A report on Nitrogen, Ammonia and Nitrogen fixation

Daniel Rutherford, discoverer of nitrogen

Ball-and-stick model of the diamminesilver(I) cation, [Ag(NH3)2]+

Schematic representation of the nitrogen cycle. Abiotic nitrogen fixation has been omitted.

The shapes of the five orbitals occupied in nitrogen. The two colours show the phase or sign of the wave function in each region. From left to right: 1s, 2s (cutaway to show internal structure), 2px, 2py, 2pz.

Ball-and-stick model of the tetraamminediaquacopper(II) cation, [Cu(NH3)4(H2O)2](2+)

Nodules are visible on this broad bean root

Table of nuclides (Segrè chart) from carbon to fluorine (including nitrogen). Orange indicates proton emission (nuclides outside the proton drip line); pink for positron emission (inverse beta decay); black for stable nuclides; blue for electron emission (beta decay); and violet for neutron emission (nuclides outside the neutron drip line). Proton number increases going up the vertical axis and neutron number going to the right on the horizontal axis.

Molecular orbital diagram of dinitrogen molecule, N2. There are five bonding orbitals and two antibonding orbitals (marked with an asterisk; orbitals involving the inner 1s electrons not shown), giving a total bond order of three.

This high-pressure reactor was built in 1921 by BASF in Ludwigshafen and was re-erected on the premises of the University of Karlsruhe in Germany.

Equipment for a study of nitrogen fixation by alpha rays (Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, 1926)

Solid nitrogen on the plains of Sputnik Planitia on Pluto next to water ice mountains

Lightning heats the air around it breaking the bonds of starting the formation of nitrous acid.

Structure of [Ru(NH3)5(N2)]2+ (pentaamine(dinitrogen)ruthenium(II)), the first dinitrogen complex to be discovered

Mesomeric structures of borazine, (–BH–NH–)3

Standard reduction potentials for nitrogen-containing species. Top diagram shows potentials at pH 0; bottom diagram shows potentials at pH 14.

Ammoniacal Gas Engine Streetcar in New Orleans drawn by Alfred Waud in 1871.

The X-15 aircraft used ammonia as one component fuel of its rocket engine

Nitrogen dioxide at −196 °C, 0 °C, 23 °C, 35 °C, and 50 °C. converts to colourless dinitrogen tetroxide at low temperatures, and reverts to at higher temperatures.

Anti-meth sign on tank of anhydrous ammonia, Otley, Iowa. Anhydrous ammonia is a common farm fertilizer that is also a critical ingredient in making methamphetamine. In 2005, Iowa used grant money to give out thousands of locks to prevent criminals from getting into the tanks.

Fuming nitric acid contaminated with yellow nitrogen dioxide

The world's longest ammonia pipeline (roughly 2400 km long), running from the TogliattiAzot plant in Russia to Odessa in Ukraine

Schematic representation of the flow of nitrogen compounds through a land environment

Hydrochloric acid sample releasing HCl fumes, which are reacting with ammonia fumes to produce a white smoke of ammonium chloride.

A container vehicle carrying liquid nitrogen.

Production trend of ammonia between 1947 and 2007

Main symptoms of hyperammonemia (ammonia reaching toxic concentrations).

Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3.

- Ammonia

Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular nitrogen, with a strong triple covalent bond, in the air is converted into ammonia or related nitrogenous compounds, typically in soil or aquatic systems but also in industry.

- Nitrogen fixation

Many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid, organic nitrates (propellants and explosives), and cyanides, contain nitrogen.

- Nitrogen

Nitrogen fixation by industrial processes like the Frank–Caro process (1895–1899) and Haber–Bosch process (1908–1913) eased this shortage of nitrogen compounds, to the extent that half of global food production (see Applications) now relies on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers.

- Nitrogen

Therefore, nitrogen fixation is required for the synthesis of amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein.

- Ammonia

3 related topics with Alpha

A farmer spreading manure to improve soil fertility

Fertilizer

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Any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients.

World population supported with and without synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.

Founded in 1812, Mirat, producer of manures and fertilizers, is claimed to be the oldest industrial business in Salamanca (Spain).

Six tomato plants grown with and without nitrate fertilizer on nutrient-poor sand/clay soil. One of the plants in the nutrient-poor soil has died.

Total nitrogenous fertilizer consumption per region, measured in tonnes of total nutrient per year.

An apatite mine in Siilinjärvi, Finland.

Compost bin for small-scale production of organic fertilizer

Applying superphosphate fertilizer by hand, New Zealand, 1938

N-Butylthiophosphoryltriamide, an enhanced efficiency fertilizer.

Fertilizer use (2018). From FAO's World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2020

The diagram displays the statistics of fertilizer consumption in western and central European counties from data published by The World Bank for 2012.

Runoff of soil and fertilizer during a rain storm

Large pile of phosphogypsum waste near Fort Meade, Florida.

Red circles show the location and size of many dead zones.

Global methane concentrations (surface and atmospheric) for 2005; note distinct plumes

For most modern agricultural practices, fertilization focuses on three main macro nutrients: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) with occasional addition of supplements like rock dust for micronutrients.

This process was used to fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into nitric acid (HNO3), one of several chemical processes generally referred to as nitrogen fixation.

Only some bacteria and their host plants (notably legumes) can fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2) by converting it to ammonia.

Haber process

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A historical (1921) high-pressure steel reactor for production of ammonia via the Haber process is displayed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany

First reactor at the Oppau plant in 1913

Modern ammonia reactor with heat exchanger modules: The cold gas mixture is preheated to reaction temperature in heat exchangers by the reaction heat and cools in turn the produced ammonia.

The Haber process, also called the Haber–Bosch process, is an artificial nitrogen fixation process and is the main industrial procedure for the production of ammonia today.

The process converts atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) by a reaction with hydrogen (H2) using a metal catalyst under high temperatures and pressures:

Nitrogenase

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Nitrogenases are enzymes that are produced by certain bacteria, such as cyanobacteria (blue-green bacteria) and rhizobacteria.

Figure 1: Nitrogenase with key catalytic sites highlighted. There are two sets of catalytic sites within each nitrogenase enzyme.

Figure 2: Nitrogenase with one set of metal clusters magnified. Electrons travel from the Fe-S cluster (yellow) to the P cluster (red), and end at the FeMo-co (orange).

Figure 3: Key catalytic sites within nitrogenase. Atoms are colored by element. Top: Fe-S Cluster Middle: P Cluster Bottom: FeMo-co

Figure 4: Lowe-Thorneley kinetic model for reduction of nitrogen to ammonia by nitrogenase.

Figure 5: Distal vs. alternating mechanistic pathways for nitrogen fixation in nitrogenase.

Figure 6: Amino acid residues of nitrogenase that interact with MgATP during catalysis.

These enzymes are responsible for the reduction of nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3).

Nitrogenases are the only family of enzymes known to catalyze this reaction, which is a key step in the process of nitrogen fixation.