section contains 12 trays and operates as the fixed ammonia stripper.
 Fossil Fuel Combustion
• Nitrogen oxide emissions from fossil fuel power plants may be
controlled using combustion modifications or post-combustion control
methods.
• Post-combustion control methods include selective catalytic reduction
(SCR) and selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) which use
ammonia or urea to control nitrogen oxide emissions.
• With these post-combustion control technologies, the problem of
ammonia in the effluent has become a concern.
• The ammonia is added at an ammonia to nitrogen oxide molar ratio
ranging from 1:5 to 5:1.
 Control of Ammonia from Fossil Fuel
Combustion
• Ammonia slip levels increased as the nitrogen/nitrogen oxide ratio
increased, and decreased as the nitrogen/nitrogen oxide ratio
decreased.
• Greater nitrogen oxide reductions are achieved when using ammonia
as a reducing agent than for urea.
• Ammonia slip levels were lower when aqueous ammonia was used as
the reducing agent as opposed to those when urea was used, although
actual levels were comparable.
• With the use of calcium-based sorbent injection with SNCR
technologies in a slurry injection process, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxide reduction was consistent.
 Livestock Management
• Livestock and poultry manure is a major source of ammonia emissions.
• Inorganic nitrogen in the waste is emitted through several mechanisms
including ammonia volatilization, nitrification, denitrification, leaching, and
runoff, with ammonia volatilization generating the highest total loss of this
nitrogen.
• The two main sources of ammonia emissions within this category are
livestock feedlots and cropland spreading.
• Combined excrement from cattle and poultry feedlots are spread on
cropland. The amount of ammonia emitted depends upon the soil type,
excrement qualities, atmospheric conditions, and the application method
implemented.
• Livestock facilities generate odours that can be offensive to neighbouring
residents, though these odours are not toxic.
 Control of Ammonia from Livestock
Management
• Treatment of Manure: Anaerobic lagoons are often used to
effectively control odours. However, they must be well designed with
an adequate capacity to achieve low odour production. Frequent
collection of the manure through flushing, scraping, or drainage is
effective in absorbing odours and eliminating the anaerobic conditions
prevalent in manure storage within closed buildings.
• Capture and Treatment of Odour: Industrial and food processing
plants often use wet scrubbers to control odour emissions by spraying
the exhaust air stream with water or oxidizing chemicals.
 Control of Ammonia from Livestock
Management
• A soil with a high cation exchange capacity will suppress the amount
of ammonia volatilized since the soil's capacity to adsorb and hold the
ammonium ions increases as the cation exchange capacity increases.
• Ammonia emissions are greater when spreading is done on a wet soil,
than on a dry soil. Higher temperature and wind velocities also
increase the amount of ammonia volatilized. Therefore to minimize
the amount of ammonia emitted from this process, it is important to
consider these factors.