NPK Fertilisers - Plant Superfoods
NPK fertilisers are like vitamin supplements for plants, containing the perfect mix of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. These replace nutrients that previous crops have used up or that might be naturally missing from the soil.
The results are impressive - plants grow faster, bigger, and produce much higher yields. Potassium comes from rock salt as either potassium chloride or potassium sulphate, whilst nitrogen comes from that ammonia we just made.
Ammonium nitrate is particularly brilliant because it's made by combining ammonia and nitric acid, giving plants nitrogen from two different sources. Industrial production uses giant vats with highly concentrated solutions - it's very exothermic, so the heat released actually helps evaporate water to make concentrated products.
Phosphate needs to be soluble to work properly. It's sourced by treating rock phosphate with different acids - nitric acid makes calcium nitrate, sulphuric acid creates single superphosphate, and phosphoric acid produces triple superphosphate.
Remember: The main difference between lab and industrial production is scale, concentration, and energy efficiency - industry does everything bigger and faster!