Haber Process

Question 1

haber process

Answer 1

produces ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen

Question 2

haber process equation

Answer 2

N2 (g) +3H2 (g) ⇌ 2NH3 (g)

Question 3

how is nitrogen obtained?

Answer 3

obtained easily from air - 78% nitrogen

Question 4

how is hydrogen obtained?

Answer 4

from hydrocarbons

from sources such as natural gas or crude oil

Question 5

What conditions are ammonia made in?

Answer 5

pressure of 200 atm
temperature of 450°C
presence of an iron catalyst

Question 6

pressure

Answer 6

in the balanced equation for Haber process there are 4 mol of gas on the left and 2 mol of gas on the right
higher pressure favours the forward reaction - yield of ammonia increases
hazardous and expensive to choose very high pressure - hence 200 atmosphere operating pressure

Question 7

temperature

Answer 7

forward reaction is exothermic
backward reaction is endothermic
if temperature is increased equilibrium position will move to the left - equilibrium yield of ammonia decreases
yield of ammonia would be greater at lower temperature

Question 8

lower temperature means…

Answer 8

lower rate of reaction

so in industry temperature is increased anyway to get a much faster rate of reaction

Question 9

what is ammonia formed as?

Answer 9

gas

but as it cools in the condenser it liquefies and is removed

Question 10

what happens to unreacted hydrogen and nitrogen?

Answer 10

recycled

Question 11

iron catalyst

Answer 11

increases rate of reaction
this gets it to the equilibrium proportions more quickly
catalyst does NOT affect position of equilibrium (% yield)

Question 12

why is the iron catalyst important in the Haber process?

Answer 12

without the catalyst - temperature would have to be raised even further to get a quick enough reaction
that would reduce the % yield even further