Mineral Commodity Profile--Nitrogen
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Open-File Report 2004-1290 Mineral Commodity Profiles Nitrogen By Deborah A. Kramer 2004 Any use of trade names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. CONTENTS Overview .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 History .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Description............................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Uses....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Ammonia........................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Urea................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Ammonium nitrate............................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Ammonium sulfate............................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Nitric acid.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Environmental impact ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Sources of nitrogen ............................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Mining and processing.......................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Chilean nitrate deposits ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Ammonia...........................................................................................................................................................................................10 Urea...................................................................................................................................................................................................11 Ammonium nitrate............................................................................................................................................................................12 Ammonium sulfate............................................................................................................................................................................12 Nitric acid..........................................................................................................................................................................................12 The industry..........................................................................................................................................................................................12 The market............................................................................................................................................................................................12 Prices.................................................................................................................................................................................................16 Supply, demand, sustainable development ...........................................................................................................................................16 U.S. supply and demand....................................................................................................................................................................16 World production, consumption, trade..............................................................................................................................................16 Sustainable development...................................................................................................................................................................19 Nitrogen soil inputs .....................................................................................................................................................................31 Nitrogen soil outputs ...................................................................................................................................................................31 Nitrogen air emissions.................................................................................................................................................................32 Economic factors ..................................................................................................................................................................................33 Costs..................................................................................................................................................................................................36 Transportation ...................................................................................................................................................................................37 Outlook .................................................................................................................................................................................................38 References cited....................................................................................................................................................................................40 Appendix. Selected nitrogen data, 1970–2002.....................................................................................................................................42 FIGURES 1. Flow diagram that shows nitrogen fertilizer production routes.................................................................................................. 6 2. Flow diagram that shows principal downstream products of ammonia and their uses .............................................................. 7 3. Flow diagram that shows basic ammonia steam reforming production process ........................................................................10 4. Pie chart that shows world ammonia production capacity, by region ........................................................................................15 5. Graph that shows U.S. ammonia production capacity and natural gas prices ............................................................................16 6. Pie chart that shows U.S. ammonia production capacity, by State.............................................................................................17 7. Graph that shows average ammonia prices, 1970–2002 ............................................................................................................18 8. Graph that shows ammonia and natural gas prices ....................................................................................................................18 9. Figure that shows ammonia supply-demand relationships, 2002...............................................................................................19 10. Graph that shows U.S. production and consumption of ammonia, 1970–2002..........................................................................25 11. Map that shows U.S. fertilizer nitrogen consumption, by State, crop year 2001–02 .................................................................25 12. Pie chart that shows U.S. nitrogen use and crop plantings, crop year 2000–01 .........................................................................26 13. Graph that shows world nitrogen fertilizer nutrient consumption, in crop years .......................................................................26 14. Map that shows ammonia world trade, by region, 2002 ............................................................................................................27 15. Map that shows urea world trade, by region, 2002 ....................................................................................................................28 16. Map that shows ammonium nitrate world trade, by region, 2002..............................................................................................29 17. Map that shows ammonium sulfate world trade, by region, 2002..............................................................................................30