What is Nitrogen in simple terms? Nitrogen is a chemical element represented by atomic number seven. Nitrogen is an unreactive, odorless gas that is actually about 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere. It is super important in the chemical industry as it is used to make fertilizer, nylon, dyes, explosives, as well as nitric acid. According to cropnutrition.com, nitrogen fertilizer is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere. It is the most widely distributed element in nature.
Both plants and animals heavily rely on nitrogen. As opposed to going into a complex scientific discussion, let’s start with the most basic role of nitrogen. Nitrogen forms amino acids. Amino acids make up the building blocks of proteins. Human beings must consume between 40 and 70gms of protein every day. You will also find nitrogen fertilizer made from water and air.
Shawn Rana explains that while water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, and the air is mainly nitrogen, ammonia is composed of both hydrogen and nitrogen, and thus “green ammonia” is made from extracting hydrogen from water using renewable electricity and nitrogen from the air also using renewable electricity.
In order to produce nitrogen fertilizer, to oversimplify it, nitrogen must be combined with hydrogen and processed in order to be used effectively. Once hydrogen and nitrogen are combined, after withstanding intentional conditions of extremely high temperature and pressure, ammonia is formed. Once ammonia has been formed, several other important nitrogen-containing fertilizers can be produced.
Shawn Rana understands the complexities of nitrogen fertilizer. With most things in nature, nitrogen has to be properly managed in order to reap all the benefits. Too much nitrogen is problematic while not enough nitrogen is equally problematic and will not produce enough food for the world’s population to survive.
How important is Nitrogen Fertilizer? Ammonia is perhaps the most important since it is the starting point for other fertilizers. Urea is a very common and also a very important nitrogen fertilizer. Another important nitrogen fertilizer is UAN fertilizer. In order to make these mainstay fertilizer types, different processes must be utilized. It’s important to have a firm knowledge of science as well as manufacturing to spearhead these endeavors. It’s just that critical. Additionally, Shawn Rana has expertise in international and domestic finance as well as construction management, business operations, process operations, and system operations.
Shawn Rana – is highly qualified to explain in lay terms. Having a multi-pronged grasp of all the factors involved in nitrogen production is key to his level of expertise. Once he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manitoba, he hit the ground running and used his scientific mind to hold numerous roles within the manufacturing, fertilizer, oil and gas, and agrichemical spaces.
The roles he has taken include plant manager, engineering, and project manager, as well as president and CEO of different companies within the fertilizer industry. Aside from his scientific and technological background, Shawn Rana is multi-dimensional. His talents include building ready-to-operate teams and recruiting high achievers to put the best team in place for a successful and safe organization to achieve its goals.
