Hydrogen

• PROPERTIES
– Mol.Wt : 2
– Melting Point : -259 C
– Boiling Point : -252 C
• USES
– Very important Raw material in manufacturing of
Ammonia, hydrocracking, hydrodesulferization.
– Used as hydrogenating agent to increase the level
of saturation in unsaturated oils and fats.
– Used in manufacturing of HCl acid and methanol
production.
 AMMONIA
• PROPERTIES
Mol.Wt : 17
Melting Point : -77.7 C
Boiling Point : -33.4 C
Solubility : Highly soluble in water
Grades :
Anhydrous / Liquid Ammonia
Aqueous grade.
• USES
Fertilizers, Urea, Ammonium Phosphates /
Nitrates / sulphate, Nitric Acid.
 MANUFACTURERS
Sr.No. Name Of Manufacturer Installed Capacity (TPA) Raw Material
1 DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd. 198000 Naphtha
Deepak Fertilizers & Petrochemicals
2 90000 Associated Gas
Corp.
3 Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore Ltd. 315150 Naphtha
Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Co.
4 445500 Fuel Oil
Ltd.
5 Gujarat State Fertilizers Co. Ltd. 595500 Naphtha ,Natural Gas
Indian Farmers Fertilizer Naphtha,natural Gas,
6 1042800
Cooperative Ltd. associated Gas
7 Krishak Bharati Coop. Ltd. 891000 Natural Gas,associated Gas
8 Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd. 217800 Naphtha
9 Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. 657000 Natural Gas
Naphtha,fuel Oil,
10 National Fertilizers Ltd. 1336500
associated Gas
Rashtriya Chemicals And Natural Gas,associated
11 1402500
Fertilizers Ltd. Gas
Southern Petrochemical Industries Corp.
12 352000 Naphtha
Ltd.
13 Tata Chemicals 554800 Associated Gas
14 Zuari Industries 220000 Naphtha
 SPECIFICATIONS

Purity % by wt. max. 99.5

Oil content % by wt. max. 0.002

Moisture % by wt. max. 0.5

•  In Refrigerant Grade Ammonia 

Moisture ( % by wt.) 0.03 
 LABORATORY PREPARATION
OF AMMONIA
• Ammonia is prepared in the laboratory by
heating a mixture of ammonium chloride
(NH4Cl) and calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2).

• 2 NH4Cl + Ca(OH)2 2 NH3 + CaCl2 + 2

H2O
The apparatus for the preparation is shown
below.
 AMMONIA
REACTIONS
Ni catalyst
1) CH4 + H2O CO + 3H2 ΔH = +247 KJ
700-1000 C

Secondary Reformer
2) CO + H2O CO2 + H2

2) O2 + 2CH4 2CO + 4H2

3) O2 + CH4 CO2 + 2H2

Shift Convertor
FeOxide catalyst

CO + H2O CO2 + H2 ΔH = -41.2 KJ

~ 300 C

Ammonia Convertor
Fe oxide
N2(g) + 3H2(g) 2NH3(g) ΔH = -55.6 KJ
200 atm & 500 C
• Excess steam is used:
a) To prevent carbon formation
b) It forces the reaction to completion
• First reaction:
a) It is highly endothermic
b) Moles of product exceeds moles of reactants
c) Hence low pressure and high temperature favours the
reaction.
d) Product composition is 75% H2, 8% CO, 15 % CO2,
unconverted methane.
e) Nickel catalyst is used.
f) At temperatures of 780 – 980 C
• Second reaction (water gas shift reaction):
a) Mildly exothermic
b) Favoured by low temperature and unaffected by pressure.
According to Le – Chetalier’s Principle:
• Increasing Pressure causes shift in equilibrium
position to the right, resulting in higher yield of
Ammonia because of decrease in number of
moles of products as compared to reactants.
• Decrease in temperature causes the equilibrium
position to move to right, due to exothermic
reaction, thus resulting in higher yields of
Ammonia.

• But the rate of reaction is extremely slow at low

temperatures, so higher temperatures must be
used to speed up the reaction, compromising on
the yield of Ammonia.
 Equilibrium expression
• Keq = P[NH3] 2 Pressure Conversion
900 – 1000 atm 80%
P[N2] P[H2] 3
600 atm 25 - 30%
250 atm 8 - 10%
Temperature (C) Keq 100 atm 5 – 8%
25 6.4x102
200 4.4x10-1
300 4.3x10-3
400 1.6x10-4
500 1.5x10-5
Conditions in Ammonia Converter
• Temperature : ~ 5000C
• Pressure : 200 atms
• Catalyst : Fe oxide promoted by nonferrous
metal oxide such as K2O (1 – 2 %) & Al2O3 (2 – 5
%).
• Fe oxide is fused in electric furnace and
promoters added. The solidified mass is ground
to desired particle size. Catalyst is deactivated
at 5500C & it fuses at 6200C.
• Conversion : 10 – 18 % yield to ammonia
formation per pass.
• Converter is high pressure thick shell containing
catalyst section and a heat exchanger.