Nitrogen is one of the nutrients required for plant nutrition. The problem of fixing atmospheric nitrogen continues to be relevant at the present time. If at the beginning of the 20th century the problem was solved in the direction of ammonia synthesis, today the search trend has shifted to energy and resource saving. The presence of a strong triple chemical bond in the nitrogen molecule determines the high energy intensity of industrial production of bound nitrogen compounds. This review article is examined the evolution of ammonia technology, as the most common compound of fixed nitrogen, from the standpoint of improving approaches to energy and resource saving. The existing high rates of consumption of fossil carbon fuels, especially natural gas, which is currently the main raw material for the production of ammonia, and the associated annual growing emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, require scientists around the world to research for alternative methods of industrial production of ammonia. In this article, an attempt is made to identify the features and chronological framework of the main stages in the development of approaches to energy and resource saving in ammonia technology. The methods of improvement and contributing factors in relation to the stages of development are determined. A comparative assessment of the known options for the technology of ammonia and bound nitrogen compounds in terms of resource and energy consumption at different stages of development is given. Comparison of the power technology units for ammonia synthesis operating in Russia in terms of resource and energy consumption is performed. It is shown that the current state of ammonia technology is characterized by an almost complete exhaustion of possible options for further energy and resource saving of known technological schemes. It is shown that ammonia technologies using natural gas in the future will no longer meet the tightening requirements for the level of carbon dioxide emissions. The estimation of energy consumption of alternative methods of ammonia production is given.
The article tells about the industrial unit for production of liquid sulfur dioxide based on sulfur and oxygen, which has been developed by Research Institute of Fertilizers and Insectofungicides(patent No. 2711642 dated 01/17/2020). The principal difference of the proposed industrial process is the use of technical oxygen instead of FDF and the use of a sulfur furnace and a sulfur vapor condenser combined in one housing. To determine the design parameters of equipment and to master the process, the article describes a lab unit for production of liquid sulfur dioxide, developed by and implemented at Research Instituteof Fertilizers and Insectofungicides. At the moment, the lab unit is run to adjust the operating mode.
The article discusses the relationship between the mass of the laboratory sample and the homogeneity of its particle size distribution. The aim of the work is to estimate the limits of the sample mass reduction, at which it remains representative in particle size distribution. A relation was pointed out between the chemical and physical properties and the particle size distribution of fertilizers. The use of this parameter as one of the basic physical properties of industrially produced mineral fertilizers was justified. At the same time, using a smaller sample will reduce the time for analysis in industrial laboratories. An experiment was proposed and implemented to assess the representativeness of sample of fertilizers with different masses. Samples of several brands of industrially produced granulated mineral fertilizers were studied. A sieve analysis of samples was carried out in accordance with accepted standards (for < 1 mm, 1-2 mm, 2-3.15 mm, 3.15-4 mm, 4-5 mm, 5-6.3 mm, > 6.3 mm fractions). A comparison between the obtained results and industry-specific technique for determining the particle size distribution on the woven sieve was given. According to the obtained data, the main statistical characteristics of the analysis were calculated: mathematical expectation (average value), standard deviation and confidence interval. The homogeneity of the average values and variances of the obtained samples for the 50 and 150 g of fertilizers was investigated using Student's and Fisher's tests for a 0.05% level of significance. To confirm the test results, a graphic distribution of sample with different mass and the fraction < 2 mm was built. Conclusion about the allowable mass of a representative sample of granular mineral fertilizers for analyzing the particle size distribution and the associated with physical and chemical properties of fertilizers was made.
The article searches for ways to improve the energy technological effectiveness and environmental safety of the sulfuric acid system, identifies its functional subsystems for which the processes occurring in them and the possibility of their application under given conditions can be independently investigated.
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