UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK

Faculty of Engineering

PBI1092 ACADEMIC ENGLISH 2

AE 2 Group 3

Explanation Report

SEMESTER 1 2022/2023

Submission Date : 18 December 2022

NAME OF LECTURER Mohd. Syamim Safian

TITLE Haber process

PREPARED BY 1. MOHD AMIRUL AMZAR BIN ABU KASSIM (82672)

(0178679671)

2. MOHAMAD ZUL HARIZ BIN MOHD FADZLI (82683)

(01140117212)

3. ABANG MUHAMMAD ABID ZAKWAN BIN ABANG

ZOLFAKA (82332) (01131774799)

VIDEO LINK https://youtu.be/UMTJwJkJ17Y

Title: Haber process
Agriculture is the one of the fields in industry that is highly in demand today. As the
demand increases, the production of ammonia is important in order to supply the fertilizer
component to the plant. The Haber process is a modern way to produce high quality ammonia
with a high efficiency of time and energy. The Haber process is the most common way for
the manufacturing of ammonia from Nitrogen and hydrogen (Chong et al., 2022). Moreover,
the Haber process is also a great way to maintain the sustainability of the environment. Ye et
al, (2017) stated that this (Haber process) method is an alternative as one of the steps to
achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emission. There are four main steps of Haber process for the
manufacturing of ammonia which are preparation of the nitrogen, combining the hydrogen
with the pre-mixed nitrogen, the addition of catalyst and cooling down of ammonia (refer to
Figure 1 in Appendix 1).

The first step of the Haber process is the preparation of the nitrogen. The main
objective of the preparation of the nitrogen gas is the reaction rate and the equilibrium of the
nitrogen. The nitrogen is produced through the separation of the nitrogen from the air via
liquefaction in the natural gas. This involves the exothermic reaction whereby the
temperature gas will be increased as the reaction starts (Nielsen, 1995). To get the nitrogen
from the air, a few energies amount is needed via the air separation unit (ASU) which is
combined with large carbon dioxide emission (Byun et al., 2022).

The second step of the Haber process is combining hydrogen with pre-mixed
nitrogen. Nitrogen and hydrogen are reacted to create ammonia. While hydrogen is mostly
produced by the catalytic reforming of natural gas and other liquid and solid hydrocarbon
fuels, nitrogen is derived from air. However, new facilities are increasingly being developed
to generate 3000 t/d or more (Krupp Uhde Pressure Process) and are frequently combined
with other plants, particularly urea plants, which use the CO2 produced in the process.
Ammonia will have a capacity of 1000–1500 t/d. This involves three steps for combining the
elements via coal gasification, partial oxidation of heavy fuel oil, and steam reforming of
natural gas or other light hydrocarbons. However, neither in Europe nor in the US is the coal
gasification method used to produce ammonia anymore. Although the method is neither
economically advantageous nor ecologically beneficial, coal gasification may eventually gain
popularity due to the high cost of natural gas or its scarcity. The method that is most
frequently utilized is steam reformation of natural gas (I. Rafiqul et al, 2005).

The third step for the Haber process is the addition of a catalyst. The catalyst is
activated by reducing the iron oxide to metallic iron, whilst the promoters remain in their
oxide phases (Valera-Medina & Banares-Alcantara, 2020). Consequently, a process known
as the water gas shift reaction transforms the carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide, which is
then utilized to synthesize urea. The process involves two phases. The gas stream is first
passed over a catalyst made of Cr/Fe3O4 [9] at 3600C, and then a catalyst made of
Cu/ZnO/Cr at 2100C. Both processes involve the same reaction, however combining them
enhances conversion. A further 400C cooling of the gas combination removes the water as it
condenses out at that temperature. The gases are then forced up through a UCARSOL
solution countercurrent (aMDEA solution). More than 99.9% of the carbon dioxide in the
combination dissolves in UCARSOL due to its high solubility in carbon dioxide. Using a
Ni/Al2O3 catalyst at 3250C, the leftover CO2 and any CO that was not converted to CO2 in
Step 3 are converted to methane (methanation). Condensation, which takes place at 400C as
mentioned above, removes the water created during these processes. The UCARSOL is
removed of its carbon dioxide and used to make urea. The UCARSOL is cooled and used
again to remove carbon dioxide (Amin et.al,2013).

The last step of the Haber process is cooling down the ammonia. After cooling and
compression, the gas combination is now supplied into the ammonia synthesis loop. The
entering gas stream is combined with unreacted gasses that have previously been within the
loop and cooled to 50C. The ammonia is removed, the unreacted gasses are heated to 4000C
at 330 barg, and they are then passed over an iron catalyst. Ammonia is produced when 26%
of the hydrogen and nitrogen are combined (Amin et.al,2013). The ammonia converter's
discharge gas is cooled from 2200°C to 300°C. More than half of the ammonia is condensed
during this chilling step, which is followed by separation. More compressed, cooled incoming
gas is combined with the leftover gas. The ammonia converter is where the reaction happens.
The ammonia decompresses quickly to 24barg. The resulting pure ammonia is combined with
the original pure ammonia from the condensation process above and is prepared for use in the
manufacturing of urea, storage, or direct sale.
 References
Byun, M., Lim, D., Lee, B., Kim, A., Brigljević, L. & Lim, H. (2022). Economically feasible
decarbonization of the Haber-Bosch process through supercritical CO 2 Allam cycle
integration. 307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118183
Islam Rafiqul, Christoph Weber, Bianca Lehmann, Alfred Voss, Energy efficiency
improvements in ammonia production—perspectives and uncertainties, Energy,
Volume 30, Issue 13, 2005, Pages 2487-2504, ISSN 0360-5442.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2004.12.004
M. R. Amin, S. Sharear, N. Siddique, Shaidul Islam. Simulation of Ammonia Synthesis.
American Journal of Chemical Engineering. Vol. 1, No. 3, 2013, pp. 59-64.
https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajche.20130103.11
Nielsen A. (1995). Ammonia: Catalysis and Manufacture. Springer-Verlag Berlin
Heidelberg.
Valera-Medina A. & Banares-Alcantara, R. (2020). Techno-Economic Challenges of Green
Ammonia as an Energy Vector. Academic Press.
Ye, L., Nayak-Luke, R., Bañares-Alcántara, R. & Tsang, E. (2017). Reaction: “Green”
Ammonia Production. Figures, 3(5), 712-714.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2017.10.016
 Appendix 1

Preparation of the
nitrogen

Combining
Addition of hydrogen with the
catalyst pre-mixed
nitrogen.

Cooling down of
ammonia

Figure 1. Haber Process

PBI 1092 Academic English 2 - Assessment 2b: Explanation Report (20%)

Explanation Report Title: Haber process

Group Members’ Matric No. : 82683 82672 82332

Criteria Descriptors Allocated Obtained

Marks Marks

Title 1 appropriate
1
0.5 partly appropriate

General 1 relates to the topic

statement 1
0.5 too general/too specific

Statement of 1 complete
Processes/ 1
stages 0.5 incomplete
Organisation
Topic 2 provided for each main process/stage
(6 marks)
sentence
1.5 minor problems
2
1 half are not appropriate

0.5 poorly constructed

Paragraphing 1 organized in proper paragraphs, conclusion is suitable (if

given)
1
0.5 minor problems in paragraphing/conclusion not suitable

6 very well developed; appropriately sequenced

5 well-developed; appropriately sequenced

4 good but some events are underdeveloped; sequenced satisfactorily

Quality of 3 most descriptions are underdeveloped; lacking attempt to sequence properly

descriptions 6
(6 marks) 2 most events are unclear and underdeveloped; largely lacking attempts to
sequence

1 explanations of events are poor (or out of topic); no attempt to sequence

correctly

*2 marks max for turnitin >20%

Language Timeless 1 generally in TPT and accurate

Features Present Tense 1
(5 marks) 0.5 more than half not in TPT

Sequential 1 inserted appropriately

terms/logical 1
connectors 0.5 inserted appropriately for some parts

Action verbs 1 generally use action verbs

 0.5 more than half not action verbs 1

Passive voice 1 used appropriately to emphasize action (min of 4)

1
0.5 infrequent/inappropriate used

Factual & 1 no personal pronouns/opinions 1

precise
language 0.5 several personal pronouns/opinions

CR: W:
 Communicative 8 Excellent command of language structure with minimal slips.
Ability/ No noticeable errors in grammar and uses varied vocabulary very well
Language
(8 marks) 7 Good use of various sentence structures with some minor errors.
Uses varied vocabulary reasonably well

6 Errors are rather frequent, but meaning is not impeded.

Uses varied vocabulary satisfactorily

5 Errors are rather frequent, but meaning is occasionally impeded.

Uses varied vocabulary satisfactorily
8
4 Errors are frequent and meaning is partly impeded.
Uses varied vocabulary satisfactorily

3 Errors are frequent and meaning is largely impeded. Uses varied

vocabulary satisfactorily

2 More errors in the use of common structures that somewhat hinder

comprehension in certain parts. Uses varied vocabulary sparingly

1 Errors in language structure are serious and hinder comprehension.

Very limited attempt to use varied vocabulary

Total 25

Penalty ● Short assignment – deduct 2 marks for each page short (1 for half page short) -
(If applicable)
● Assignment formatting – deduct 1 mark for not following formatting (e.g. margins, -
spacing, font size/font type.

Total (after penalty, if any)

TOTAL (Writing Info Report): Conversion to 10% (?/25)x10

Explanation Report : Citing and Referencing (10%)

Citations ● At least 6 citations with correct APA format are appropriately integrated in the essay
(7 (1 mark for each correct usage).
marks) ● If there are more than 6 citations, marks are given proportionately (e.g., if there are 10
citations given, with 7 correct but 3 wrongly used, the calculation is 7/10x6m = 3 marks. The
6
total marks for citation are up to two decimal points.
● Minus 0.5 if a citation(s) is absent for obvious facts. If severe, minus 1 mark.

1 varied citation style appropriately inserted (e.g., author-prominent, info-

varied prominent & quotation).
1
styles
0.5 only two styles/lacks appropriacy

References ● At least 6 references with correct APA format and cited in the essay are listed
(6 alphabetically. (1 mark for each correct usage).
marks) ● No mark is given for reference with wrong formatting, wrong author name (different
from citation), wrong or missing punctuation, wrong spacing and reference which is not cited in
the essay.
● Each cited source which is missing/not cited but listed - is considered incorrect 6
● If there are more than 6 references given, marks are given proportionately, up to two
decimal points.
● Penalty from total marks obtained for reference: deduct 0.5 if lack required type of
sources (2 books & 2 journal), deduct 0.5 if not in alphabetical order, deduct 0.5 if not properly
indented)
 Diagram Fact 1 match the ones mentioned in essay
(3 marks) match 1
0.5 facts only partly match the ones mentioned in essay/sequencing incorrect

Label 1 appendix mentioned & figure heading is provided accurately

1
0.5 only appendix mentioned & figure heading/caption is provided accurately/both
appendix and figure heading mentioned but with slips

Mention 1 mention appendix and figure in text (in brackets)

in text
1
0.5 mention appendix and figure in text (in brackets)/either appendix or figure in text
in text using (in brackets)

TOTAL (conversion to 10% (?/16)x10