Ammonia addresses many needs and is perhaps most important as a building-block. The substance is a key component in many agricultural fertilisers while its chemical derivatives provide the foundation for an array of synthetic molecules, including dyes, pharmaceutical compounds, cosmetics, and vitamins.
Kimberly Reynolds, Product Manager for Gases & Chemicals at Tiger Optics, offered gasworld a run-down of its peculiar chemical properties. She described, “At ambient conditions, ammonia is a colourless gas with a sharp pungent odour. It is the primary gas released from “smelling salts”, long used to stimulate nasal passages in an attempt to revive the unconscious.”
Unlike the noble gases of recent gas reports, ammonia is far from inert. Reynolds explained, “At levels between 16 – 25% (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) or 15 – 28% (National Institute Occupational Safety and Health), ammonia is explosively ignitable and considered a flammability hazard.” Furthermore, it is classified as toxic at levels above 300ppm.
Ammonia is lighter than air, with a molecular weight of 17.03 and as Reynolds pointed out, like many nitrogen-containing molecules, its single lone pair of electrons incite strong interactions when in contact with polar molecules, such as water. This, combined with its high solubility in water, explains ammonia’s historical prevalence in cleaning solutions.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
