The Haber process,[1] also called the Haber–Bosch process, is an artificial nitrogen fixation process and is the main industrial procedure for the production of ammonia today.[2][3] It is named after its inventors, the German chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who developed it in the first decade of the 20th century. The process converts atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) by a reaction with hydrogen (H2) using a metal catalyst under high temperatures and pressures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process
Horizons in Sustainable Industrial Chemistry and Catalysis
Shiming Chen, ... Gabriele Centi, in Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis, 2019
1.3 Advantages of Electrochemical Nitrogen Fixation
The Haber-Bosch process was well developed during the last century but at the same time, about 2% of the world's total natural gas output was used to produce hydrogen for this process [11]. It was not possible to break through this highly developed process. From the academic view, routes that can be operated at a lower temperature, lower pressure, and with water instead of hydrogen, could be a promising way to produce ammonia. Many routes were studied, such as plasma-induced nitrogen fixation, biological nitrogen fixation, metallo-complexes nitrogen fixation, and electrochemical nitrogen fixation [3–5]. All these routes were in initial stages. Without a breakthrough of these methods, the Haber Bosch process could not be replaced.
However, electrochemical ammonia production is a promising route for ammonia production, due to the following reason:
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The high pressures and high temperature conditions are not essential;
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H2O instead of H2 could be used as a hydrogen source;
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Compared with the heating system in Haber Bosch, which could activate both reactants and products (reverse reactions), the electricity could be more selectable for the reactant with a suitable catalyst;
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Renewable and clean electricity, such as solar and wind energy, could be used for ammonia synthesis minimizing CO2 emissions;
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Scaling down the process without decreasing the energy efficiency can be addressed;
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This solution offers attractive possibilities for a distributed production of fertilizers.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/haber-bosch-process
An Introduction to Heterogeneous Catalysis and Its Development Through the Centuries—Chemistry in Two Dimensions
Julian R.H. Ross, in Contemporary Catalysis, 2019
In order to commercialize the Haber–Bosch Process, BASF urgently needed a cheaper and more abundant catalyst than the Os catalyst developed by Haber. Mittasch initiated a crash program of the type never before attempted to find a suitable material using a series of 30 parallel high pressure mini-reactors developed by his colleague Stern. Each of these had an easily replacable cylinder containing 2 g of catalyst. This set of systems enabled the Mittasch team to test many thousand samples of catalyst over a period of 2 years and the work led to the development of the promoted iron catalysts of the type that are still used today. It is interesting to note that the element Ru was tested for the first time only in the 1970s by Ozaki and Aika [A. Ozaki and K. Aika, Kinetic and isotope effect of ammonia synthesis over ruthenium, J. Catal. 16 (1970) 97–101.] These scientists found that Ru gave an activity 20–50 times greater than the iron catalysts previously used. According to Bartholomew and Farrauto, Ru catalysts have been used commercially since the late 1990s.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/haber-bosch-process
See Also