History
Early in the twentieth century, several chemists tried to make ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen. German chemist Fritz Haber discovered a process that is still used today. Robert Le Rossignol was instrumental in the development of the high-pressure devices used in the Haber process. They demonstrated their process in the summer of 1909 by producing ammonia from air drop by drop, at the rate of about 125 ml (4 US fl oz) per hour. The process was purchased by the German chemical company BASF, which assigned Carl Bosch the task of scaling up Haber's tabletop machine to industrial-level production. Haber and Bosch were later awarded Nobel prizes, in 1918 and 1931 respectively, for their work in overcoming the chemical and engineering problems posed by the use of large-scale, continuous-flow, high-pressure technology.
Ammonia was first manufactured using the Haber process on an industrial scale in 1913 in BASF's Oppau plant in Germany, production reaching 20 tonnes/day the following year. During World War I, the synthetic ammonia was utilized for the production of nitric acid, a precursor to munitions. The Allies had access to large amounts of saltpeter deposits in Chile that belonged almost totally to British industries. As Germany lacked access to such readily available natural resources, the Haber process proved important to the German war effort.
Read more about this topic: Haber Process
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