Ammonia (NH3) occurs both naturally and is produced by human activity. At room temperature, ammonia is a colourless, highly irritating gas with a pungent, suffocating odour and can easily be dissolved in water.

Ammonia is an important source of nitrogen which is needed by plants and animals and is one of the most commonly produced industrial chemicals to manufacture soil fertilizers, rubber, nitric acid, urea, plastics, fibers, synthetic resin, solvents, other chemicals in household and industrial cleaners, and petroleum refining. Other commercial applications of ammonia are refrigerant in food processing, ice production, near cold storage and de-icing operations.

Activated carbon, with a well-developed porous structure, a large surface area, and high adsorption characteristics has proven to be a robust method of removal of ammonia from vapor streams.