All My Sources!

Posted: August 23, 2011 in August

http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/n.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer

http://dictionary.reference.com/

Complete Chemistry For IGCSE By: RoseMarie Gallagher and Paul Ingram

Biology For IGCSE By: Gareth Williams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nitrogen fertlizers are very necesarry, but they can harm the environment. 
When it rains, some of the nitrogen in the soil may seep into waterbeds. 
The nitrogen helps algae in the water to grow. When it dies, bacteria in
 the water consume it, using all the oxygen in the water. The fish then die! 
Also, if infants drink nitrogen polluted water, they may get very sick. 
The nitrogen from the water combines with the haemoglobin in the red blood 
cells, meaning that they are not able to carry enough oxygen. Luckily it is

The dangerous algae...

not bad enough to cause death.

How Does the Haber-Bosch Process Work?

Posted: August 20, 2011 in August
1. Firstly, Nitrogen and Hydrogen (the raw materials), are scrubbed, or cleaned, 
to remove any impurities.
2. The mixture of Hydrogen and Nitrogen is compressed, until the pressure reaches 
200 atmospheres.
3. The compressed gases now flow to the converter. In the converter, beds of iron 
are kept at 450 degrees celcius. Iron is used as a catalyst, since this is a reversible
reaction. Iron forces the reaction to the right, creating ammonia. Only 15 % of the total mixture forms 
ammonia. 

4. The mixture is then forced into a cooler. Ammonia condenses to a liquid, forming
 at the bottom of the cooler, but the rest of gases are recycled to attempt to form more ammonia. 

5. The liquid ammonia is collected. 

Here is the symbol equation for the reaction: N2 (g) + 3H2 (g) = 2NH3 (g)

A very useful diagram, perhaps to understand the process a bit better!

The raw materials, Nitrogen and Hydrogen, are extracted from different sources. Nitrogen is 
extracted from the air. Burning hydrogen in the air removes the oxygen leaving almost pure 
Nitrogen. Hydrogen, however, is made by combining methane and steam, forming hydrogen.
As mentioned above, the reaction forming ammonia is a reversible reaction. This means:  "Reactions 
that do not go to completion and occur in both the forward and reverse direction". In other words,
if not mainted constantly, the reaction would keep reversing for ever. Therefore, the pressure,
temperature and catalyst play a key role in the reaction. Although this reversible reaction favours
lower temperatures, iron (the catalyst) needs at least 400 degrees celcius. The pressure levels are
then what force the equilibrium to produce more product. The iron lowers the activation energy of the
nitrogen and hydrogen, making the formation of ammonia easier. Without the iron, the equilibrium would 
not be shifted. However, the reaction would go at such a slow rate, it would be silly to even attempt 
the reaction.
Before the Haber - Bosch process, farmers found that they constantly had to 
change farming land every few centuries. This was because the nitrogen in the 
soil would be absorbed by all the plants, for growth. With the natural process 
of fixed nitrogen, otherwise known as nitrogen fixation, not producing enough 
nitrogen for all the agriculture in the world, it was necessary that we began 
to produce nitrogen fertiliers. By the 19 century, almost no nitrogen rich soil 
was left on earth! Farmers could grow no more plants of good quality, most had

This plant displays nitrogen deficiency!

nitrogen defficiency.
Nitrogen is very hard to react with and to hence form compounds. Nitrogen is a diatomic molecule, 
which means two nitrogen atoms share electrons to acheive a full outer shell. The two Nitrogen 
atoms share three electrons each, forming 3 covalent bonds. This triple bond is so strong, a huge 
amount of energy is required to break this bond. This means that a large amount of something

Here you can see the triple covalent bonds formed!

eg. catalyst, temperature, or pressure is required to break up a nitrogen diatomic molecule.
Nitrogen, which forms 78.1 % of what we call air, is a huge part of our daily lives. 
Nitrogen makes up part of Amino Acids and Nucleic Acids, both of which are used in
 countless processes in our body's every day. In fact, 2.6 % of our body weight is 
nitrogen!  It is also indirectly useful to us as well. Plants need nitrogen for the
 same reasons as we do: amino acids. These special acids are then made into protein, 
which is essential is growth. Plants with low levels of nitrogen show poor growth.
 Many animals we eat are herbivores, so if nitrogen ran out, plants would all die,
 the animals would follow, and we would go extinct as well.

Introduction!

Posted: August 20, 2011 in August

Hello!

This website was created as part of a chemistry school project, about the importance of nitrogen fertilizers. Everything on this website was written entirely by myself, and you may not copy any of the information.

Thanks for visiting, and please,

Enjoy!