The Haber Process

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The Haber Process.

For this chemistry coursework, I have decided to study The Haber Process. The Haber process was discovered by famous German scientists named Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch in the year 1909; it was then patented within 1910.

During the process, Ammonia is manufactured from the reaction of Hydrogen and Nitrogen, where Ammonia is reversible and also decomposes under the same conditions. The reaction between Hydrogen and Nitrogen takes place over an Iron Catalyst under 200 atmospheres ranging from temperatures of 350ºc to 550ºc.

The first time the process made use of was during World War One on an industrial scale by the German people. The Ammonia was oxidised for nitric acid in the Ostwald process.

The Nitrogen from fractional distillation of liquid air is obtained from air and the Hydrogen which is from natural gas and steam is obtained from water.

The balanced equation for this process is:

CH4 (g) + 2H2O (g)    CO (g) + 4H2 (g)

                                                                 

                                                                               = Reversible reaction

           

The reaction involving Nitrogen and Hydrogen is a chemical equilibrium which means that depending on the conditions, the reaction can proceed in either a forward or reverse direction. The forward reaction is exothermic where heat is given out and the reverse reaction is endothermic where heat is taken in. However, if the conditions of the reactions such as temperature, pressure and concentration are modified, then the position of equilibrium may be changed.

Using the graph, I am going to calculate the mass of Ammonia produced at various temperatures.

This is the balanced equation used for the Haber Process:

N2 + 3H2       2NH3

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Using this balanced equation, I will calculate the 100% mass of Ammonia. I will begin by working out the Atomic Mass of the reactants within the balanced equation. The atomic mass for Nitrogen is 14, however, there are two products of Nitrogen, 14 x 2 = 28 and therefore the total Atomic Mass for Nitrogen equals 28. The Atomic Mass for Hydrogen is 1, in the equation – 3 x 2 = 6 so the total Atomic Mass for Hydrogen is 6.

To conclude this calculation, I will add both the Atomic Mass numbers of Nitrogen and Hydrogen which ...

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This is an in depth report into the Haber process. Its language is sometimes confusing and hard to follow. The theory is good with a few small mistakes (these have been highlighted)