Production And Uses Of NPK Fertilisers

Question 1

What are fertilisers used for ?

Answer 1

They are used for modern farming and are critical for it

Question 2

Why are they important in farming ?

Answer 2

Replace the elements that have been taken up by plants

Question 3

What do NPK fertilizers contain ?

Answer 3

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

Question 4

What does NPK fertilisers do ?

Answer 4

Help plants to grow larger and more rapidly

Question 5

How are NPK ferlizers made ?

Answer 5

Large variety of different raw materials are processed together to produce the exact fertiliser required

Question 6

What are NPK fertilizers ?

Answer 6

Formulations of different slats

Question 7

What is the main compound of Nitrogen in NPK fertilisers ?

Answer 7

Ammonium nitrate NH4NO3

Question 8

How do we make ammonium nitrate ?

Answer 8

We use ammonia from the Haber process and use it to produce nitric acid and then react the nitric acid with more ammonia to make ammonium nitrate

Question 9

How do we get the potassium for NPK fertilisers ?

Answer 9

Potassium chloride and potassium sulfate
Which are both mined from the ground and can be used without any processing

Question 10

How do we obtain phosphate ?

Answer 10

Phosphate rock which is mined from the ground which is chemically processed

Question 11

How is phosphate rock treated with nitric acid ?

Answer 11

Produces phosphoric acid and calcium nitrate

Phosphoric acid contains phosphorus but we have to neutralize it with ammonia

This produces ammonium phosphate which can be used in NPK fertilizers

Question 12

How do we treat phosphate rock with sulfuric acid ?

Answer 12

Produces calcium phosphate and calcium sulfate

Called single superphosphate which can be used in NPK fertilizers

Question 13

How do we react phosphate Rick with phosphoric acid V

Answer 13

We make tripe superphosphate found in NPK fertilizers

Question 14

Who can we produce ammonium nitrate ?

Answer 14

React ammonia and nitric acid which is a neutralization reaction

Question 15

How would we produce ammonium nitrate in a school lab ?

Answer 15

Dilute solution of ammonia and nitric acid
That makes them safe to work with

We can only produce a small amount in one go: batch process

We use a Bunsen burner and a water bath to produce crystals which requires a lot of energy ( in industry some of the heat is provided by previous reactions)

Question 16

How is ammonium nitrate produced in industrial level ?

Answer 16

Ammonia is used as a gas and the nitric acid is concentrated
Far more dangerous due to the reaction being exothermic
The heat or side has to be safely removed
The heat is then used in later stages

Continues process so thousands of kilograms can be produced easily