PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY III RESUMED BY: MUHAMMAD REZA ( 1106103040017) = 50% MARYAM JAMILAH (1106103040009) = 50% AMMONIA SYNTHESIS

Ammonia is synthesized over a promoted iron metal catalysts by HaberBosch process. Ammonia is formed from its constituents, nitrogen and hydrogen at 4000 C. The reaction as below: N2(g) + 3H2(g) 2NH3(g) The reaction toward the target product NH3 is therefore

thermodynamically favored at low temperature and high pressure. This equilibrium limitation at practical conditions requires loop operation with recovery of the easly condens able product gas. The feed gases are prepared from air; nitrogen and hydrogen. For synthesize ammonia, the catalyst which usually used is iron (Fe), except Fe, only Ru has been found to be a practically useful catalyst. Ammonia always used as artificial fertilizer. In environmental catalysis, ammonia is apllied as reducing agent for nitrogen oxides emitted in power plants and more recently also in automotive vehicles. The mechanism of ammonia synthesis is one of the best known in heterogenous catalysis, besides CO oxidation on Pt. The reaction is started by adsorption of N2 on iron is slow and is characterized by a very low sticking coefficient and high activation energy. In contrast, the adsorbtion of dihydrogen

on iron is fast and characterized by a high sticking coefficient ( ca. 10 -1) and extremely small activation barrier. Adsorbed dinitrogen could be excluded as a reactive intermediate in the catalytic reaction. The involvement of adsorbed N atoms in the rate-determining step was also demonstrated by kinetics experiment. Other less stable and less abundant surface intermediates include NH and NH2 species. Based on the following sequence of elementary steps was formulated ( * denotes a surface site): N2 + 2* 2 Nads H2 + 2* 2 Hads Nads + Hads NHads + * NHads + Hads NH2ads + * NH2ads + Hads NH3 + 2* Decomposition of N2 is exothermic, whereas the steps involved in successive hydrogenation yielding NH x species are endothermic. The addition of the first H atom is the most difficult step. The promotion of the iron catalyst for this reaction will decrease the activation energy for dissociative N 2.