Showing papers on "Ammonia published in 1990"

Selective reduction of nitrogen oxides with hydrocarbons over solid acid catalysts in oxygen-rich atmospheres

Abstract: Highly selective reduction of nitrogen oxides to dinitrogen occurs to a high level in oxygen-rich atmospheres by using a small amount of propane as a reducing agent over alumina, silica-alumina, titania and zirconia catalyst. Judging from the data of activity and ammonia TPD measurement on a series of silica-alumina catalysts, acidity is suggested to be one of the main factors that determine catalytic activity.

Method for reduction of nitrogen oxides with ammonia using promoted zeolite catalysts

Abstract: A method comprising passing through a zeolite catalyst, a gaseous stream containing nitrogen oxides, ammonia and oxygen to selectively catalyze the reduction of nitrogen oxides and, if excess or unreacted ammonia is present, to oxidize the excess of unreacted ammonia with oxygen to hydrogen and water The method includes the use of a zeolite catalyst composition which comprises a metal (eg, iron or copper) promoted zeolite, the zeolite being characterized by having a silica to alumina ratio of at least about 10 and a pore structure which is interconnected in all three crystallographic dimensions by pores having an average kinetic pore diameter of at least about 7 Angstroms Promoted zeolites of the above type have demonstrated high tolerance for sulfur poisoning, good activity for the selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides with ammonia, good activity for the oxidation of ammonia with oxygen, and the retention of such good activities even under high temperature operations, eg, 400°C or higher, and hydrothermal conditions

Ammonia volatilization from five nitrogen compounds used as fertilizers following surface application to soils.

Abstract: SUMMARY Measurements were made of the volatilization of ammonia from mono-ammonium phosphate (MAP), di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), ammonium sulphate (AS), ammonium nitrate (AN) and urea, applied to the surface of five contrasting soils. The compounds were applied as solids, at a rate equivalent to 100 kg N ha−1, to samples of moist soil packed into columns (48 mm diameter) and placed individually in jars through which a stream of air was passed for a period of 8 d. Volatilization ranged from nil to 53% of the N applied, with both the nature of the compound and soil type having large effects. Taking all combinations into account, there was a close relationship between the extent of volatilization, expressed as a percentage of the ammonium or urea N, and the pH attained after 24 h by the corresponding mixtures of soil and compound. Using the results of these and other experiments, the proportion of fertilizer N volatilized as ammonia is estimated to be about 3.4% over the UK as a whole.

A selective ammonia sensor

Abstract: A systematic study of the gas-sensing characteristics of a large number of semiconducting oxides has shown that the degree of specificity of gas response varies greatly between materials. In particular, chromium sesquioxide containing a small amount of titanium exhibits a resistance increase when exposed to ammonia in air, but shows no significant response when exposed to comparable concentrations of hydrogen, carbon monoxide or methane.

Rate coefficients for the hydrogen atom + ammonia reaction over a wide temperature range

Abstract: Article on rate coefficients for the hydrogen atom + ammonia reaction over a wide temperature range.

Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of ammonia from HZSM-5 zeolites

Abstract: The temperature-programmed desorption (tpd) of the amount of ammonia which is preadsorbed at about 373 K at HZSM-5 zeolites yields a complex desorption curve consisting of two overlapped peaks (Β andγ peak). Parts of the ammonia desorbed can be attributed to SiOHAl groups considering also1H-MAS NMR measurements.

Mechanism by which ammonium bicarbonate and ammonium sulfate inhibit mycotoxigenic fungi.

Abstract: In this study we examined the mechanism by which ammonium bicarbonate inhibits mycotoxigenic fungi. Elevated extracellular pH, alone, was not responsible for the antifungal activity. Although conidia of Penicillium griseofulvum and Fusarium graminearum had internal pH (pHi) values as high as 8.0 in buffer at an external pH (pHo) of 9.5, their viability was not markedly affected. The pHi values from conidia equilibrated in glycine-NaOH-buffered treatments without ammonium bicarbonate or ammonium sulfate were similar to values obtained from buffered treatments containing the ammonium salts. Thus, inhibition did not appear to be directly related to increased pHi. Ammonium sulfate in buffered media at pH greater than or equal to 8.7 was as inhibitory as ammonium bicarbonate, but was completely ineffective at pH less than or equal to 7.8. The hypothesis that free ammonia caused the fungal inhibition was tested by using ammonium sulfate as a model for ammonium bicarbonate. Viability, expressed as log CFU/ml, and percent germination of P. griseofulvum and F. graminearum decreased dramatically as the free ammonia concentration increased. Germination rate ratios (the germination rate in buffered ammonium sulfate divided by the germination rate in buffer alone) decreased linearly as the free ammonia concentration increased, further establishing NH3 as the toxic agent. Ammonium bicarbonate inhibits fungi because the bicarbonate anion supplies the alkalinity necessary to establish an antifungal concentration of free ammonia.

A comparison of the sulfur and oxygen analogs of phosphoric triamide urease inhibitors in reducing urea hydrolysis and ammonia volatilization

Abstract: A variety of compounds have been tested as urease inhibitors with the goal of providing a means of reducing ammonia volatilization losses from urea fertilizers when they are applied to the soil surface. Four phosphoric triamide compounds were studied in laboratory experiments to assess their effect on urea hydrolysis, soil ammonium levels, and ammonia volatilization. The compounds N(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (nBTPT), cyclohexyl thiophosphoric triamide (CHTPT), and their oxygen analogs [N-(n-butyl) phosphoric triamide (nBPT) and cyclohexyl phosphoric triamide (CHPT), respectively] were mixed with urea at 0.1% and 0.01% w/w ratios, and the products were applied to the soil surface. A forced-draft apparatus was used to measure ammonia loss. The urea treatment lost 47% of applied N as ammonia in 14 d. The inhibitors applied at 0.1% w/w showed losses of 7%–10% in 14 d; at 0.01%, losses ranged from 13%–30% in the same period. At the 0.1% level, no significant difference was found among the inhibitors in terms of ammonia loss or urea hydrolysis trends. At the 0.01% concentrations, the oxygen analogs showed better urea urease inhibition than did the thio compounds, and their ammonia losses were half those of their sulfur analogs.

In situ infrared study of the modification of the surface of activated carbon by ammonia, water and hydrogen

Abstract: The reaction of an oxidised activated carbon with gaseous ammonia converts surface cyclic anhydride groups to amide and ammonium carboxylate species, which at elevated temperatures decompose to nitrile. Amine and alcohol species are also adsorbed products of ammonia treatment. Cyclic anhydride groups were hydrolysed by water to carboxylic acid groups, which were also possibly formed in conjunction with alcohol groups by lactone hydrolysis. Hydrogenation of carbon, catalysed by nickel, converted aromatic ether, epoxy and carbonyl species to polynuclear aromatic ring systems which were free of oxygen-containing substituents.

Effects of ammonia on anaerobic digestion of simple organic substrates.

Abstract: The effects of ammonia on mesophilic digestion of acetate, propionate, acetate-propionate mixture, and lactate were studied in batch serum bottles. The un-ionized ammonia nitrogen (UAN) affected the acetate-utilizing microorganisms in the acclimated mixed cultures to a greater extent than propionate-utilizing bacteria or other trophic groups. The inhibitory effects were less severe in batch reactors supplemented with sulfate, pointing to an antagonistic action of the sulfate-reducing bacteria. Analysis of the inhibition pattern of methane/biogas production has shown that UAN displayed a moderate half-kill dose in the range of 10 millimole and demonstrated a high sensitivity exponent. The latter suggests potential for a sudden failure response of an anaerobic system subjected to an increasing ammonia concentration in the reactor.

Reduction of acidic emissions from combustion of sulfur-laden fuels

Abstract: The sulfur trioxide in the combustion gas stream of a power plant is reacted with injected ammonia to produce a solid ammonium sulfate that is captured, and not released to the atmosphere. A feedforward signal indicative of the total mass flow of sulfur trioxide is determined as the product of the measured boiler load and the sulfur trioxide content of the combustion gas, as measured prior to the addition of ammonia. The ammonia mass flow injection rate is preferably at a normal stoichiometric ratio of from about 1.0 to about 1.1 relative to the sulfur trioxide mass flow rate (that is, from about 2.0 to about 2.2 times the molar mass flow rate of the sulfur trioxide), avoiding the production of ammonia bisulfate. The ammonia content of the combustion gas stream is measured downstream of the location at which ammonia is added. Based upon this feedback measurement, the amount of ammonia added is adjusted to be just sufficient to react with all of the sulfur trioxide, but not in such excess as to be environmentally detrimental.

Nitrogen nutrition of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) on strongly acid sandy soil. I. Growth, nutrient uptake and ionic balance.

Abstract: Through ionic balance calculations, the effect of different sources and levels of nitrogen on nutrient uptake by Douglas-fir was studied. With ammonium as the sole source of N, growth of the plant was very poor. Increasing the levels of ammonium supply strongly decreased the surplus of total inorganic cations (C) over total inorganic anions (A). This decrease in C-A value, corresponding to the level of carboxylates in the plant, implies that in the long term the plant will run out of carboxylates and will then no longer be able to eliminate protons in the cytoplasm, produced during assimilation of ammonium. This can lead to internal acidification of the plant, toxic concentrations of free ammonium and an unbalanced amino acid composition. Values for the ratio of net carboxylate production and organic nitrogen production were in the same range as commonly found for other species. This did not support the theory of a conifer-specific ionic balance regulation as posed by others.

Chemical vapor deposition process where an alkaline earth metal organic precursor material is volatilized in the presence of an amine or ammonia and deposited onto a substrate

Abstract: A method is disclosed for the volatilization and transport of an alkaline earth metal precursor. The presence of an amine or ammonia significantly increases transport of the voltalized alkaline earth metal precursor as compared to transport under the same conditions but without the amine or ammonia.

Ammonia volatilization losses from different fertilizers and effect of several urease inhibitors, CaCl2 and phosphogypsum on losses from urea

Abstract: The extent of ammonia volatilization losses from urea, ammonium sulphate (AS), and diammonium phosphate (DAP) were determined in soil incubation studies. The effects of some urease inhibitors (thiourea, hyroquinone, 2–4 dinitro phenol and boric acid) and CaCl2 and phosphogypsum additions on ammonia loss from urea were also studied. Total ammonia volatilization losses were 32.6%, 3.1% and 2.3% of the N applied to the soil as urea, AS and DAP, respectively. Among the chemicals examined in the study, 500 mg H3BO3 in 1 kg of the soil decreased the ammonia loss from urea by 21% in comparison with the control. When 50 mg/kg soil of thiourea, 2–4 dinitro phenol or hydroquinone were applied, ammonia volatilization losses were found to be 10%, 3% and 0% less than urea applied alone, respectively. When 2500 mg CaCl2 was applied to 1 kg of soil with urea, ammonia loss was decreased by 5%. The lowest hydrolysis rate (65%) occurred with the boric acid treatment. The differences between the hydrolysis rates of the other treatments were not statistically significant. Phosphogypsum was found the most effective agent in reducing ammonia losses from urea. When phosphogypsum was mixed at 2.3 times as much as the urea, ammonia loss was about 85% less than that of urea applied alone. Obviously, further work is needed to find out the potential of both boric acid and phosphogypsum as reducing agents of ammonia losses from urea.

Problems in the use of urea as a nitrogen fertilizer.

Abstract: . N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT) is the most effective compound currently available for retarding hydrolysis of urea fertilizer in soil and for decreasing ammonia volatilization and nitrite e accumulation in soils treated with urea. It is a poor inhibitor of plant or microbial urease, but decomposes quite rapidly in soil with formation of N-(n-butyl) phosphoric triamide, which is a potent inhibitor of urease activity. The adverse effects of urea fertilizers on seed germination and seedling growth in soil are due to ammonia produced through hydrolysis of urea by soil urease. They can be eliminated by addition of a urease inhibitor to these fertilizers. The leaf-burn commonly observed after foliar fertilization of soybeans with urea results from accumulation of toxic amounts of urea in the soybean leaves rather than formation of toxic amounts of ammonia through urea hydrolysis by leaf urease. Leaf-burn is accordingly increased rather than decreased by addition of a urease inhibitor to the urea fertilizer applied.