CO is not produced during Haber's process so why is it neccessary to remove CO when ammonia is obtained by Haber's process ?
In order to reduce the cost of production and make the process more economical, the hydrogen gas that is used in the manufacture of NH3 is produced from hydrocarbons, either naphtha or CH4, by reacting with steam at 7500 C with a Ni catalyst.
CH4 + 2H2O ⇔ CO2 + 4H2
CH4 + H2O ⇔ CO + 3H2
It is important to remove CO in the synthesis of ammonia as CO adversely affects the activity of the iron catalyst, used in Haber’s process.