Name: Ching Kai Xiang Class: 2I1 Science ACE Assignment: Acids into Fertilisers Fertilisers are used

in agricultural since the time of the ancient Egyptians. Fertilisers are not easily created; they require various forms of processing, gases and most importantly, various acids.

Ammonium Nitrate

The first acid used in fertilisers is nitric acid. Nitric acid and ammonia is mixed together to and via neutralisation, ammonium nitrate is formed, creating an important component of fertilisers. This is needed as it has a high nitrogen concentration. Nitrogen plays an important role in protein formation and is a major component in creating chlorophyll, which provides the plant with its green colour. Therefore, it is beneficial for agriculture growth. Approximately 80% of the nitric acid is used for producing ammonium nitrate. However, overuse of this type of fertiliser may result in the nutrient overload in water which triggers growth of algae and uncontrollable growth of other plants while it robs plant and animal (near plant) life of oxygen by using up almost all available dissolved oxygen. This will cause detrimental growth for agriculture and therefore should not be used in excess amounts. The next acid used in fertilisers is phosphoric acid. Phosphate rocks are treated with sulfuric acid, ultimately to form phosphoric acid. This material is usually reacted more with sulfuric and nitric acid or heated to evaporate water to form superphosphoric acid. The concentration of phosphate in superphosphoric acid varies from 72% to 76%. Ammonia can then be added to the superphosphoric acid to create materials containing nitrogen, which is beneficial for plant growth, and phosphor, and important mineral for living things. Alternatively, phosphoric acid can also be reacted with ammonia to form ammonium phosphate, which is an effective fertiliser. Sulfuric acid is another acid used to produce phosphoric acid with phosphate rocks. This sulfuric acid is created through the Lead Chamber process. This means that the sulfuric acid concentration has a pH concentration of around 78%. It is then used to

treat the phosphate rocks, for example, superphosphate of lime and ammonium sulfate. Sulfuric acid does not play as big a part as other acids in fertilisers though.

After the various compounds are formed with acids, they are mixed together with potassium chloride, a salt, are granulated and blended together. After the process of granulation, they are applied with a coating of inert dust to be kept discrete and inhibit moisture retention. Acids are important as fertilisers for plants as plants grow at a best medium of pH 56, which is slightly acidic. This is because the solubility of minerals in soil is increased, as well as the micro-organisms decomposing matter faster and breaking it down into nutrients for the plant. This helps the plants absorb these nutrients faster and thus make them healthier.
Sources: http://www.enotes.com/how-products-encyclopedia/fertilizer http://www.tfi.org/factsandstats/fertilizer.cfm http://eippcb.jrc.es/reference/lvic-aaf.html http://ezinearticles.com/?Nitric-Acid-in-Various-Products----As-Fertilizer,-Cleaning-Compound-As-Well-As-inExplosives&id=2343806 http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/dc6288.html http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=ammonium+nitrate&hl=en&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=Z9rNP9voPY9NgM:&imgrefurl=htt p://nghphoto.com/images/ammonium-nitrate-ph.html&imgurl=http://2.imimg.com/data2/RR/EC/IMFCP-3278920/porous-prilledammonium-nitrate-790634-250x250.jpg&w=250&h=211&ei=oJPKTYymPIusAOj3t2dAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&page=2&tbnh=123&tbnw=143&start=28&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:28&biw=1280&bih=693 http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=phosphate+rocks+and+sulfuric+acid&hl=en&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=2zFknY7Ch8W3 qM:&imgrefurl=http://www.madehow.com/Volume3/Fertilizer.html&imgurl=http://www.madehow.com/images/hpm_0000_0003_0_img0054.jpg&w=522&h=295&ei=OJTKTciLDob 0swPo-YGqAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&page=1&tbnh=103&tbnw=183&start=0&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0&biw=1280&bih=693