Question

What is Ostwald's process? With reactions please!

Answer 1

The Ostwald process was developed by a man named Wilhelm Ostwald, after years of researching. It was created in 1902, patented in 1902, he then later was awarded the Nobel-peace prize for his work in 1909. Wilhelm Ostwald was born in Riga, Russian Empire to mother Elisabeth Leuckel and father Gottfried Wilhelm Ostwald .


This process was and still is a very important process because it is any easy way to create nitric acid in only two steps. Nitric acid, being used in so many things we don't really think about such as fertilizer and explosives...is at high demand. So the process the Wilhelm created is still being used today because it is reliable and the easiest way to create nitric acid for the high demand it is needed for.
The balanced equation for this reaction is different for each step:
Step 1:
4NH3 (gas) + 5O2 (gas) → 4NO (gas) + 6H2O (gas)
In this step, ammonia is heated with oxygen. This yields nitric oxide (NO) and water as products.

Step 2:
2NO (gas) + O2 (gas) → 2NO2 (gas)
In this step the nitric oxide (NO) that was created in the first is combined with oxygen again to create nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

Step 3:
3NO2 (gas) + H2O (liquid) → 2HNO3 (aqueous solution) + NO (gas)
In this step, the nitrogen dioxide is absorbed with water to create nitric acid (HNO3) as an aqueous solution. This also yields nitric oxide (NO).

Step 4:
4NO2 (gas) + O2 (gas) + 2H2O (liquid) → 4HNO3 (aqueous solution)
For this last step, the nitric oxide created along with the nitric acid is recycled and combined with oxygen and water to create a higher concentration of nitric acid (HNO3).

This reaction is exothermic because during the process, it releases heat