The Haber process

The raw materials for the process of making ammonia are hydrogen and nitrogen.

Hydrogen is obtained by reacting natural gas (mostly methane) with steam, or from cracking oil fractions.

Nitrogen is obtained from the air. Air is 78 per cent nitrogen and nearly all the rest is oxygen. When hydrogen is burned in air, the oxygen combines with the hydrogen - leaving nitrogen behind.

In the Haber process, nitrogen and hydrogen react together under these conditions:

a high temperature - about 450°C
a high pressure - about 200 atmospheres (200 times normal pressure)
an iron catalyst

In addition, any unreacted nitrogen and hydrogen are recycled. The reaction is reversible. In a chemical equation, the symbol is used instead of an ordinary arrow if the reaction is reversible:

This equation summarizes the Haber process:

3H2 + N2 = 2NH3 ( It's a reversible reaction )

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