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LECTURE OBJECTIVE: Review fundamental chemistry concepts and how they apply to process
design; specifically by looking at the Haber-Bosch Process
Industrially Important Chemicals:
19 of the top 50 chemicals are inorganic
Some are manufactured from the same raw starting materials
Manufacture of Important Inorganic Compounds:
(Journal of Chemical Education 60(5) 1983 411-413):
CHEM 409-02
What are some general (non-chemistry) considerations that apply to setting up a new chemical
plant for a specific manufacturing process ?
What are some chemistry concepts that should be considered when designing a process ?
E.g. for the reaction:
CHEM 409-02
Ashley Causton 2015
Synthesis of Ammonia:
Suggested Reading: Section 6.1 (pp. 181-192) Chemical Technology: An Integral Textbook" by
Andreas Jess & Peter Wasserscheid
Suggested Reading: Chapter 4.1 (pp. 55-59) of Survey of Industrial Chemistry (3rd Edition, 2002)
by Philip J. Chenier [Kluwer Academic/Plenum]
Suggested Reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process
At the end of 19th century there was a concern about the ability of humankind to feed
its growing population
Developments in chemistry allowed for large-scale manufacture of ammonia for use in
the production of fertilizers
A critical milestone in the development of catalytic synthesis of ammonia was the
demonstration of Fritz Haber and coworkers in 1909 that ammonia could be produced
at significant rates (2 kg/day) using an osmium catalyst at 175 atm
Osmium is the best catalyst for the reaction but it is very expensive - iron catalyst is
more commonly used
Currently, there are around 600 large scale plants worldwide with a capacity of 500 to
1500 tons per day
85 % of ammonia is used for nitrogen fertilizers; urea is the most important accounting
for 40% of ammonia usage
Other industrial uses include the production of nitric acid, amines, nitriles, nylons and
organic nitrogen compounds
The basic reversible reaction is:
N2 + 3H2 2NH3
H = -92.4 kJ mol-1
How can Le Chateliers principle be applied (in theory) to the above reaction in order to
maximize the product side of the equilibrium ?
What are the typical reaction conditions for the Haber-Bosch Process ?
Why are these conditions a compromise ?
How is this compromise dealt with in practical terms ?
What effect does the catalyst have on the equilibrium ?
Sketch a schematic diagram of the Haber-Bosch process