Have you never heard of R717 refrigerants?

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R-717 is a refrigerant grade ammonia (NH3) that's used in industrial refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

What constitutes Ammonia?

Ammonia, NH3, is a comparatively stable, colourless gas at ordinary temperatures, with a boiling point of -33℃ . Ammonia gas is lighter than air, with a density of approximately 0.6 times that of air at the same temperature. 

The characteristic pungent odors of ammonia can be detected as low as 15ppm.

Ammonia can be highly toxic to a wide range of organisms. In humans, the greatest risk is from inhalation of ammonia vapour, with effects including irritation and corrosive damage to skin, eyes and respiratory tracts. At very high levels, inhalation of ammonia vapour can be fatal. When dissolved in water, elevated levels of ammonia are also toxic to a wide range of aquatic organisms. 

Ammonia is highly soluble in water, although solubility decreases rapidly with increased temperature. Ammonia reacts with water in reversible reaction to produce ammonium (NH) and hydroxide (OH) ions, as shown in equation.

NH3 + H2O ⇌ NH4 +OH

Ammonia is a weak base, and at room temperature only about 1 in 200 molecules are present in the ammonium form (NH­4). The formation of hydroxide ions in this reaction increases the pH of the water, forming an alkaline solution. If the hydroxide or ammonium ions react further with other compounds in the water, more ammonia with react to re-establish the equilibrium

While ammonia-air mixtures are flammable when the ammonia content is 16.25% by volume, these mixtures are quite difficult to ignite. About 85% of the ammonia produced worldwide is used for nitrogen fertilizers. The remainder is used in various industrial products including fibres, animal feed and explosives.

Sources for Ammonia synthesis

Nitrogen source

Nitrogen is present 79% in atmosphere, 20% of oxygen, 0.9% of argon, 0.1% of carbon dioxide and other traces of gases.

Hydrogen source

Hydrogen exists in various forms, though we take here is Natural gas. Natural gas are nothing but hydrocarbons which contain carbon and hydrogen. Any compound containing carbon and hydrogen is said to be hydrocarbon. Some examples of hydrocarbons are methane,ethane,propane etc..,

The industrial conversion of natural gas into ammonia gas involves a series of chemical processes.


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