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Writer's pictureNishant KIDANGAN
Apr 1, 20225 min read

The Haber Process

Written by Joshua Ng, Edited by Angus Yip


The Haber Process is a chemical reaction that combines one nitrogen molecule with three hydrogen molecules to create two ammonia gas molecules. The equation below gives a visual representation of what the chemical reaction looks like.

‌(The Fuse School, 2013)


The Haber Process is used to solve one of Earth’s biggest problems: food production. One essential nutrient required for crops and plants to survive is nitrogen in the form of NO3-. Nitrogen is removed from the soil and consumed by plants as they grow, and is replenished through natural processes such as decaying animals. This cycle allows the crops to sustain their growth and provide food for mankind. However, humans need a way to produce more food as their population continues to increase. Although 78% of the air is composed of nitrogen, it contains a triple bond that plants cannot break, thus limiting the amount of nutrients they can consume to sustain their growth. Nitrogen can only be dissolved in water which is done manually or through rainfall, but it is not quick enough to sustain food production. This is when Haber found a clever method to utilize the vast amount of nitrogen in the air.He bonded it with hydrogen to make ammonia, which is then converted into fertilizers for the plants. Without the Haber Process, farmers would only be able to provide food for 4 billion people, meaning 3 billion people in the global population would not have food. Today, more than 290 pounds of ammonia is produced each year, making it the most produced compound in the world, a great solution to the lack of food production. (Dulek, 2013)



However, Haber needed a way to make ammonia quicker and more efficiently, which was why he utilized Le Chatlelier’s Principle in doing so. First, we have to understand what a chemical equilibrium is. A chemical equilibrium is a reaction that is achieved in a closed container. Take the Haber Process for example: nitrogen and hydrogen react and form ammonia at a very high rate due to the large number of nitrogen and hydrogen molecules. However, the reaction gradually slows down as there is now a lower number of these molecules. After a while, ammonia decomposes and forms back to nitrogen and hydrogen molecules. As the reaction progresses, creating and breaking down ammonia molecules, two reactions would reach the same speed and are presented in the graph below, which is when equilibrium is reached.

Le Chatelier’s principle stated that if a change is made in the reaction, the equilibrium would shift to restore a new equilibrium state in order to balance it ‌(The Fuse School, 2013). Haber did two things to achieve this. First, he increased the pressure so that the equilibrium would favor the side with less moles (in this case, the ammonia side), and therefore, allowing the reaction to shift to the product side and creating more ammonia. He also changed the temperature. Ideally, he would choose a low temperature, so that the equilibrium would shift to the ammonia side since it is an exothermic reaction. However, a low temperature would mean a slow temperature, which was why he created a compromise temperature at 400 to 450 degree celsius This is a temperature that is not too high that the equilibrium would shift to the reactants side instead, but not too low that it would slow the rate of reaction. Additionally, an iron catalyst is used to speed up the reaction rate. These are the two main things Haber changed using Le Chatelier's Principle in order to create ammonia at a higher rate. (Dulek, 2013)


One positive economical implication is the increase in food production. As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, nitrogen, a very important nutrient for plants to grow, can only be consumed by plants through a natural fertilization process, rainfall, or farming. The replenishment of the nitrogen needed for plants and crops to grow is slow and only sufficient to provide food for 4 billion people, causing global issues such as famine, starvation, etc. The Haber Process allows a fast and large production of ammonia-based fertilizers, allowing the entire population to be fed. Simply put, the Haber Process has allowed the world to produce more fertilizers in order to sustain crops growth and food production. (Dulek, 2013)


Although the large scale production of these fertilizers has a direct contribution to the rate of food production on the planet, it does cause negative consequences and has been dominating the sustainability discussions for many years. One negative effect of the Haber Process on the environment is the killing of marine organisms. Fertilizers dissolved in water can be washed into large bodies of water such as lakes and oceans. The presence of these fertilizers allows aquatic plants to grow at a faster rate. More plants on the ocean floor means more dead bodies of plants, and these prevent the photosynthesis of other aquatic plants. Aerobic bacteria, which feed on these dead plants, consume a lot of oxygen, and with more of these bacteria around the water, the concentration of oxygen in the water is lowered, killing multiple types of marine and sea organisms. This breaks the food change as sea animals are interdependent on each other and can cause further damage to the ecosystem itself. ‌(The Fuse School, 2013)


In conclusion, the Haber Process utilizes Le Chatelier's Principle to create more ammonia-based fertilizers through changing the temperature, pressure, and adding iron catalyst in the equilibrium, solving the big issue of lack of food production and global hunger. In my opinion, I think that it is a great method in sustaining food for the population and has a great impact on the global population. With the boost in food production, it has allowed the global population from 1.6 billion from 1900, to 7.1 billion people today. However, the Haber Process does contribute to 5% of the world’s natural gas production, which worsens global warming and climate change. Although many people argue that the Haber Process has a direct negative effect on the environment, I believe that it was never intended to do so as Haber lived more than a century ago and could never foresee the long term effects of his creation. While the Haber Process is a great scientific discovery and is still used today, I hope that scientists can discover a new process that would continue sustaining food production to reach the same level of aid without the negative implications to the environment. (Ritter, 2019)


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sd
Apr 01, 2022

hi where do isign up for stem insight

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