HABER PROCESS/CONTACT PROCESS

DIRECTIONS:

Here is your chance to apply anything and everything from topic 7 to two specific industrial processes. Your assignment is to write a prose-style report that looks at both of these processes in depth, including material that is relevant to the assessment statements from this topic. It is possible (and perhaps likely) that you wont find information pertinent to each assessment statement, so dont get overly consumed with finding every detail.
HABER PROCESS
EQUATION

N2 (g) + 3H2 (g) 2NH3 (g) (H = 92.4 kJmol1)

K C EXPRESSION

BACKGOUND

The Haber process was created to Fritz Haber and it is used to produce ammonia. Economically ammonia is essential as it is used as a fertilizer in agriculture. Without its usage there would be no possible way for the human population to sustain such high population numbers. Consequently the demand for having ammonia is very high and too keep up with current needs it is thus critical to produce ammonia efficiently as well as fast. However this is tricky as ammonia can be changed back to its reactants as it is a dynamic equilibrium.
YIELD TEMPERATURE

The conditions which would allow the most yield of ammonia is a low temperature as well as high pressure. As the forward reaction is exothermic and a low temperature favors then exothermic reaction this means that more ammonia will be produced and the K c value will change to a higher value as equilibrium shifted to the right (product side). However having a low temperature (the one aspect that changes the Kc value) causes the rate of reaction to go immensely slow. This is in regard to collision theory, with a lower temperature the molecules will be less excited, therefore there will be less frequent collisions that occur with the correct orientation and energy (lower rate of reaction). However, creating a high temperature environment is expensive, similarly making a low temperature environment is also costly. To

conclude it will greatly decrease the rate of reaction for both the forward and reverse reaction, however when the reaction is at equilibrium it will allow a greater amount/yield of ammonia to be produced.
PRESSURE

When pressure is increase it will cause equilibrium to shift to the right and produce more ammonia. In regard to collision theory it will also cause more frequent collisions (speeding up the rate of reaction). The reason for equilibrium shifting to the right is because on the left there are 4 moles of gas, on the right there are 2 moles of gas. Consequently equilibrium will shift the side with the least moles of gas when pressure is increased, in this case that is the right side with only 2 moles of gas compared to its counterpart with 4 moles. If the pressure was decreased this would cause equilibrium to shift to the left where there are the most moles of gas and therefore the concentration/yield of ammonia will decrease, whilst the production of nitrogen and hydrogen will increase. Therefore to produce more ammonia a high pressure would have to be needed, this high pressure would also speed up rate of reaction. However, this causes problems as reinforced chambers a pipes would have to be produced which would be costly.
CATALYST

An iron catalyst is used for the Haber process. However adding a catalyst has no effect on the yield of ammonia produced, it also does not change the value of Kc (Kc only affected by temperature). It does however, equally speed up the rate of reaction allowing the reaction to reach equilibrium in a shorter time frame. It also reduces the activation energy making it more likely for a reaction to occur, this is because when the molecules collide they not only need the right orientation but also enough energy. If neither of these two aspects are sufficient then the collision will not occur and no reaction will take place. Consequently by allowing a lower energy for a reaction to occur this will cause more collisions to be successful.
RESULT

The iron catalyst will also be finely ground to allow for more surface area and consequently allow for more molecules to be in contact with the catalyst, meaning that less catalyst is needed and it will allow the rate of reaction (of both sides) to be faster than if in clumps. A balance between temperature and pressure are used, 200atm and 700K are used. Keeping the pressure relatively high but not too high so that the cost for infrastructure brings up the cost of the product (to allow for greater profit) and therefore the average consumer would not be able to buy the fertilizer. The temperature is kept relativity high to allow a faster rate of

reaction, therefore the excess reagents will be recycled and used again, and therefore it does not necessarily matter if the yield of ammonia is not the absolute best as the process can be repeated in a small interval of time to produce a sufficient amount at a fast rate.

CONTACT PROCESS
EQUATION

2SO2 (g) + O2 (g) 2SO3 (g) (H = 196 kJmol1)

K C EXPRESSION

BACKGROUND:

The contact process is used to produce sulfuric acid is used in the chemical industry. Like the Haber process it is needed for the manufacture of fertilizer. It is however also used in polymers, detergents, paints and pigments, the manufacturing of metals, as well as electrolyte in car batteries. Sulfur dioxide is however bad for the environment as it is a main reactant which causes acid rain which can be devastating for agriculture and infrastructure.
YIELD TEMPERATURE

The conditions which would allow the most yield of sulfur trioxide is a low temperature. As the forward reaction is exothermic and a low temperature favors then exothermic reaction this means that more sulfur trioxide will be produced and the Kc value will change to a higher value as equilibrium shifted to the right (product side). However having a low temperature (the one aspect that changes the Kc value) causes the rate of reaction to go immensely slow. This is in regard to collision theory, with a lower temperature the molecules will be less excited, therefore there will be less frequent collisions that occur with the correct orientation and energy (lower rate of reaction). However, creating a high temperature environment is expensive, similarly making a low temperature environment is also costly. To conclude it will decrease the rate of reaction for both the forward and reverse reaction, however when the reaction is at equilibrium it will allow a greater amount/yield of sulfur trioxide to be produced.

In the case of the contact process a mixture of both high and low temperatures are used, the high temperatures are used to allow for a high initial rate of reaction. Whilst converters at low temperatures allow for high final equilibrium yield of sulfur trioxide. PRESSURE When pressure is increase it will cause equilibrium to shift to the right and produce more sulfur trioxide. In regard to collision theory it will also cause more frequent collisions (speeding up the rate of reaction). The reason for equilibrium shifting to the right is because on the left there are 3 moles of gas, on the right there are 2 moles of gas. Consequently equilibrium will shift the side with the least moles of gas when pressure is increased, in this case that is the right side with only 2 moles of gas compared to its counterpart with 3 moles. If the pressure was decreased this would cause equilibrium to shift to the left where there are the most moles of gas and therefore the concentration/yield of sulfur trioxide will decrease, whilst the production of sulfur dioxide and oxygen will increase. Therefore to produce more sulfur trioxide high pressure would could be used, this high pressure would also speed up rate of reaction. However, this causes problems as reinforced chambers a pipes would have to be produced which would be costly. However, in the case of the contact process pressure is only at 2 atm and is not a main factor used to speed up the reaction, or produce more sulfur trioxide.
CATALYST

Vandium(V) oxide catalyst is used for the Contact Process. However adding a catalyst has no effect on the yield of sulfur trioxide produced, it also does not change the value of Kc (Kc only affected by temperature). It does however, equally speed up the rate of reaction allowing the reaction to reach equilibrium in a shorter time frame. It also reduces the activation energy making it more likely for a reaction to occur, this is because when the molecules collide they not only need the right orientation but also enough energy. If neither of these two aspects are sufficient then the collision will not occur and no reaction will take place. Consequently by allowing a lower energy for a reaction to occur this will cause more collisions to be successful.
RESULT

The vanadium(V) oxide (V2O5) will also be finely ground to allow for more surface area and consequently allow for more molecules to be in contact with the catalyst, meaning that less catalyst is needed and it will allow the rate of reaction (of both sides) to be faster than if in clumps. Instead of the Haber process where a somewhat high pressure is used in the contact process the pressure used is 2atm. Therefore in this industrial process it is not the pressure that is used to produce a faster rate or reaction, or decrease pressure for more yield. However

temperature is used both high and low. There is a high temperature in the beginning to allow the initial rate of reaction to be fast. Once this is achieved then it goes through lower temperatures to allow for a higher yield up to 90%.