Birkeland Eyde process

Birch leaf extract Birch reduction Birch-type reactions Bird feathers Bird repellents Bireactive dyes Birkeland-Eyde process Birnessite [1244-32-5] b-Bisabolene [495-61-4]... 

The first such process was the Birkeland-Eyde process for N2 oxidation, implemented in 1905 (12). In this process, air is passed through an electric arc at temperatures above 3000°C to generate nitric oxide [10102-43-9] NO. 

At about the same time that the Birkeland-Eyde process was developed, the Frank-Caro cyanamide process was commercialized (14). In this process limestone is heated to produce lime, which then reacts with carbon in a highly energy-demanding reaction to give calcium carbide. Reaction with N2 gives calcium cyanamide [150-62-7] which hydrolyzes to ammonia and calcium carbonate (see Cyanamides). 

The discovery of chemical N2 fixation under ambient conditions is more compatible with a simple, complementary, low temperature and low pressure system, possibly operated electrochemically and driven by a renewable energy resource (qv), such as solar, wind, or water power, or other off-peak electrical power, located near or in irrigation streams. Such systems might produce and apply ammonia continuously, eg, directly in the rice paddy, or store it as an increasingly concentrated ammoniacal solution for later appHcation. In fact, the Birkeland-Eyde process of N2 oxidation in an electric arc has been... 

Birefringent (BR) LCDs, 15 115 Birefringent modulator, 17 446 Birkeland-Eyde process, 17 291-292... 

N1 -acylsulfanilamides, 23 508 A21-heterocyclic derivatives, 23 508 Ar -heterocyclic-Ar -acylsulfanilamides, 23 508 A21-heterocyclic sulfanilamides, 23 507—508 2V-(2-aminoethyl)-l,3-propylenediamine physical properties, 5 486t 2V-(2-aminoethyl)-piperazine (AEP), 5 485 N2 oxidation, Birkeland-Eyde process of, 27 291-292, 316. See also Dinitrogen entries Nitrogen entries N3 -P5 phosphoramidates, 27 630-631 Na+, detection in blood, 24 54. See also Sodium entries Nabarro-Herring creep, 5 626 Nacol 18, chain length and linearity, 2 10t Nacreous pigments, 7 836-837 19 412 Nacrite, 6 659... 

Bird repellents Bireactive dyes Birkeland-Eyde process Birnessite [1244-32-5]... 

Birkeland Eyde Process. See under Nitrogen Fixation Processes... 

Arc process. The arc or Birkeland-Eyde process was devised in Norway. This process is no longer used extensively and is of interest here only because of certain unusual features. By this method, the endother-mal reaction... 

Biological nitrogen fixation presented a chemical enigma. The two major industrial procedures employed to cause atmospheric dinitrogen to enter chemical combination, like the few available laboratory methods, required drastic conditions. The obsolete Birkeland-Eyde process required exposure of dinitro-... 

Other commercial processes for nitrogen fixation include the cyanide process [20], in which potassium cyanide is produced by passing nitrogen through a tube containing a red-hot mixture of potash and carbon the cyanamide process [21], in which calcium is heated to about 1000°C under nitrogen to form calcium cyanamide (CaNCN) and the arc process [20] (also known as the Birkeland-Eyde process), in which nitrogen is oxidized... 

Birkeland-Eyde process /berk-land y-de/ An industrial process for fixing nitrogen (as nitrogen monoxide) by passing air through an electric arc ... 

In the Birkeland-Eyde process, combination of N2 and O2 was achieved by an electric arc whereby the necessary high temperatures (>3000 K) could be reached. Only small yields of NO were obtained and the waste of electric energy was enormous. Nevertheless, in 1905, the first industrial plant started operation in Norway where electric energy was cheap. Soon BASF also initiated the development of an electric arc method the project was, however, shortly abandoned with the realization of the Haber-Bosch process. 

Kristian Birkeland (1867-1917) was a professor of physics in Oslo and became well known for investigations of the relations between geomagnetism and the aurora borealis. Obviously he covered a broad field of interest, as his name is also connected with the very first method of manufacturing nitric acid from atmospheric nitrogen. The technique is known as the Birkeland-Eyde process. 

NO may decompose [Eq. (6.4.8)]. According to Figure 6.4.5, the equilibrium NO content in air is rather small below 3000 K. This is the reason why a high temperature was needed in the electric arc of the old Birkeland-Eyde process. Figure 6.4.5 also indicates that during combustion processes, for example, in a coal fired power plant, a content of NO of 1000 ppmv (0.1 vol. %) or more may be reached for temperatures above about 1500 K. In the case of nitric acid production from ammonia, NO decomposition must be avoided, and the product gas of NH3 oxidation is therefore rapidly quenched to below 700 K, where NO is metastable and decomposition is Idnetically hindered. 

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