Ryan Kirdahy

Dr. Moerdyk

Foundations of Chemistry

2 December 2015

The Haber-Bosch Process

Fritz Haber, a German chemist, was born in the mid nineteenth century. After

much success in his field, Haber changed directions and moved into thermodynamics.

Haber had a clear focus in this field and it was the synthesis of ammonia gas. (Jenson)

His goal was to create a way of nitrogen fixation that would be energy effective. Up until

this point, this had been unobtainable. (Who really discovered the Haber process?) The

equation they were going for was 2 (g) + 32 (g) 23 (g). (Masterton) The

attempts had never produced successful, efficient results, or safe results. For example,

another famous chemist, Henry-Louis Le Chatelier, was very close to reaching this goal

until he gave up after he blew up his laboratory in the process. (Who really discovered

the Haber process?) Ironically this method was created for the use of explosives, but

was also used to create a food supply. It both was destructive and beneficial to the

Earth and humans.

The Haber-Bosch process begins with the purification of the nitrogen gas and the

hydrogen gas. They go through a process called scrubbing. The Earths atmosphere is

currently at 1 atm. When the gasses are mixed they are put under an extreme amount

of pressure, around 200 atm. This causes the temperature to rise to about 300 degrees

Celsius, 572 degrees Fahrenheit, and 573.15 Kelvin. This happens due to the increased

particle movement. This eventually causes the nitrogen and hydrogen to break apart.
The next step is for the gas to be moved to a converter where the pressure is 200atm.

The temperature is raised to 450 degrees Celsius. In the convertor there is a catalyst.

The catalysts are hot beds of iron. Catalysts are used to speed up reactions, but do not

engaged in the reaction itself. This means it can be reused. Unfortunately, this reaction

does not convert all of the reactants into products. Only about fifteen percent comes out

as ammonia. The other eighty-five percent returns to the initial state. After the reaction

takes place the ammonia, nitrogen, and hydrogen are taken out and cooled. The

ammonia becomes a liquid and is removed. The left over gases are put back into the

convertor, and run through the process again. This helps use up the majority of the

reactants. (The Haber Bosch Process Fertilizing Crops, Feeding the World)

Entropy is often described as a measure of disorder or randomness

(Masterton). Basically this means that the universe favors disorder. For example, if you

randomly drop papers onto a desk, they will almost certainly land all over the place.

They will not land in a neat pile because entropy favors randomness. This relates to the

Haber-Bosch process because the entropy wants to keep the nitrogen and hydrogen

separate. Entropy is directly proportional with pressure, so if we decrease pressure,

then entropy will also decrease. That would create the most disorder. That is why you

need so much energy to make the reaction take place. It takes an extremely high

pressure and temperature to make this reaction go through. (Mueller)

Enthalpy has to do with heat content. An increase in the temperature will cause

the equilibrium of the reaction to favor the reactants (endothermic reaction). A decrease

in temperature would cause the equilibrium of the reaction to favor the products
(exothermic reaction). (The Haber Process-choice of conditions) Based on this

knowledge the Haber-Bosch will be an exothermic reaction.

I come from a small town where farming is a way of life. Every kid is taught about

how to grow your own food. Even from a young age I understood that plants need the

proper soil in order to survive, let alone thrive. All I knew was that adding fertilizer

helped make the plant grow. As I grew older I learned there was much more to the

whole process, and began to learn exactly what went into these fertilizers that made the

plants flourish.

Late nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century the issue of food

production arose. Farmers crop production was starting to struggle to keep up with the

populations food demands. According to a British chemist, William Crookes, the only

way to prevent a food shortage was through the use of nitrogen fertilizers. (Jenson)

Even though our atmosphere has a rich supply of nitrogen, most of it is unavailable for

plants to use. This means it is not bioavailable. (A new century in agriculture- the

Haber-Bosch process)

When Carl Bosch was able to commercialize this process, by creating a more

efficient yield, he had an outstanding impact on farming. The ability to purchase cheap

fertilizer then translated into lower production costs. These savings are then passed

down to the consumer. Not only did this secure an abundant food source for the rapidly

rising population, but it made the food cheaper. (A new century in agriculture- the

Haber-Bosch process) In the future I see the process becoming even more efficient. I

think the yield of ammonia will be larger in a shorter amount of time. Also, I think it will

become more environmentally friendly. Other than that, I believe that it will continue to
be a valuable resource that allows us to have inexpensive source to ammonia, and the

products it creates.

Before the Haber-Bosch process all of the worlds industrial nitrates game from

South America and transported by Europeans. As soon as World War One broke out

the supply of nitrates were obviously cut off. Without nitrates Germany would have run

out of explosive within months. (Energy and Entropy, - a Universal Competition) Fritz

Haber solved this problem just in time allowing Germany to extend the war much longer.

(Fritz Haber-Biographical)

Nitrogen is likely to bond with itself and not break that bond. It is very common for

nitrogen to form double and triple bonds with itself. Nitrogen contains five valence

electrons and it would like to have eight to fulfill its outer shell of electrons and abide by

the octet rule. It is hard for nitrogen to split, so that is why so much heat, pressure, and

a catalyst is needed to break it apart. When is broken apart it likes to bond with three of

the hydrogen atoms. This makes it form ammonia. The iron catalyst is not used in the

reaction. (The Chemistry of Nitrogen and Phosphorus)

The pump required to move these gasses must be extremely powerful. There are

two main towers. One tower is for heating, and the other one (reactor) is where

ammonia is made. The pipes must be very durable to withstand the temperature and

pressure. The ammonia must be tested several times a day to ensure quality. When the

ammonia is made it is a gas at a high temperature. The ammonia is tested as a liquid

which is extremely cold. To be able to convert the ammonia from a gas to a liquid the

cooler is essential because ammonia is ammonia comes out very hot and is still a gas

at room temperature. The cooler also separates the unreacted nitrogen and hydrogen
from ammonia because they would require a much lower temperature

to liquefy as well. Most of the plant is used to store hydrogen and nitrogen. The

ammonia creating part takes up a small portion of the plant. Gas is taken by pipeline to

the chemical plant. To make hydrogen, natural gas reacts with steam to produce

hydrogen and carbon dioxide. This equation looks like: 4 + 22 42 + 2. The

carbon dioxide can be removed later. This part takes place at primary reformer which is

essentially a large furnace. To prepare the nitrogen you need this formula: Air +

Hydrogen Nitrogen + Water. This equation looks like this: 2 42 + 22 42 + 2 .

The four gasses go through a separator and removes the two that are not needed. The

carbon dioxide is removed and sold to other industries. This reaction requires three

parts hydrogen to one part nitrogen. These chemical plants are designed to be as

efficient as possible and run twenty-four hours around the clock for maximum

production. (The Haber Process)

Fritz Haber was the first chemist to be successful in synthesizing ammonia. He

received a Nobel Peace Prize for his accomplishments. His discoveries were very

beneficial for explosive production, and for agricultural methods. Haber was first only

able to produce small amounts of ammonia with an iron catalyst. He decided to expand

his search for a better catalyst for more efficient production. This is where Carl Bosch

comes in to the picture. (Fritz Haber- Biographical)

Carl Bosch was also a German chemist that was interested in synthesizing

ammonia. Bosch teamed up with Fritz Haber to combine their work. Bosch found that

using pure iron along with several other additives created the perfect catalyst. In order

to commercialize this process several steps needed to be taken. They took care of the
catalyst and the next step was to create a safe, cheap way to pressurize, and heat the

gasses. He was very successful with his quest because the Haber-Bosch system now

provides fertilizers all over the world. Bosch also received the Nobel Peace Prize. (Carl

Bosch- Biographical)

Lastly, Gerhard Ertl added on contributions much later in his discipline of surface

chemistry. Ertl was also a German chemist. Using LEED, which is an acronym for low

energy electron diffraction, was able to show how hydrogen can be exposed on certain

metals. He was key in showing how one could practically use LEED. (Chemical

Processes on Solid Surfaces).

The original system used electrolyzed hydrogen atoms. It was not as efficient

and they used iron. Current versions of this method are more advanced. They are much

safer. Instead of electrolyzed hydrogen they now use natural gas (methane), and an

iron compound instead of iron for the catalyst. In many ways they are still very similar

though. (Essential of the Chemical Industry)

Ammonia has many practical uses besides chemical synthesis. Many things we

take for granted my have been involved with ammonia. For example, industrial

refrigeration systems use ammonia as a refrigerant. In order for this to work the

ammonia must be as pure as possible (99 percent and above). Any impurities could ruin

it. Refrigeration has become an absolute necessity in our world today. Especially on

large scales. (Properties of Ammonia)

Also, ammonia plays an important role in the power and energy industry. It helps

by taking the gas in coal fired or oil fired plants and making sure they are pure. The
ammonia it converts nitrogen oxides and splits it into nitrogen and water. This makes it

a cleaner process. (Industrial Gases)

Additionally, ammonia can be used for the mining of copper, nickel, and

molybdenum. This is a very beneficial process because it helps as a proactive

atmosphere for metal heat treatment (Industrial Gases).

The rubber and plastics industry also benefits from ammonia. The ammonia

prevents premature coagulation. It really helps to stabilize during transport. Without this

the product being shipped would be useless and the companies would be wasting

money. (Industrial Gases)

Lastly, ammonia is a very popular ingredient cleaning supplies. They efficient

cleaners because they help clean the tough messes. They can take grease off of ovens,

lime off of tile, and get rid of soap scum. This seems like basic things but without it our

lives would be very different and far more difficult. (Industrial Gases)

Just like the Haber-Bosch process there is a good and bad spin to everything.

For the Haber-Bosch process it is that it created an abundant food source allowing the

population to soar. However, it was also used for explosives and destruction.

Dynamite had the intended use of explosions, but in a good way. It was designed

to explode rock and earth for mining. This could accelerate the speeds at which

companies could mine or build. Unfortunately, people used these explosives for the

destruction of human life. They were a popular devise used in terrorist attacks at the

time. (10 Good Techs Turned Bad)

Going along with the theme of terrorist attacks Google Earth has been used for

evil. Everyone loves to get on Google Earth and find familiar places or even explore, but
even this was turned bad, just like the terrorist attack that took place in Mumbai in 2008.

Also, thieves in England have been know to scout out escape routes using this imaging

site. (10 Good Techs Turned Bad)

A very popular topic is robots. Robots used to be depicted in futuristic shows.

Now they are a common thing in daily life. They may not be exactly the same, but

nevertheless, they fit into the category. There have been robot inventions that have

been very beneficial to daily human life like the automatic vacuums. Others not so

much. For example, drones have been created to be able to carry out missions that are

extremely destructive to human life. (10 Good Techs Turned Bad)

People always seem to find a way to take advantage of good intentions. In the

case of remote access tools, they were designed to allow companies tech support

divisions. This allows the worker to provide support to the customers without having to

have the device in front of them. People have taken advantage of this by running scams

and hacking peoples computers and betraying their trust. These hackers have the

ability to steal all of their victims personal information. (10 Good Techs Turned Bad)

Overall many discoveries have good intentions, but can be contorted into bad

things. The Haber-Bosch process was good because it helped create an abundant food

supply to the ever increasing population. Without it there could have been a severe food

shortage. Temperature, pressure, and a catalyst make the Haber-Bosch process a

possibility. Based on the knowledge of scientific laws like entropy and enthalpy is what

makes this possible.

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