Removal of ammonia nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen and urea nitrogen by oxidation with hypochlorite-containing solutions from exhaust air in plants for producing ammonia and urea

1. A process for scrubbing ammonia nitrogen and/or ammonium nitrogen and/or urea nitrogen from waste gases in which these nitrogen compounds have accumulated, in plants for producing ammonia or urea, comprising

first forming an intermediate of the nitrogen compounds with a hypochlorite-containing solution in a scrubber: and

reacting said intermediate under acidic or neutral conditions to form elemental nitrogen and salt, the reaction of the intermediate to form elemental nitrogen and salt taking place in a pH range from 4 to 5.5.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the reaction of the intermediate to form elemental nitrogen and salt takes place in a pH range from 4.5 to 5.5.

3. The process of claim 2 , wherein the pH is measured in wastewater from the scrubber, and the pH in the scrubber is regulated via an incoming stream through which lye is fed directly into the scrubber or through which lye is introduced into the scrubber by admixture to the hypochlorite-containing solution.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the hypochlorite-containing solution comprises sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein a scrub water stream from a scrubber is admixed with the hypochlorite-containing solution, and the reaction of the nitrogen compounds present in the waste gas takes place in the scrubber.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein a wastewater produced in the scrubber is passed into an ion exchanger, in which salts generated are removed and a cleaned waste gas stream is delivered from the scrubber to the environment.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the reaction of the nitrogen compounds in the waste gas takes place in a further, separate scrubber, downstream of a first scrubber on the gas side, the hypochlorite-containing solution being introduced directly from a collecting container into said further scrubber.

8. The process of claim 7 , wherein a wastewater produced from the further scrubber is passed from the scrubber into an ion exchanger, in which the salts generated are removed and a cleaned waste gas stream is delivered from the scrubber to the environment.

9. The process of claim 7 , wherein the process is operated in a circulation, and the salt and elemental nitrogen are recycled to the collecting container for the hypochlorite-containing solution, and a cleaned waste gas stream is delivered to the environment.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein in the collecting container for the hypochlorite-containing solution, the salt concentration is measured, and the salt concentration is regulated in this collecting container via an outgoing stream by which liquid is transported out of the collecting container and hypochlorite-containing solution is fed in as a replenishment via an incoming stream.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein wastewater produced from a scrubber in which the reaction of the intermediate to form elemental nitrogen and salt takes place, or the outgoing stream from a collecting container, is admixed with a reducing agent selected from the group consisting of sulfite and hydrogen sulfite.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein said waste gas is from a urea granulator, and contains ammonia nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and urea nitrogen.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein urea is present in said waste gas.

14. The process of claim 1 , wherein said waste gas contains urea and the waste gas is first scrubbed in a first scrubber to remove urea, and urea-depleted waste gas from the first scrubber is fed to a second scrubber containing hypochlorite.