Large Volume Inorganic Chemicals - Ammonia ... - ammk-rks.net

Chapter 197 % of nitrogen fertilisers are derived from ammonia and 70 % of phosphate fertilisers arederived from phosphoric acid. During the past 30 years, a very large proportion of additionalproduction has been of phosphoric acid based fertilisers. Potash is used as such. As aconsequence, these three materials, ammonia, phosphoric acid and potash, give a very goodpicture of the progression of the fertiliser industry. The energy required for nitrogen fertiliserproduction (see also Section 1.1.2.1) is fairly evenly distributed around the planet, althoughthere has been a trend towards production in locations where cheap natural gas is available.There has also been a trend towards the production of nitrogen fertilisers in high-demanddeveloping countries. The location of nitrogen production in developing countries thereforereflects partly the relocation nearer to sources of low-cost gas, as in the Near East and theCaribbean, but also towards the main consuming regions, such as South Asia and China. Infuture, it will be these regions where the new capacities will be realised. In 1974, the developingcountries accounted for 27 % of ammonia capacity. By 1998, their share had increased to 51 %(see also Section 2.1). West Europe’s share fell from 13 % in 1988 to 9 % in 2000 [2, IFA,2005].Phosphoric acid is obtained by a reaction between phosphate rock and an acid, mostly sulphuricacid (see Section 5.2). Over the past two decades there has been a distinct trend towards theprocessing of phosphate rock in countries with substantial natural resources of this material,especially in North Africa and the US, but also in the Middle East, South and West Africa andChina. This trend is expected to continue. In Western Europe, phosphoric acid capacity andoutput have fallen by 52 % since 1988. The main producers of phosphate rock and phosphatefertilisers are the US, the former USSR, China, the Maghreb countries, Egypt, Senegal, Togoand South Africa, and the Middle East. Several of these countries are developing countries andthe phosphate industry makes an important contribution to their economies [2, IFA, 2005].Potash is produced in the few countries where the ores are located. Russia and Belarus accountfor about 33 % of the world’s production capacity, North America – mostly Canada – for 40 %,Western Europe for 17 % and Israel and Jordan for 8 %, these few regions thus accounting for atotal of 98 % of world capacities [2, IFA, 2005].With the exception of HF, the main application of the products addressed in Table 1.1 is asfertiliser or in the fertiliser industry. Table 1.2 gives examples for non fertiliser relatedapplications of some LVIC-AAF products.ProductHNO 3H 2 SO 4Application, non fertiliser relatedNitrating agent in the preparation of explosives and organicintermediates, chemical in metallurgyAcidic dehydrating reaction medium in organic chemical andpetrochemical processes, production of TiO 2 pigments, hydrochloricacid, and hydrofluoric acid, pickling and descaling steel, for leachingcopper, uranium, and vanadium ores in hydrometallurgical oreprocessing, and in the preparation of electrolytic baths for non-ferrousmetal purification and platingHF see Section 6.1ANUreaPorous ammonium nitrate prills are still an important component ofexplosivesProduction of melamine, preparation of urea-formaldehyde resins, feedfor cattle and other ruminants (mainly in the US), for DeNO x -processesTable 1.2: Examples for non fertiliser related applications of some LVIC-AAF products[15, Ullmanns, 2001]2 Large Volume Inorganic Chemicals – Ammonia, Acids and Fertilisers