I remember a movie with Harrison Ford in it, where he builds a refrigeration plant in S America. It blew up spectacularly. That is just about my knowledge on the subject. Ammonia is not stable enough, to be used widely.
It is used in every large commercial refrigeration system.
And on every farm.
When I take a hundred mile drive through farm country to in-laws, I pass by a dozen ammonia storage facilities of various sizes, a couple huge cold storage facilities with ammonia, and even an ammonia production facility.
Worst I’ve heard of them is someone making a mistake or doing something stupid and inhaling some ammonia, which can damage lungs or freeze some flesh, but nothing for years.
“Mosquito Coast,” was the title, I believe.
Yeah, the Ford character really had it together for the first half of the movie; then became pretty deranged after his unwanted experience with evil.
It’s used very widely. I mean a lot. Any frozen food distribution center I’ve ever been in had them. I used to be involved in rebuilding the screw compressors that ran them.