What is Haber-Bosch Process?

About Haber-Bosch Process:

• It is a process that fixes nitrogen with hydrogen to produce ammonia (NH3)—a critical part in the manufacture of plant fertilizers.
• The process was developed in the early 1900s by Fritz Haber and was later modified to become an industrial process to make fertilizers by Carl Bosch.
• It is considered by many scientists and scholars as one of the most import ant technological advances of the 20th century.
• It is extremely important because it was the first of the processes developed that allowed people to mass-produce plant fertilizers due to the production of ammonia.
• It was the first industrial chemical process to use high pressure for a chemical reaction. 
• How the Haber-Bosch Process Works?
  • It directly combines nitrogen from the air with hydrogen under extremely high pressures and moderately high temperatures.
  • A catalyst made mostly from iron enables the reaction to be carried out at a lower temperature than would otherwise be practicable.
  • The removal of ammonia from the batch as soon as it is formed ensures that an equilibrium favouring product formation is maintained. 
  • The lower the temperature and the higher the pressure used, the greater the proportion of ammonia yielded in the mixture. 

Q1: What is a catalyst?

A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction, or lowers the temperature or pressure needed to start one, without itself being consumed during the reaction. Catalysis is the process of adding a catalyst to facilitate a reaction.

Source: How did the Haber-Bosch process change the world?

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