Ammonia And The Haber Process (T2)

Question 0

Ammonia is a compound of what two elements and what is its chemical formula?

Answer 0

• nitrogen and hydrogen - NH3

Question 1

Describe ammonia…

Answer 1

• a colourless gas with a choking smell and a weak alkali which is very soluble in water - used to make fertilisers, explosives, dyes, household cleaners and nylon - is also the most important raw material in the manufacture of nitric acid - it is manufactured by combining nitrogen and hydrogen in an important industrial process called the Haber Process.

Question 2

Describe the Haber Process..

Answer 2

• an industrial manufacturing process to produce ammonia - the raw materials for this process are hydrogen and nitrogen - hydrogen is obtained by reacting methane with steam, or by the cracking of oil - nitrogen is obtained by burning hydrogen in air; air is 80% nitrogen so when hydrogen is burned in air the oxygen combines with the hydrogen, leaving the nitrogen behind Nitrogen and hydrogen will react together under the following conditions: - a high temperature (about 450 deg C) - a high pressure (about 200 atmospheres; 200 x normal pressure) - an iron catalyst is present The reaction is reversible Nitrogen + hydrogen (>>

Question 3

Only a small percentage of the nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas is converted into ammonia. Explain how the unreacted gases are separated from the ammonia and what happens to them..

Answer 3

The unreacted nitrogen and hydrogen, together with the ammonia, pass into a cooling tank. The cooling tank liquefies the ammonia, which can be removed into pressurised storage vessels. The unreacted hydrogen and nitrogen gases are recycled by being fed back through pipes to pass through the hot iron catalyst beds again.