Raw material for Haber process

Hydrogen
Nitrogen

Ways to obtain hydrogen:

Steam reforming
Specifically, bulk hydrogen is usually produced by the steam reforming of methane or
natural gas.[7] The production of hydrogen from natural gas is the cheapest source of
hydrogen nowadays. This process consists of heating the gas in the presence of steam
and a nickel catalyst. The resulting exothermic reaction breaks up the methane
molecules making the gas and forms carbon monoxide CO and hydrogen H2. The
carbon monoxide gas can then be passed with steam over iron oxide or other oxides and
undergo a water-gas shift reaction. This last reaction produces even more H2. The
downside to this process is that its major byproducts are CO, CO2 and other greenhouse
gasses.[5] For this process at high temperatures (7001100 C), steam (H2O) reacts
with methane (CH4) in an endothermic reaction to yield syngas.[8]
CH4 + H2O CO + 3 H2
In a second stage, additional hydrogen is generated through the lower-temperature,
exothermic, water gas shift reaction, performed at about 360 C:
CO + H2O CO2 + H2
Essentially, the oxygen (O) atom is stripped from the additional water (steam) to oxidize
CO to CO2. This oxidation also provides energy to maintain the reaction. Additional heat
required to drive the process is generally supplied by burning some portion of the
methane.

Partial oxidation
A carefully controlled fuel-air mix is partially combusted, which results in an H2 rich gas.
Like the previous process, the formation of hydrogen from oil is done with a water-gas
shift reaction.[5] The energy added to the process is achieved by the combustion of fuels,
which also causes a negative impact to the environment.
The partial oxidation reaction occurs when a substoichiometric fuel-air mixture is
partially combusted in a reformer, creating a hydrogen-rich syngas. A distinction is made
between thermal partial oxidation (TPOX) and catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX). The
chemical reaction takes the general form:

Idealized examples for heating oil and coal, assuming compositions C12H24 and
C24H12 respectively, are as follows:
C12H24 + 6 O2 12 CO + 12 H2
C24H12 + 12 O2 24 CO + 6 H2

Demand On Ammonia

Demand for ammonia is on the increase, as India and China lead a trend among emerging
countries seeking to become self-sufficient in terms of food production, using ammonia-based
fertilizers to do so, according this report.

The report looks at the use of ammonia, which is primarily utilized in the manufacture of popular
agricultural fertilizers, urea and ammonium nitrate, with these sectors accounting for a combined
share of around 62% of ammonia demand in 2011. Rapid growth in the global population is
generating increased demand for food and providing a sustained demand for agricultural
chemicals, particularly fertilizers.
Governments worldwide are seeking to provide food security to their nations, particularly in
developing and underdeveloped countries which can not necessarily afford extensive imports.
While demand in the developed regions of North America and Europe has largely stabilized or is
registering slow growth, many poorer nations still have low per unit area fertilizer utilization,
offering substantial market potential for ammonia based fertilizers in the future.

Asia-Pacific accounted for a 58.7% share of global demand for ammonia in 2011,
with China and India accounting for the majority of this. China and India's large populations and
growing economies promise substantial consumption potential, reflected in the high growth of
ammonia downstream segments such as urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate and
phosphate. As a result, ammonia demand from the Asia-Pacific region will continue to drive
global demand in future.

Global demand for ammonia increased from 96,437,749 tons in 2000 to 120,779,623 tons in
2011, and is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.2% to reach
160,093,693 tons in 2020.

This report provides a detailed analysis and forecasts for major economic and market trends
affecting ammonia demand in major regions of the world. It also provides analysis and
description of the major drivers and restraints affecting ammonia demand in each region. Global
ammonia demand is assessed in terms of end-user segments, prices and competitive landscape,
at both the regional and national level.
The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and
secondary research by a team of industry experts.

Scope
- Drivers, restraints and challenges affecting the growth of the ammonia market for all major
global regions: Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa, and South
and Central America
- Demand and production volume forecasts for ammonia markets in all major countries: the
US, Canada, the
UK, Germany, France,Russia, Italy, Spain, Poland, China, Japan, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Malay
sia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.

Countries demand on ammonia

Growing incomes and improving diets in developing countries such as Brazil, India and
China, combined with significant biofuels production in the U.S. and Brazil, are driving global
demand growth for ammonia, a key component in fertilizer and agricultural products
essential to expanding food crop production.
Pilot plant of ammonia
Nitrogen and hydrogen are created using wind, air, and water. Nitrogen is pulled out of the air by
pressurizing air to vent out the oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other chemicals to leave behind the
nitrogen molecules. A current of electricity produced by the wind turbine is put into water, splitting
the hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is vented off to leave behind pure hydrogen. After a
process of mixing the nitrogen and hydrogen and then heating and cooling, liquid ammonia is
created and stored at a low temperature

Prices of ammonia
Figure 1 shows monthly fertilizer prices for anhydrous ammonia for each year from 2009 through
2014, with prices reported for September through June. In Figure 1, prices are reported for a
crop year. Since fertilizer purchased in September through December is typically used in the
following year's production, prices in September through December are associated with the next
crop year. For example the September 2013 price of $687 per ton is associated with 2014 crop
year. Similarly, prices in October through December are associated with the next year.

Solid state ammonia synthesis