What is Methanol?

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH₃OH (often abbreviated MeOH). It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable, poisonous liquid with a distinctive odor that is somewhat milder and sweeter than ethanol(ethyl alcohol). At room temperature, it is a polar liquid, and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, and as a denaturant for ethanol. It is also used for producing biodiesel via transesterification reaction.

The largest use of methanol by far is in making other chemicals. About 40% of methanol is converted to formaldehyde, and from there into products as diverse as plastics, plywood, paints, explosives, and permanent press textiles.

In addition to direct use as a fuel, methanol (or less commonly, ethanol) is used as a component in the transesterification of triglycerides to yield a form of biodiesel.

Other chemical derivatives of methanol include dimethyl ether, which has replaced chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol spray propellant, and acetic acid. Dimethyl ether (DME) also can be blended with liquified petroleum gas (LPG) for home heating and cooking, and can be used as a diesel replacement for transportation fuel.

What is Ammonia?

Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH₃. It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or indirectly, is also a building block for the synthesis of many pharmaceuticals.

Its largest application has been as the primary feed stock for the nitrogenous fertilizer industry. Under normal conditions of temperature and pressure it exists as a gas which is lighter than air, has a sharp irritating odor and burns the eyes and skin. It dissolves readily in water.

What is Urea?

Urea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula CO(NH₂)₂. The molecule has two —NH₂ groups joined by a carbonyl(C=O) functional group.

Urea serves an important role in the metabolism of nitrogen-containing compounds by animals and is the main nitrogen-containing substance in the urine of mammals. It is solid, colourless, and odorless (although the ammonia which it gives off in the presence of water, including water vapor in the air, has a strong odor). It is highly soluble in water and non-toxic. Dissolved in water it is neither acidic nor alkaline. The body uses it in many processes, most notably nitrogen excretion.

Urea is widely used in fertilizers as a convenient source of nitrogen. Urea is also an important raw material for the chemical industry. The synthesis of this organic compound by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828 from an inorganic precursor was an important milestone in the development of organic chemistry, as it showed for the first time that a molecule found in living organisms could be synthesized in the lab without biological starting materials.

Urea has a variety of uses that include dyes and fertilization. Given enough time, urea will break down into a form of ammonia. When dyeing urea gets a strong, particular smell, it is no longer useful for dyeing but can be used for fertilizing because it has turned into ammonia.

What is Melamine?

Melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses.

Melamine is combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a very durable thermosetting plastic used in Formica, and melamine foam, a polymeric cleaning product. The end products include countertops, dry erase boards, fabrics, glues, housewares, dinnerware, cooking spoons, guitar saddles, guitar nuts, acoustic foam paneling, and flame retardants.

Melamine is one of the major components in Pigment Yellow 150, a colorant in inks and plastics.

Melamine also enters the fabrication of melamine poly-sulfonate used as superplasticizer for making high-resistance.

Melamine and its salts are used as fire-retardant additives in paints, plastics, and paper.

What is UAN?

UAN is a solution of urea and ammonium nitrate in water used as a fertilizer. The combination of urea and ammonium nitrate has an extremely low critical relative humidity(18% at 30°C) and can therefore only be used in liquid fertilizers. The most commonly used grade of these fertilizer solutions is UAN 32.0.0 (32%N) also known as UN32 or UN-32, which consists of 45% ammonium nitrate, 35% urea and only 20% water. Other grades are UAN 28, UAN 30 and UAN 18.

The solutions are quite corrosive towards mild steel (up to 500 MPY on C1010 steel) and are therefore generally equipped with a corrosion inhibitor to protect tanks, pipelines, nozzles, etc. Urea-ammonium nitrate solutions should not be combined with calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN-17) or other solutions prepared from calcium nitrate. A thick, milky-white insoluble precipitate forms that may plug nozzles and pipelines.