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Ammonia is oxidized with air to form nitric oxide in the first step of the production of nitric acid. Two principal gas-phase reactions occur:

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Final answer:

The question deals with the oxidation of ammonia in the production of nitric acid, involving nitrogen oxides and subsequent reactions, including nitrification and denitrification in soils by bacteria, as well as safety considerations surrounding the handling of ammonium nitrate.

Step-by-step explanation:

The oxidation of ammonia with air to form nitric oxide is a significant chemical reaction in the industrial production of nitric acid. In this process, nitrogen exhibits a range of oxidation states from +1 to +5. One important application of the resultant nitrogen oxides is in the manufacture of fertilizers and explosives. The decomposition of nitrogen-containing organic materials can also lead to the natural formation of ammonia. Additionally, two types of bacteria, Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter, are involved in the soil processes of nitrification and denitrification, whereby they convert ammonia to nitrites and nitrates, and then reduce nitrates to gaseous nitrogen compounds, respectively. Safety is critically important as the heating of ammonium nitrate, a process that yields nitrogen oxides among other products, can be highly explosive as evidenced by historical disasters.

User Sergey Geron
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Answer:

4NH₃(g) + 5O₂(g) → 4NO(g) + 6H₂O

2NO(g) + O₂(g) → 2 NO₂

Step-by-step explanation:

First of all, we need to consider the reaction for production of ammonia. In this reaction we have as reactants, nitrogen and hydroge.

3H₂ (g) + N₂(g) → 2NH₃ (g)

Afterwards, ammonia reacts to oxygen, to produce NO and H₂O

The equation for the process will be:

4NH₃(g) + 5O₂(g) → 4NO(g) + 6H₂O

Then, we take the nitric oxide to make it react, to produce NO₂, in order to produce nitric acid, for the final reaction:

2NO(g) + O₂(g) → 2 NO₂

3NO₂(g) + H₂O(g) → 2 HNO₃ (g) + NO(g)

User Guilherme Marthe
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