Search / 6 posts tagged Anhydrous Ammonia

Safety Alert from National Propane Gas Association May 23, 2008 by ElfNinosMom SAFETY ALERT INTRODUCTION: Readers of this bulletin should consult the law of their individual jurisdictions for codes, standards and legal requirements applicable to them.

The cost of nitrogen fertilizers has gone way up this year.  This is because anhydrous ammonia and other nitrogen fertilizers are made with natural gas.  Methane, CH4 is reacted with atmospheric N2 at high temperatures and pressures on an iron catalyst to make ammonia.  Anhydrous ammonia is now going for over $400 a ton.  This is more than double the price a year ago.

Earlier this week a leak of anhydrous ammonia from two 5-gallon propane tanks shut down I-10 for about three hours. The two tanks were being transported in the back seat of a car, a car also transporting two apparent methamphetamine manufacturers. The tanks probably overheated causing an increase in pressure in the tanks.

On Monday night in the small town of Bargersville, IN someone opened a valve on an anhydrous ammonia tank at Roy Umbarger & Sons Inc., a local farm supply store, allowing the ammonia to drain out on the ground. The county hazmat team knocked down the vapor cloud with a water mist.

Illinois: It was some good news but mostly bad for Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s quest to broadly expand the state subsidized health care system. First the good news: the governor is allowed to continue expansions in a program that will cover the screening of uninsured female residents for breast and cervical cancer.

Cargill meat packing plant in Arkansas burns after welding work on Easter Sunday afternoon; no injuries reported. Plant employed about 800 and was Booneville's largest employer. It produced more than two million pounds of ground beef and steak per week and had just undergone a $40 million expansion.