Habers Bosch Process: Submitted by

HABERS BOSCH PROCESS
INNOVATIVE PROJECT
PROCESS EQUIPMENT DESIGN
SUBMITTED BY:
HARSH SHARMA – 2K18/PS/017
NIHIT MAND – 2K18/PS/026
ABOUT HABER BOSCH PROCESS
Haber-Bosch process, also called Haber ammonia process, is a

method to directly synthesize ammonia from hydrogen and
nitrogen, developed by the German physical chemist Fritz
Haber. He received the Noble Prize for Chemistry in 1918 for
this method, which made the manufacture of ammonia
economically feasible.
The method was translated into a large-scale process using a

catalyst and high-pressure methods by Carl Bosch, an
industrial chemist who won a Nobel Prize in 1931 jointly
with Friedrich Bergius for high-pressure studies.
NITROGEN FIXATION
Nitrogen fixation, any natural or industrial process that causes
free nitrogen (N2), which is a relatively inert gas plentiful in air,
to combine chemically with other elements to form more-
reactive nitrogen compounds such as ammonia, nitrates,
or nitrites. Under ordinary conditions, nitrogen does not react
with other elements.
Yet nitrogenous compounds are found in all fertile soils, in all

living things, in many foodstuffs, in coal, and in such naturally
occurring chemicals as sodium nitrate (saltpetre) and ammonia.
Nitrogen is also found in the nucleus of every living cell as one
of the chemical components of DNA.
NITROGEN FIXATION BY NATURE
Nitrogen is fixed, or combined, in nature as nitric

oxide by lightning and ultraviolet rays, but more significant
amounts of nitrogen are fixed as ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates
by soil microorganisms.
Two kinds of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms are recognized:

 free-living (non-symbiotic) bacteria, including
the cyanobacteria (or blue-green
algae) Anabaena and Nostoc and genera such
as Azotobacter, Beijerinckia, and Clostridium;
 Mutualistic (symbiotic) bacteria such as Rhizobium, associated
with leguminous plants, and various Azospirillum species,
associated with cereal grasses.
INDUSTRIAL NITROGEN FIXATION
During the first decade of the 20th century, intensive research efforts
culminated in the development of several commercial nitrogen-
fixation processes.
The three most-productive approaches were the direct combination
of nitrogen with oxygen, the reaction of nitrogen with calcium
carbide, and the direct combination of nitrogen with hydrogen.
In 1902 electric generators were used to combine nitrogen and

oxygen in the high temperatures of an electric arc. The arc process,
however, was costly and inherently inefficient in its use of energy,
and it was soon abandoned for better processes.
The reaction of nitrogen with calcium carbide at high temperatures

to form calcium cyanimide, which hydrolyses to ammonia and urea.
The cyanimide process was utilized on a large scale by several
countries before and during World War I, but it too was energy-
intensive, and by 1918 the Haber-Bosch process had rendered it
obsolete.
HABER BOSCH PROCESS
This conversion is typically conducted at pressures above
10 MPa (100 bar; 1,450 psi) and between 400 and 500 °C
(752 and 932 °F), as the gases (nitrogen and hydrogen) are
passed over four beds of catalyst, with cooling between
each pass for maintaining a reasonable equilibrium
constant.
On each pass only about 15% conversion occurs, but any
unreacted gases are recycled, and eventually an overall
conversion of 97% is achieved.
The ammonia synthesis loop operates at pressures ranging
from 6 to 18 MPa (60 to 180 bar; 870 to 2,610 psi),
depending upon which proprietary process is used.
HYDROGEN SOURCE
The major source of hydrogen is methane from natural

gas. The conversion, steam reforming, is conducted with
steam in a high-temperature and -pressure tube inside a
reformer with a nickel catalyst, separating the carbon and
hydrogen atoms in the natural gas.
Other fossil fuel sources include coal, heavy fuel
oil and naphtha, while hydrogen is also produced
from biomass and from electrolysis of water.
CATALYSTS
The Haber–Bosch process relies on catalysts to accelerate the

hydrogenation of N2.
The catalyst typically consists of finely divided iron bound to

an iron oxide carrier containing promoters possibly
including aluminium oxide, potassium oxide, calcium oxide,
potassium hydroxide, molybdenum, and magnesium oxide.
In industrial practice, the iron catalyst is obtained from finely

ground iron powder, which is usually obtained by reduction of
high-purity magnetite (Fe3O4). The pulverized iron metal is
burnt (oxidized) to give magnetite or wüstite (FeO, ferrous
oxide) of a defined particle size. The magnetite (or wüstite)
particles are then partially reduced, removing some of
the oxygen in the process. The resulting catalyst particles
consist of a core of magnetite, encased in a shell of wüstite,
which in turn is surrounded by an outer shell of iron metal.
CATALYSTS OTHER THAN
IRON
The elements in the periodic table at the left of the iron
group show such a strong bond to nitrogen. The formation of
surface nitrides makes for example chromium catalysts
ineffective.
Metals to the right of the iron group, in contrast, adsorb

nitrogen too weakly to be able to activate it sufficiently for
ammonia synthesis. Haber himself initially used catalysts based
on osmium and uranium. Uranium, however, reacts to its
nitride during catalysis and osmium oxide is rare.
Due to the comparatively low price, high availability, easy

processing, lifespan and activity, iron was ultimately chosen as
catalyst. the activity of iron catalysts was increased noticeably
by inclusion of cobalt.
ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
When first invented, the Haber process competed against
another industrial process, the cyanimide process.
However, the cyanimide process consumed large amounts
of electrical power and was more labour-intensive than
the Haber process.
As of 2018, the Haber process produces 230 million
tonnes of anhydrous ammonia per year. The ammonia is
used mainly as a nitrogen fertilizer these fertilizers have
helped to increase the productivity of agricultural land.
Nearly 50% of the nitrogen found in human tissues
originated from the Haber–Bosch process. Thus, the
Haber process serves as the "detonator of the population
explosion", enabling the global population to increase
from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 7.7 billion by November
2018.

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HABERS BOSCH PROCESS

Haber-Bosch process, also called Haber ammonia process, is a

The method was translated into a large-scale process using a

Yet nitrogenous compounds are found in all fertile soils, in all

Nitrogen is fixed, or combined, in nature as nitric

Two kinds of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms are recognized:

In 1902 electric generators were used to combine nitrogen and

The reaction of nitrogen with calcium carbide at high temperatures

The major source of hydrogen is methane from natural

The Haber–Bosch process relies on catalysts to accelerate the

The catalyst typically consists of finely divided iron bound to

In industrial practice, the iron catalyst is obtained from finely

Metals to the right of the iron group, in contrast, adsorb

Due to the comparatively low price, high availability, easy

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