Ammoniak, wasserfrei

BeschreibungAmmonia is a colorless, pungent-smelling gas that is one of the most important industrial inorganic chemicals. It is widely used in fertilizers, refrigerants, explosives, cleaning agents, and as a feedstock to produce numerous other chemicals. Ammonia ranks as one of the top 10 chemicals produced annually.

HistoryDuring the Middle Ages ammonia was produced by the distillation of animal dung, hooves, and horn. Its preparation from horn gave it another name: spirit of hartshorn. Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) isolated ammonia in 1774 and called the compound alkaline air. The modern name ammonia was given to the compound in 1782 by the Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman (1735–1784). The exact chemical composition was determined by Claude-Louis Berthollet (1748–1822) in 1785. During the 19th century ammonia was obtained from the distillation of coal tar. The importance of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture was established during the mid-1800s, and this coupled with the growth of the chemical industry provided incentive to find a method for fixing nitrogen.

VerwendenAmmonia is a large-tonnage industrial product and finds its major use in the manufacture of nitric acid and fertilizers. It is the most commonly used refrigerant, particularly for large industrial installations.