Haber process

The Haber process, also called the Haber–Bosch process, is an artificial nitrogen fixation process and is the main industrial procedure for the production of ammonia today. It is named after its inventors, the German chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who developed it in the first half 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:

Before the development of the Haber process, ammonia had been difficult to produce on an industrial scale with early methods such as the Birkeland–Eyde process and Frank–Caro process all being highly inefficient.

Although the Haber process is mainly used to produce fertilizer today, during WWI it provided Germany with a source of ammonia for the production of explosives, compensating for the Allied trade blockade on Chilean saltpeter.

History

Throughout the 19th century the demand for nitrates and ammonia for use as fertilizers and industrial feedstocks had been steadily increasing. The main source was mining niter deposits. At the beginning of the 20th century it was being predicted that these reserves could not satisfy future demand and research into new potential sources of ammonia became more important. The obvious source was atmospheric nitrogen (N₂), comprising nearly 80% of the air, however N₂ is exceptionally stable and will not readily react with other chemicals. Converting N₂ into ammonia posed a chemical challenge for chemists globally.