Commercial Application of Ammonia Synthesis Catalysts

It was thoirgM that iron woirld be the best eatalyst, despite its relatively poor activity in earlier irrvestigations. In one of the fortimate coincidences that are typical of industrial developments, a particrrlar kind of magnetite from Sweden that Mittasch fotrrtd in Ms laboratory was used in the tests. It gave excellent results and, even now, is used for industrial catalyst production. It will continue to be so until a better eatalyst is discovered or the particular deposit in Sweden is exhausted.  

An intensive investigation of catalyst promoters was then imdertaken, and by 1910 an alumina-promoted iron catalyst was produced that had the same activity as the previously favored osrmtrm arrd trramttm types. TMs was followed in 1911 by an alirmina tash-promoted iron eatalyst that was more stable. Finally, a few years later, caldtrm oxide was discovered to be a tMrd promoter. 

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