Ammonium chloride is an inorganic compound with the formula NH 4 Cl and a white crystalline salt that is highly soluble in water. Solutions of ammonium chlorides are mildly acidic. Sal ammoniac is a name for the natural, mineral form of ammonium chlorides. The mineral is usually formed by the condensation of coal -derived gases by burning coal deposits. It is also found around some types of volcanic holes. It is mainly used as a fertilizer and flavoring agent in some types of liquorice . It is the product of the reaction of hydrochloric acid and ammonia .
Production
It is a product of the Solvay process used to produce sodium carbonate:
CO 2 + 2 NH 3 + 2 NaCl + H 2 O → 2 NH 4 Cl + Na 2 CO 3
In addition to being the predominant method for the manufacture of ammonium chlorides, that method is used to reduce ammonia release in some industrial operations.
Ammonium chloride is prepared commercially by mixing ammonia (NH 3 ) with hydrogen chloride (gas) or hydrochloric acid (water solution):
NH 3 + HCl → NH 4 Cl
Ammonium chlorides occurs naturally in volcanic areas, forming on volcanic rocks near fume-releasing vents (fumaroles). Crystals are deposited directly from the gaseous state and are short-lived, as they dissolve readily in water.
reactions
Ammonium chloride appears sublime on heating but actually decomposes into ammonia and hydrogen chlorides gas.
NH 4 Cl → NH 3 + HCl
Ammonium chloride reacts with a strong base such as sodium hydroxide to release ammonia gas:
NH 4 Cl + NaOH → NH 3 + NaCl + H 2 O
Similarly, ammonium chloride also reacts with alkali metal carbonates at elevated temperatures, giving ammonia and alkali metal chlorides:
2 NH 4 Cl + Na 2 CO 3 → 2 NaCl + CO 2 + H 2 O + 2 NH 3
The pH of a 5% solution by weight of ammonium chloride in water ranges from 4.6 to 6.0. [12]
Some reactions of ammonium chloride with other chemicals are endothermic such as its reaction with barium hydroxide and its dissolution in water.
Application
The major application of ammonium chloride is as a nitrogen source in fertilizers (corresponding to 90% of world production of ammonium chloride) such as chloroammonium phosphate. The main crops thus fertilized are rice and wheat in Asia. [13]
Ammonium chloride was used in pyrotechnics in the 18th century, but was superseded by safer and less hygroscopic chemicals. Its purpose was to provide a chlorine donor to enhance the green and blue color from the copper ions in the flame.
It had a secondary use to provide white smoke, but its prepared double decomposition reaction with potassium chlorate producing the highly volatile ammonium chlorate made its use very dangerous.
Metal
Ammonium chloride is used as a flux in preparing metals to be tin coated, galvanized or soldered. It works as a flux by cleaning the surface of the workpiece by reacting with metal oxides on the surface to form a volatile metal chloride. For that purpose, it is sold in blocks at hardware stores for use in cleaning the tip of a soldering iron, and can also be incorporated into the solder as a flux.
medicine
Ammonium chloride is used in cough medicine as an expectorant. Its expectorant action is due to the irritant action on the bronchial mucosa, causing the production of excess fluid in the respiratory tract, which is possibly easier to cough up. Ammonium salts are an irritant to the gastric mucosa and can induce nausea and vomiting.
Ammonium chloride is used as a systemic acidifying agent in the treatment of severe metabolic alkalosis, in the oral acid loading test to diagnose distal renal tubular acidosis, to maintain urine at an acid pH in the treatment of certain urinary-tract disorders goes.
eat
Ammonium chloride, under the names sal amonic or salmic , is used as a food additive under the E number E510, as a yeast nutrient in breadmaking and as an acidifier. [17] It is a dietary supplement for cattle and an ingredient in the nutritional medium for yeast and many microorganisms.
Ammonium chloride is used to spice up dark sweets called salty liquorice (popular in Scandinavia, Benelux and northern Germany), [18] to give cookies a very crunchy texture, and to flavor wine. Salmiyaki Koskenkorva. In Iran, Tajikistan, India, Pakistan and Arab countries it is called “noshadar” and is used to improve the crunchiness of snacks such as samosas and jalebi .
in the laboratory
Ammonium chloride has historically been used to produce low temperatures in cold baths. [19] Ammonium chloride solution with ammonia is used as a buffer solution including ACK (ammonium-chloride-potassium) lysis buffer. [20]
In paleontology, ammonium chloride vapor is deposited on fossils, where the substance forms bright white, easily removed and fairly harmless and inert layers of tiny crystals. It covers any color of the fossil, and greatly enhances the photographic documentation of three-dimensional specimens if the angle is highlighted. [21] The same technique is applied in archeology to eliminate reflections on glass and similar specimens for photography. [22] Saturated NH 4 Cl solutions are commonly used in organic synthesis to quench the reaction mixture. [23]
flotation
Giant squid and some other large squid species maintain neutral buoyancy in seawater by means of an ammonium chloride solution that is found throughout their bodies and is less dense than seawater. [24] This differs from the flotation method used by most fish, which involves a gas-filled swim bladder.
Batteries
Around the turn of the 20th century, ammonium chlorides was used in aqueous solution as an electrolyte in Leclanche cells, which found commercial use as a “local battery” in customers’ telephone installations. Those cells later evolved into zinc-carbon batteries, which still use ammonium chlorides as the electrolyte.
other applications
Ammonium chlorides in ~5% aqueous solution is used for work on oil wells with problems with soil swelling. Other uses include in hair shampoo, in the glue that binds plywood, and in cleaning products. In hair shampoo, it is used as a thickening agent in ammonium-based surfactant systems such as ammonium lauryl sulfate. Ammonium chlorides is used in the textile and leather industry, in dyeing, tanning, textile printing, and in the clustering of cotton. In woodworking, a solution of ammonium chlorides and water, when applied to unfinished wood, will burn when subjected to a heat gun, resulting in a branding iron mark without the use of a branding iron. The solution can be painted onto wood or applied with a normal rubber stamp. [25]
history
The earliest mention of ammonium chlorides was in China in 554 AD. [26] At that time, ammonium chloride came from two sources: (1) underground coal fires in Central Asia, in particular, in the Tian Shan mountains (which extended from Xinjiang province in northwestern China through Kyrgyzstan) ) as well as in the Alay (or Alai) mountains of western Kyrgyzstan, and (2) the fumaroles volcano Mount Taftan south of Iran. [27] [28] [29] (Indeed, in many Asian languages the word for ammonium chloride derives from the Iranian phrase anosh adur (immortal fire), a reference to underground fire. [30] ) Moved along the Silk Road was east to China and west to Muslim lands and Europe.
Around AD 800, the Egyptian Arabs discovered ammonium chlorides in the soot produced by the burning of camel dung, and this source became a substitute for the peoples of Central Asia.
Frequently Asked Question
What is ammonium chloride used for?
Ammonium chlorides is used to maintain the acid-base balance in the body and is therefore used to treat patients with hypochloremia and metabolic alkalosis.
What is the use of Nausadar?
Nausadar is used only to melt this silt, which dissolves the silt as soon as possible, but Nausadar is a kind of ammonium chlorides, its quantity is given to bring intoxication, which is harmful for kidney and liver. . Soon it damages the kidney.
What does ammonium chloride look like?
Ammonium chlorides is a white crystalline solid.
How do you make ammonium chloride?
Ammonium chloride is prepared commercially by mixing ammonia (NH3) with hydrogen chloride (gas) or hydrochloric acid (water solution): NH3 + HCl → NH4Cl.
How can one separate ammonium chlorides from a mixture of ammonium chlorides and sodium chlorides?
The correct answer is sublimation. A mixture of sodium chloride (salt) and ammonium chlorides can be separated by sublimation.
How can one separate ammonium chloride from a mixture of sodium chloride with ammonium chlorides?
Thus, when a mixture of ammonium chlorides and sodium chlorides (common salt) is heated, ammonium chlorides precipitates and separates from sodium chlorides. Therefore, ammonium chlorides can be separated from a mixture of ammonium chlorides and sodium chloride (common salt) and by the method of sublimation.
What is the method of separating ammonium chloride from salt?
When all the ammonium chloride sublimes, the heating stops. Ammonium chlorides is removed by scraping it from the surface of the funnel. The salt remains in the basin. Thus salt and ammonium chlorides are separated from the mixture of salt and ammonium chlorides.
What happens when ammonium chloride is heated?
Ammonium chloride(NH_(4)Cl)On heatingNH_(3)AndHCIGas are formed which on cooling it again makes ammonium chloride. This reaction is called
When ammonium chloride is dissolved in water, it is the heat absorbent change, how will it be understood? Answer?
Because entropy increases during the process.
Illustrate how you will separate ammonium chloride from sand with the help of sublimation method?
The funnel ends are closed with a cotton swab. On heating the basin, the ammonium chlorides present in the mixture rises up without ever converting into vapour, which condenses into a solid in the cooler parts inside the funnel. As a result ammonium chlorides is separated from the sand.
Why does the test tube cool down when ammonium chloride is opened in water?
When ammonium chlorides is dissolved in water, the solution cools down.
What is found in ammonia?
In this, urea, ammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium nitrate and sodium carbonate are prominent. Apart from this, it is also used as a cooling substance in the ice making factory. It is used as repellent in the laboratory and in domestic use to remove the stains of oil, grease etc. in clothes.
What is ammonia in water?
What is ammonia and its side effects
Ammonia is a colorless gas used as an industrial chemical in the production of fertilizers, plastics, synthetic fibers, dyes and other products. Ammonia is produced naturally in the environment by the breakdown of organic waste material.
