The Haber Process
What we will study today . . .
1. A little bit about Fritz Haber
2. How ammonia is made industrially
3. The role of a catalyst
4. The uses of ammonia
What we will do . . .
1. Watch a video clip about Fritz Haber
2. Complete a short quiz
3. Hear an explanation of the Haber process
4. Watch a short video clip about the industrial
process.
5. Learn a little about catalysts
6. Develop our scientific vocabulary
7. Try to win a million dollars
Vocabulary
reversible reaction
Fritz Haber
German born into a Jewish family
Studied under Robert Bunsen at the University of
Berlin.
Famous for the production of ammonia
Developed chemical warfare during WWI
(chlorine and mustard gas)
1918 Nobel prize for Chemistry
Developed Zyklon A which was developed by
other scientist into Zyklon B.
For more information click here
Fritz Haber
"A scientist belongs to his
country in times of war
and to all mankind in times
of peace.”
How much do you remember?
Why is making ammonia so difficult?
Triple bonds
are difficult
to break!
The solutions provided by science
Part 1 – The raw materials
Ammonia is made by reacting nitrogen with hydrogen
N2 + 3H2 2NH3
Hydrogen can be obtained by heating methane with steam:
CH4 + H2O 3H2 + CO
Nitrogen can be obtained from air.
Burning hydrogen in air removes the oxygen.
2H2 + O2 2H2O
The solutions provided by science
Part 2 – Reacting nitrogen with hydrogen
N2 + 3H2 2NH3
A high temperature
A high pressure
An iron catalyst
Why a high temperature?
Triple bonds are difficult to break so high
temperatures are needed to break the
nitrogen atoms apart in order to react with
hydrogen.
Why high pressure?
N2 + 3H2 2NH3
The reaction is reversible! This is a problem!
1dm3 of nitrogen reacts with 3dm3 of hydrogen
to produce 2dm3 of ammonia.
The reactants have a larger volume than the
product (ammonia) so high pressure moves
the point of equilibrium towards the right.
Why use a catalyst?
Fritz Haber used
Nitrogen
osmium as a
and catalyst. Why
hydrogen was the catalyst
changed to iron?
Ammonia
Activation energy is the energy to get a reaction going. Reaction diagrams usually
look like a hill. It is the energy needed to climb up to the top of that hill, just like
rolling a ball or a tire up a hill, you use energy to get it up there. That's activation
energy.
By lowering the activation energy, the reaction takes place at a faster rate (it
takes less time to roll a tyre up Castle Crag than Scafell Pike!)
The Haber Process on an industrial scale
1. Haber used an apparatus was small enough
to be placed on a laboratory bench and
produced 125ml of ammonia per hour. This is
insufficient to produce explosives to win a
war or produce fertilisers in sufficient
amounts!
2. By 1914, German chemical engineer Carl
Bosch had assisted Haber in converting the
method into an industrial process.
Manufacturing costs
Different factors affect the cost of making a new substance.
Factors that increase cost include:
• high pressures (they increase the cost of the equipment)
• high temperatures (they increase the energy costs).
Factors that decrease manufacturing costs
• catalysts (they increase the rate of reaction)
• recycling unreacted starting materials
• automating equipment (because fewer people need to
be employed, cutting the wage bill)
Percentage Yield
The percentage yield is the mass of product that is actually
made, compared to the total possible mass of product.
1. What is the effect of increasing the pressure on the percentage yield?
2. What is the effect of increasing the temperature on percentage yield?
Vocabulary
reversible reaction
Exam blooper!
Question:
Where would you put an ammonia plant?
Student answer:
In the desert where there is lots of sunshine.
Uses of ammonia
Textiles Other
5% 5%
Explosives
5%
Fertilisers
85%
