What is Ostwald's process?
The Ostwald process is a method used for industrial nitric acid production, patented by the German/Latvian chemist Willhelm Ostwald in 1902 and first performed in 1908. In this process nitric acid synthesized by ammonia oxidation. Before the introduction of the Ostwald process, all nitric acid was a sodium nitrate (nano 3 ) or potassium nitrate (KNO 3 ) - with concentrated sulfuric acid. The Ostwald process is now responsible for all nitric acid production, chemical decisive for fertilizer and explosives sectors. In the middle of the 17th century, German chemist Johann Rudolf Glauber produced acid acid with sulfuric acid. Nitric acid was interesting mainly because of its ability to dissolve most of the metals until the discovery in 1847 nitroglycerin. Soon after this point, with the opening of a new series of explosives made by organic compounds, nitric acid - and its precursor, salty - were very desirable. ANDUntil the beginning of the 20th century, all nitric acid production from Saltpeter was.
In 1901, Willhelm Ostwald, a German chemist born in Latvia, developed a method of synthetic nitric acid from ammonia by catalysis. The process takes place in three steps. First, a mixture of one partial ammonia (NH 3 ) gas and 10 air parts are inserted into the catalytic chamber, where at 1292 to 1472 ° F (700 to 800 ° C) and a platinum catalyst combines ammonia with kyygen (o 2 → 4NO + 6H 2 Oxide, in the oxidation chamber, at 122 ° F (50 ° C), nitric oxide combined with oxygen for nitrogen oxide: 2NO + O 2 Finally, nitrogen is dissolved in the absorption chamber of the nitrogen, which gives nitric acid (HNO 3 ) and nitric oxide, which can then be recycledLive: 3no 2 + h 2 o → 2hno + no.
Ostwald process produces nitric acid as an aqueous solution of about 60% concentration. By distillation, concentration increases to 68.5%, giving nitric acid that is used for most purposes. This acid is azeotrope of nitric acid and water, which means that both compounds are cooked at the same temperature - 251.6 ° F (122 ° C) and therefore it cannot be further concentrated by simple distillation. If higher concentrations are required, they can be obtained by distillation with concentrated sulfukyselina castor - which absorbs water - or directly by a combination of nitrogen oxide, water and oxygen at high pressure.
These two industrial processes between them allowed cheap production of nitric acid in oBrezen quantity. This in turn led to increased agricultural productivity, as nitrate fertilizers could be made cheaply in volumetric quantities. However, this is also the prolonged First World War, because Germany - cut off from most of the Slanýpeter stores during the war - was able to continue making explosives in large quantities.