What is ammonia: Ammonia is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula NH3. It is a colorless gas with a strong pungent odor. Ammonia is often used to make liquid nitrogen, ammonia water, nitric acid, ammonium salts and amines. Ammonia can be directly synthesized from nitrogen and hydrogen. It can burn the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes of respiratory organs. Excessive inhalation can cause lung swelling and even death. Ammonia is included in the “List of Hazardous Chemicals” and is controlled in accordance with the “Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals”.
Hazards of ammonia: Ammonia is a toxic and flammable gas, mainly produced in animal husbandry, petrochemicals, printing and dyeing factories, textiles and other industries. It is one of the hazardous chemicals with a high incidence of hazardous chemical accidents in my country. In recent years, ammonia leaks and explosions have occurred frequently in China. Cold storage, aquatic food factories, ammonia equipment workshops, fertilizer plants, chemical plants, tank areas, etc. are common areas where ammonia leaks occur. The hazards of ammonia leakage have caused serious losses to the lives and property of the country and the people, and have attracted widespread attention from the whole society.
Ammonia is highly corrosive and has a corrosive and irritating effect on the skin tissue it contacts. After ammonia poisoning, the throat and mouth feel obviously irritated. Ammonia is inhaled into the human body and easily enters the blood through the alveoli, combines with hemoglobin, and destroys the oxygen transport function. After inhaling a large amount of ammonia in a short period of time, tears, sore throat, hoarseness, cough, bloody sputum, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing may occur. In severe cases, pulmonary edema may occur. When the ammonia concentration in the air reaches 500-700mg/m³, “lightning” death may occur. Excessive inhalation of ammonia will lead to excessive ammonia concentration in the blood, which will cause cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest, endangering life.
Hazards of ammonia to livestock and poultry: Ammonia in farms mainly comes from the decomposition of livestock and poultry feces, urine and feed residues. The presence of ammonia will have many adverse effects on farms:
Impact on the respiratory system: Ammonia will irritate the respiratory mucosa of livestock and poultry, causing symptoms such as coughing and wheezing. Long-term exposure to high-concentration ammonia will damage the respiratory mucosa and increase the incidence of respiratory diseases.
For example, broilers are prone to respiratory distress, tracheitis and other diseases in an environment with high ammonia concentration, which affects growth rate and feed conversion rate.
Eye irritation: Ammonia can irritate the eyes of livestock and poultry, causing symptoms such as tearing, redness and swelling, and in severe cases can lead to eye diseases such as keratitis. For young livestock and poultry, eye irritation may affect their visual development and even cause blindness.
Decreased immunity: Long-term exposure to ammonia will reduce the immunity of livestock and poultry and weaken their resistance to diseases. This makes livestock and poultry more susceptible to various bacteria, viruses and parasites, increasing breeding costs and risks.
For example, pigs in pig houses with high ammonia concentrations are prone to diarrhea, pneumonia and other diseases, and treatment is more difficult.
Reduced growth performance: Ammonia will affect the appetite and feed intake of livestock and poultry, resulting in slower growth and weight loss. At the same time, ammonia will also affect the feed conversion rate of livestock and poultry and reduce breeding benefits. Experiments show that in an environment with an ammonia concentration of 25ppm, the growth rate of broilers will decrease by about 10% compared to a normal environment.
Hazards of ammonia leakage:
01 Easy to vaporize and diffuse: When ammonia leaks, it changes from liquid phase to gas phase. Liquid ammonia will vaporize quickly and expand rapidly in volume. Liquid ammonia that is not vaporized in time will be atomized in the vapor in the form of droplets; in the early stage of leakage, due to the partial evaporation of liquid ammonia, the cloud density of ammonia vapor is higher than the air density, and ammonia drifts with the wind, which is easy to form a large area of poisoned areas and combustion and explosion areas.
02 Easy to be poisoned and injured: Ammonia is a toxic, irritating and foul-smelling gas that is easy to volatilize. Ammonia leaks into the atmosphere and spreads to a certain range, which is easy to cause acute poisoning and burns. The maximum allowable concentration per cubic meter of air is 30mg/m³. When the ammonia content in the air reaches 0.5-0.6%, people can be poisoned within 30 minutes; the main ways for ammonia to invade the human body are the skin, respiratory tract and digestive tract.
03 Easy to burn and explode: Ammonia is both a toxic gas and a flammable gas. The autoignition point of ammonia is 651℃, the combustion value is 2.37-2.51J/m³, the critical temperature is 132.5℃, and the critical pressure is 11.4Mpa. When the content of ammonia in the air reaches 11-14%, it can burn when it encounters an open flame. Its flame is yellow-green. When there is oil, the combustion risk is increased.
04 Easy to pollute the environment: Ammonia can pollute the air. Under the action of wind, this toxic gas drifts with the wind, causing large-scale air pollution and harming people and animals. If a large amount of liquid ammonia leaks and flows into rivers, lakes, reservoirs and other waters, it will cause water pollution. In severe cases, the water in the water cannot be used without treatment.
05 Prone to secondary accidents: Ammonia is unstable and decomposes when heated. It will react violently with fluorine, chlorine, etc. If it encounters high heat, the pressure inside the container will increase, and there is a risk of cracking and explosion.
06 Difficulty in disposal: Ammonia is stored in containers from gas to liquid through pressurization or cooling. Due to the different storage methods of liquid ammonia, different pressures in containers, different leakage locations, and different crack sizes, the technical requirements for plugging leaks and transferring measures are high, and the disposal is difficult.
How to prevent ammonia leakage?
① Select qualified equipment to eliminate potential accidents. This is the premise for preventing liquid ammonia leakage. After the installation of operating equipment such as pipelines, tanks, tank trucks, etc. for the production, storage and transportation of liquid ammonia, they must be accepted by the public security fire protection, safety management departments and design and installation units before they can be put into operation or use.
② Overfilling is strictly prohibited to prevent explosions. If overfilled, the tank will be completely filled with liquid at a certain temperature. Since the liquid has low compressibility, when the temperature rises, the pressure on the tank wall increases, which can easily cause damage to the pressurized parts and cause leakage.
③ Reasonable storage to ensure target safety. Since ammonia is dangerous, production and use units should be particularly vigilant about the storage and transportation of ammonia. It should be placed in a cool and ventilated warehouse shed, away from fire and heat sources, and prevent direct sunlight. It should be stored separately from oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and acid substances. Bottled liquid ammonia should be handled with care during transportation to prevent damage to the cylinder and bottle valve.
④ Strengthen inspection and maintenance to prevent problems before they occur. Business units should regularly conduct pressure resistance and air tightness tests on equipment for the production, storage and transportation of liquid ammonia, and must do a good job of daily inspection and maintenance. If problems are found, they should be dealt with in time to prevent accidents.
⑤ Install ammonia alarms in production and storage workshops or warehouses, and carry portable ammonia detectors on vehicles transporting liquid ammonia, which can effectively prevent accidents caused by ammonia leaks.
Ensure the accuracy and reliability of ammonia detectors: In order to ensure the accuracy and reliability of liquid ammonia area monitoring, ammonia detectors must be calibrated and maintained regularly. Calibration should be performed according to the manufacturer’s guidelines to ensure that the ammonia detector’s measurement results are accurate and reliable under different environmental conditions.
Although ammonia is an important chemical raw material, its double-sided characteristics require us to be cautious during use. By using high-performance detection instruments, users can more effectively monitor and control the emission and distribution of ammonia to ensure the safety of the working and living environment. Chicheng Electric Ammonia Detector, sensitive response, strong reliability!
