gcsescience.com                                                           1                                                       gcsescience.com

The Haber Process

Uses and Raw Materials.

The Haber process (named after the German chemist Fritz Haber)
involves the industrial manufacture of Ammonia
from Nitrogen and Hydrogen.

Ammonia is used to make nitric acid,
which in turn reacts with ammonia to form ammonium nitrate.
Ammonium nitrate is a very important fertiliser.

Raw Materials.

Nitrogen is easily obtained from air by fractional distillation,
(Air is almost 80% nitrogen).

Hydrogen is obtained from methane (natural gas) or naphtha.
The hydrocarbon is reacted with steam.

methane +  steam    carbon dioxide + hydrogen.
CH_4(g)   +  2H₂O_(g)           CO_2(g)     +    4H_2(g)

The raw materials are therefore
air - for nitrogen,
methane and water - for hydrogen.

     Headings     Reversible Reactions     Search     Questions     

gcsescience.com     Contents     The Periodic Table     Index     Quizzes    gcsescience.com

Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.