Question

Discuss Haber's process for industrial manufacture of ammonia.

Answer 1

Industrial production of ammonia gas is carried out by Haber's process. In this method, dihydrogen and dinitrogen gases are mixed in $3:1$ proportion by volume and then passed over iron catalyst at $200-300$ bars of pressure. Temperature about $773$K is maintained during this reaction. Substances like $A{l}_2{O}_3,K_{2}O$ are added to increase the efficiency of the catalyst. Hence, they are called promoters. By cooling the reaction mixture at temperature lower than $273$K, ammonia can be separated from the unreacted $N_2$ and $H_2$ gases. Thus, ammonia is obtained in the liquid form and $N_2$ and $H_2$ remain without reaction and can be used again to take part in the reaction.
$N_2\left(g\right)+3H_2\left(g\right)\stackrel{773K}{\underset{200-300bar\left[Fe\right]}{⟶}}2N{H}_3\left(g\right)+Heat$.