Ammonia synthesis

Ammonia synthesis is the industrial production of ammonia, chiefly by reacting nitrogen with hydrogen over a catalyst. The dominant process is the Haber–Bosch process.

Haber–Bosch process: An industrial process that synthesizes ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen at elevated pressure and temperature over an iron-based catalyst. It is the dominant industrial implementation of ammonia synthesis.
Nitrogen: A chemical element whose diatomic gas makes up about 78 percent of Earth's atmosphere. Atmospheric nitrogen supplies one reactant, but its stable triple bond is difficult to break.
Fritz Haber: A German chemist who developed a laboratory method for synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. His high-pressure experiments established that direct ammonia synthesis was feasible.
Nitrogen fertilizer: A fertilizer that supplies plants with nitrogen in forms they can absorb and use. Most synthesized ammonia is used directly or indirectly to supply nitrogen to crops.
Synthetic nitrogen fixation: Industrial conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into reactive nitrogen compounds, principally through ammonia production. Ammonia synthesis supplies a large share of the reactive nitrogen entering human food systems.
Nitrogen fixation: The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into chemically available compounds. Industrial ammonia synthesis is a major artificial route for fixing atmospheric nitrogen.
Hydrogen: A chemical element that exists as a diatomic gas under ordinary conditions and is widely used as a chemical feedstock. Hydrogen supplies the other reactant and strongly influences the process's emissions profile.
Carl Bosch: A German chemical engineer who developed equipment and methods for large-scale high-pressure chemical production. He solved major engineering problems in scaling ammonia synthesis to industrial production.
Urea: An organic compound widely used as a nitrogen fertilizer and produced industrially from ammonia and carbon dioxide. It is a major fertilizer product made using ammonia as a feedstock.
Nitrogen cycle: The movement and transformation of nitrogen among the atmosphere, organisms, soils, and waters. Industrial fixation adds reactive nitrogen at a scale that alters the global cycle.

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