Haber process

Industrial process for ammonia production

The Haber process, also called the Haber–Bosch process, is the main industrial procedure for the production of ammonia. It converts atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) by a reaction with hydrogen (H2) using finely divided iron metal as a catalyst: N 2 + 3 H 2 ↽ − − ⇀ 2 NH 3 Δ H 298 K ∘ = − 92.28 kJ per mole of N 2 {\displaystyle {\ce {N2 + 3H2 <=> 2NH3}}\qquad {\Delta H_{\mathrm {298~K} }^{\circ }=-92.28~{\text{kJ per mole of }}{\ce {N2}}}} This reaction is exothermic but disfavored in terms of entropy because four equivalents of reactant gases are converted into two equivalents of product gas. However, due to the extremely high kinetic barriers to bond cleavage, high pressures and temperatures are needed to drive the reaction forward.

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