What is ammonia? Ammonia is a versatile chemical used in applications as diverse as refrigeration and fertilizers. It has multiple common forms.
Anhydrous ammonia is free of water. In this form, it exists as a compressed gas or liquid. Ammonium nitrate exists as a solid. It is the form of ammonia used as a fertilizer.
What are some applications for ammonia?
Compressed anhydrous ammonia is very cold. Companies use it as a refrigerant in large industrial applications as well as smaller cold rooms.
Ammonium nitrate is primarily used as fertilizer. The scale of agricultural production makes this an important product with high consumer demand.
Industrial applications use ammonium solutions. They are found in many cleaning solutions. Commercial cleaning companies use large quantities of products that contain ammonia.
What are the hazards of ammonia?
A clearly identifiable characteristic of ammonia is its strong, pungent odor. Although ammonia gas is lighter than air, these vapors tend to hug the surface of the ground and travel away from the source at ground level.
Ammonia forms an explosive mixture with air. This happened during an ammonia-related explosion at a fertilizer factory in Texas.
Ammonia vapors are also very corrosive. They cause severe burns and damage to the eyes. Ammonia is very toxic if inhaled or ingested. Immediate medical treatment is essential after exposure to ammonia.
How should you safely store ammonia?
Due to its explosion risk, store ammonia in a fire-rated chemical storage building. Regulators may require this depending on how far the ammonia storage location is from an occupied building.
Use an ammonia gas detector in the building to pick up the release of ammonia vapors. This will identify a leak and notify the relevant people via an alarm. Early detection enables a safe and timely response to resolve the leak. You may need ventilation on an ammonia storage building. Mechanical ventilation reduces the concentration of vapors in the building. This lowers the risk of explosion and gives emergency responders safe access to the storage containers.
Use hazardous waste storage buildings when dealing with waste containing ammonia residue. Hazmat storage buildings have the same safety features as chemical storage buildings. They can be made explosion-proof and can be fire-rated depending on your needs. Add safety features like mechanical ventilation or climate control systems.
When storing ammonia nitrate for use as fertilizer, consider a non-fire-rated chemical storage building. Be sure the building is located 30 feet or more from an occupied building or property line.
Contact U.S. Chemical Storage to learn more about ammonia storage. Our expert team understands the hazards involved and the regulatory requirements and can answer any questions pertaining to storing ammonia or other chemicals.
