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Ammonia is a crucial nitrogen carrier for all life forms, used in the synthesis of amino acids and as an ingredient in fertilizers and explosives. The Haber process made mass agriculture possible, and ammonia is still used in small refrigerators and as a disinfectant. Our body converts excess ammonia to urea, and it can also be used as a fuel.
Ammonia, a chemical compound known for its pungent odor, is a building block of all life forms. Ammonia consists of one nitrogen atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms and serves as a crucial nitrogen carrier. Nitrogen is the fourth most abundant element in living organisms by weight, making up about 2.5% of body mass. Living things need nitrogen to live, but only a few microbes are capable of “fixing” abundant atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into a non-volatile form (non-gaseous or evaporating) that works within the context of our body’s biochemistry. Nitrogen is a necessary component in the synthesis of amino acids, which make up all proteins in the body.
In addition to being essential to life itself, nitrogen has many industrial uses, making it among the most synthesized inorganic chemicals. The most important use of ammonia is in the synthesis of nitric acid, an ingredient in fertilizers and explosives. Ammonia is produced in large quantities using the Haber process, an industrial process that fixes atmospheric nitrogen using extreme temperatures and pressures.
Before the invention of the Haber process by German chemist Fritz Haber, all fertilizers had to be sourced from pre-existing nitrate deposits, such as the abundant deposits of guano in South American caves or the encrusted layers of bird droppings on Pacific islands. The advent of the Haber process truly made mass agriculture possible, allowing for the large cities we see today. Furthermore, the entire nitrogen content of all organic compounds produced comes from ammonia. World production of ammonia in 2004 was 109 million tons.
Before the invention of Freon in 1928, ammonia was a standard refrigerant. It still finds restricted uses in small refrigerators. Most modern household refrigerators use CFCs for refrigeration, but with the realization that these chemicals are dangerous to our ozone layer, the use of ammonia has grown again, especially in industrial processes such as the production of serial ice.
Sometimes ammonia is added to drinking water, along with chlorine, to form chloramine, a disinfectant. 5-10% ammonia solutions are also used as a household cleaner, but should never be mixed with chlorine in this context, as a variety of carcinogenic and toxic gases are released.
Since ammonia can be toxic at excessive levels in the bloodstream, our body has a technique to get rid of it: reduce it to compound urea. Urea makes up most of the dry weight of our urine.
Ammonia can also be used as a fuel. While not as potent as other fuels, it leaves no soot, and this quality, along with others, has led to its use in the experimental rocket-powered aircraft, the X-15.
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