Anhydrous ammonia has been a familiar product to American farmers for nearly 70 years — since munitions plants using large amounts of nitrogen were converted to peacetime production after World War II.
It’s almost universally used to fertilize area corn fields, either before planting or within one month after planting, according to experts. Because soybeans can access nitrogen on their own, anhydrous is typically not applied to soybean fields, though agronomists continue to explore the possibility that anhydrous application could increase bean yields.
Anhydrous also has a variety of industrial uses in power plants and chemical manufacturing. And it’s one of the oldest commercial refrigerants in the world. Meanwhile, methamphetamine producers use anhydrous in the production of that illegal synthetic stimulant.
It can be dangerous, and that’s why it is carefully regulated.
In a 2016 interview, the director of safety for Effingham Equity said that great care must be taken to avoid either inhaling anhydrous fumes or skin contact with the highly caustic gas.
“It’s an inhalation hazard far greater than household ammonia,” said Jamie Southard, who added that household ammonia is heavily diluted with water.
“Anhydrous is pure ammonia,” Southard said.
The chemical compound that creates anhydrous is three parts hydrogen to one part nitrogen, listed as NH3. Because nitrogen is heavier than hydrogen, anhydrous is about 82 percent nitrogen by volume.
Effects of contact with it can include watery eyes, runny noses and potentially crippling, or even fatal, respiratory issues. Those whose skin comes in contact with the gas risk caustic burns.
Southard said all Equity employees are trained on safety procedures every two years.
“It’s such a big part of our business,” he said.
Part of that training, he added, includes instruction on the use of protective gear such as goggles and gloves, as well as the respirators that are stationed nearby any anhydrous usage.
Southard said Equity personnel also meet with area first responders to make them aware of anhydrous’ hazardous nature.
German chemist Fritz Haber is generally considered the father of anhydrous ammonia. The future Nobel laureate synthesized nitrogen and hydrogen in the first decade of the 20th century. Also immediately upon hearing of Haber’s research, German chemical giant BASF assigned chemist Carl Bosch to develop a method for large-scale production.
By the time Bosch developed that method in 1914, World War I had broken out and the new plant was used for munitions and poison gas production.
After the war, however, Bosch shared his technology with the French, who began making their own anhydrous. The British and American soon followed suit.
However, large-scale agricultural use for anhydrous did not begin until after World War II, when chemical plants that had been creating raw material for military explosives needed a peacetime market.
Mississippi researchers had found that anhydrous fortified the soil when it was directly injected. The Fertilizer Institute said U.S. plants produced about 10 million metric tons of anhydrous during 2012.