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Ammonium nitrate is an important fertilizer with NPK rating 34-0-0 (34% nitrogen). [17] It is less concentrated than urea (46-0-0), giving ammonium nitrate a slight transportation disadvantage. Ammonium nitrate's advantage over urea is that it is more stable and does not rapidly lose nitrogen to the atmosphere.
Ammonium nitrate has an oxygen balance of +20% and TNT has an oxygen balance of −74%, so it would appear that the mixture yielding an oxygen balance of zero would also result in the best explosive properties. In actual practice a mixture of 80% ammonium nitrate and 20% TNT by weight yields an oxygen balance of +1%, the best properties of all ...
Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium is a two step process, reducing NO 3 − to NO 2 − then NO 2 − to NH 4 +, though the reaction may begin with NO 2 − directly. [1] Each step is mediated by a different enzyme, the first step of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium is usually mediated by a periplasmic nitrate reductase.
Because TNT has an excess of carbon, explosive mixtures with oxygen-rich compounds can yield more energy per kilogram than TNT alone. During the 20th century amatol, a mixture of TNT with ammonium nitrate, was a widely used military explosive. [citation needed] TNT can be detonated with a high velocity initiator or by efficient concussion. [22]
The use of the relatively cheap ammonium nitrate and aluminium makes it a replacement for pure TNT. The mixture is affected by humidity because ammonium nitrate is highly hygroscopic. Ammonal's ease of detonation depends on fuel and oxidizer ratios, 95:5 ammonium nitrate and aluminium being fairly sensitive, however not very oxygen balanced.
The amount of ammonium in the ocean is about 3 orders of magnitude less than nitrate. [42] Between ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate, nitrite has the fastest turnover rate. It can be produced during nitrate assimilation, nitrification, and denitrification; however, it is immediately consumed again.
Direct reduction from nitrate to ammonium, a process known as dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium or DNRA, [6] is also possible for organisms that have the nrf-gene. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] This is less common than denitrification in most ecosystems as a means of nitrate reduction.
Nitrogen cycle. Nitrification is the biological oxidation of ammonia to nitrate via the intermediary nitrite.Nitrification is an important step in the nitrogen cycle in soil.The process of complete nitrification may occur through separate organisms [1] or entirely within one organism, as in comammox bacteria.