Birkeland–Eyde process
Nitrogen fixation process using electrical arcs / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Birkeland–Eyde process was one of the competing industrial processes in the beginning of nitrogen-based fertilizer production. It is a multi-step nitrogen fixation reaction that uses electrical arcs to react atmospheric nitrogen (N2) with oxygen (O2), ultimately producing nitric acid (HNO3) with water.[1] The resultant nitric acid was then used as a source of nitrate (NO3−) in the reaction which may take place in the presence of water or another proton acceptor.
It was developed by Norwegian industrialist and scientist Kristian Birkeland along with his business partner Sam Eyde in 1903,[2] based on a method used by Henry Cavendish in 1784.[3][4] A factory based on the process was built in Rjukan and Notodden in Norway, combined with the building of large hydroelectric power facilities.[5][6]
The Birkeland–Eyde process is relatively inefficient in terms of energy consumption. Therefore, in the 1910s and 1920s, it was gradually replaced in Norway by a combination of the Haber process and the Ostwald process. The Haber process produces ammonia (NH3) from molecular nitrogen (N2) and hydrogen (H2), the latter usually but not necessarily produced by steam reforming methane (CH4) gas in current practice. The ammonia from the Haber process is then converted into nitric acid (HNO3) in the Ostwald process.[7]