Nitrogen fixation commercial processes

The scope of catalysis is enormous. Catalysts are widely used in the commercial production uf fuels, chemicals, foods and medicines. They also play an essential role in processes in nature, like nitrogen fixation, metabolism and photosynthesis. 

Other processes have been proposed for nitrogen fixation, but none of these have approached a commercially attractive stage. For example, it was shown that low energy ultraviolet photons can form nitric oxide at room temperature under oxidizing conditions on the surface of a titanium dioxide-containing material8. 

Smith, B.E., Richards, R.L., and Newton, W.E. 2004. Catalysts for Nitrogen Fixation— Nitrogenases, Relevant Chemical Models and Commercial Processes. Dordrecht Kluwer Academic Publishers. 

F. Barriere, M. C. Durrant, and C. J. Pickett, Chemical Models, Theoretical Calculations, and the Reactivity of the Isolated Iron-Molybdenum Cofactor, in Catalysts for Nitrogen Fixation, Nitrogenases, Relevant Chemical Models and Commercial Processes , Nitrogen Fixation Origins, Applications, and Research Progress eds. B. E. Smith, R. L. Richards, and W. E. Newton, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, 2004, Vol. l,Chap.7,p. 161. 

Nitrogen fixation Nitrogen can be fixed for plants in three ways by lightning, by nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in the roots of plants or in the sod, and by commercial synthesis reactions such as the Haber ammonia process. 

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... 

The commercial preparation of ammonia is accomplished in huge quantities by the Haber process [Equation (16.12)], discussed in Section 16.4 under Nitrogen Fixation. In the laboratory the most common preparation is the treatment of ammonium salts with strong bases, as represented in Equation (16.13).The self-ionization of liquid ammonia (analogous to that of liquid water) is shown in Equation (16.14). NH3(/) is often used as a nonaqueous solvent. As shown in Equation (16.15), NH3 acts as a weak base in water and serves as a prototype for a number of nitrogen-containing bases such as methylamine, pyridine, and aniline, which you may recall from studying acid-base equilibria in earlier courses. 

Nitrogen fixation occurs naturally by chemical and/or biological processes, or by commercially-important chemical syntheses. Estimates place the biological processes as by far the major contributor of some 122 X 10 tonnes per annum globally, while lightning and combustion add a further 30 x 10 tonnes, with industrial fixation realizing some 50 x... 

But BASF leadership still had to be convinced that Haber s laboratory success could eventually be translated to a commercial process. During a meeting on March 26, 1909, at which Brunck, Bernthsen, and Bosch represented the company, serious doubts were expressed about running syntheses at pressures above 10 MPa (100 atm). When Haber answered Bernthsen s question about the required pressure by saying, Well, at least 100 atmospheres, Bernthsen, head of BASF s laboratories, was horrified A hundred atmospheres Just yesterday we had an autoclave under a mere seven atmospheres flying into the air Brunck then asked the opinion of the man who was responsible for the company s nitrogen fixation research, and Bosch replied without hesitation I believe it can go. I know exactly what the steel industry can do. It should be risked. That settled the matter. 

The warning of Sir William Crookes In 1898, however, gave impetus ta the work looking toward commercial fixation of tfie nitrogen nf the atmosphere. In 1902, the application on an Industrial scale of the combined results of experiment and theory was attempted. In th it year, the Atmospheric Products Company was organized with a capital of 1,000,000. This company took over tJ e process and equipment patents of two Amcrieans, C. S. Bradley and... 

In addition to these three processes, a great amount of investigational work was done on other processes, and a large number of methods have been proposed from time to time for the commercial fixation of nitrogen. Very few of these have appeared to present promising possibilities. It must be remembered, however, that unforeseen develop-... 

The largest source of hydrogen for the commercial fixation of nitrogen according to the direct synthetic ammonia process is water gas. This gas results from blowing steam over a bed of glowing coke and has the following approximate composition ... 

Vanderpoel, Jules. A French Plant for the Fixation of Atmospheric Nitrogen. Chem. Mei. Eng. p, 102-3 and 196-8 (1911). Commercial application of Pauling process. 

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