Аміак

Ammonia is applied widely in fertilizers, refrigerants, explosives and cleaning agents, and is a precursor for numerous chemicals. Around 70% of ammonia produced industrially is used to make fertilisers in various forms and composition, such as urea and diammonium phosphate. The global industrial production of ammonia in 2021 was 235 million tonnes.

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Biology

Biologically, ammonia is a common nitrogenous waste. Ammonia is toxic, causing damage to cells and tissues. For this reason it is excreted by most animals in the urine, in the form of dissolved urea. Amino acid catabolism results in waste ammonia. Most aquatic organisms excrete ammonia without converting it. In species including birds and most insects, the ammonia is converted into uric acid or its urate salt, which is excreted in solid form. Ammonia is produced biologically in a process called nitrogen fixation, but even more is generated industrially by the Haber process.

History

Before World War I, most ammonia was obtained by dry distillation of nitrogenous vegetable and animal waste products. The first industrial plant opened in 1913 at Oppau. Haber won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918, and Bosch won it in 1931. During World War I, Germany used the process to make nitric acid for explosives, which it could no longer import because of the Allied blockade.