Preparation of Ammonia by Haber's Process Video Lecture - NEET

you have likely produced ammonia in the
laboratory from the thermal
decomposition of ammonium chloride or
from the reaction of ammonium and
hydroxide ions have you ever wondered
how ammonia is produced on an industrial
scale in this lesson we will learn about
the Haber process to produce ammonia
developed during World War one by Fritz
Haber and Carl Bosch for their efforts
and contributions to developing
large-scale industrial processes they
were awarded with Nobel prizes in
chemistry the Haber process is the
industrial process for the manufacture
of ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen
hydrogen is obtained from the reaction
of methane and steam producing carbon
monoxide as a byproduct the hydrogen
produced from this reaction also reacts
with oxygen from air producing water and
leaving nitrogen behind recall that air
is 77% nitrogen these gases are then
compressed and delivered to the reactor
where ammonia is produced these gases
are then cooled down and ammonia is
liquefied ready to be tapped off unused
hydrogen and nitrogen are recycled back
to the reactor let's revisit this
reaction again note that this is a
reversible reaction and that the forward
reaction is exothermic the Haber process
uses the chatelier's principle to
maximize ammonia production while
keeping operating and production costs
in mind the chatelier's principle tells
us that increasing pressure will favour
the side with fewer moles for our case
the production of ammonia it would make
sense to conduct the reaction at a very
high pressure but we must also remember
that it is expensive to build and
operate a plant
that can withstand such high pressures
therefore a compromised pressure of 200
atmospheres is used let's keep the
chatelier's principle in mind what do
you think is the best temperature
conditions to maximize ammonia
production please pause the video to
think about this and resume once you are
ready
since the forward reaction is exothermic
it would make sense to conduct this
reaction at a low temperature the
compromised temperature is 400 to 450
degrees Celsius which is not exactly low
but not too high if a low temperature
were used the rate of reaction would be
very slow though the exothermic reaction
would be favored it would actually take
a long time for equilibrium to be
reached so a compromised temperature of
400 to 450 degrees Celsius ensures that
the reaction proceeds with sufficient
yield the yield of this process is 10 to
20 percent remember from the
introduction that unused gases are
recycled so no reactants are wasted as
well an iron catalyst is used in this
process the presence of the catalyst
does not affect the position of
equilibrium but increases the rate at
which equilibrium is reached in
conclusion the Haber process is the
industrial process to produce ammonia
from hydrogen and nitrogen it is
conducted at 400 to 450 degrees Celsius
and at 200 atmospheres in the presence
of an iron catalyst these are
compromised conditions in order to
maximize ammonia production and economic
profit