possible to raise it to 2.5 cm
3
. This yield remains considerably below the
capacity for which the apparatus has been constructed because we have used the
catalyst space very inefficiently.
When Brunck read the letter and discussed the matter with Mittasch and
Bosch, he became convinced that the BASF should commit its full resources
to the commercialisation of ‘Haber’s’ process. After all, the cost of producing
fixed nitrogen in this way would be just a fraction of that of the arc. The
patent department at the BASF subsequently made clear to all involved the
need to absolutely protect every advance in this field and they asked Haber to
send the documentation necessary for the appropriate patent applications. By
the 21 July 1909
42 Haber had provided the BASF with the outline of a third
key patent, a ‘supplementary ‘to the original ‘circulation’ patent called the
‘high pressure’ patent, Deutsches Reichspatent D.R.P. 238450, filed on 14
September 1909. Two further proposals were submitted later, the ‘diffusion’
patent (D.R.P. H48062 IV/12 g) and the ‘external heat’ patent (D.R.
P. H47701 IV/2 k). The first of these was shortly to prove particularly
apposite following BASF’s discovery of ‘hydrogen attack’ (Chap. 10). It
claimed that if a metal body—heated externally—was to be used as the
reaction chamber, then it could be protected from chemical change by a
protective coating. The second proposal patented the idea of the ‘cold
regenerator’ to ensure efficient heat exchange, and both these proposals were
submitted in Robert’s name as well as Haber’s both as Assignors to the BASF.
Other patent applications were to follow, but Haber and Robert appeared
to have solved a problem—at least in principle—that had bedevilled chemists
for well over a century. The BASF now had the task of scaling up the modest
75 cm high prototype and building a whole new technology and industry
around it, and rarely if ever had a process been brought in an academic
laboratory to such an advanced state of technical development before being
handed on to industry.
43 If successful, the two men easily saw the consequences of all this. It would answer Crooke’s challenge, solve the world’s
nitrate problem, end the dangerous Chilean trade and beat Nernst and
Ostwald to chemistry’s ‘holy grail’. They would share in the profits too,
becoming rich and famous! Haber was beside himself with the prospect and
he reverted to his basic instincts, throwing a celebratory party a few days later
at a local hotel, J. E. Coates recalling
43 that Haber declared ‘invite whomever
you like!’ Everyone from the laboratory was there, together with University
colleagues, friends and anyone that anybody wanted to bring along. The wine
flowed freely that night and when it was all over Coates recalled that ‘We
could only walk in a straight line by following the streetcar tracks!’ (Fig. 8.6)
8 The Big Fix …
177
3
. This yield remains considerably below the
capacity for which the apparatus has been constructed because we have used the
catalyst space very inefficiently.
When Brunck read the letter and discussed the matter with Mittasch and
Bosch, he became convinced that the BASF should commit its full resources
to the commercialisation of ‘Haber’s’ process. After all, the cost of producing
fixed nitrogen in this way would be just a fraction of that of the arc. The
patent department at the BASF subsequently made clear to all involved the
need to absolutely protect every advance in this field and they asked Haber to
send the documentation necessary for the appropriate patent applications. By
the 21 July 1909
42 Haber had provided the BASF with the outline of a third
key patent, a ‘supplementary ‘to the original ‘circulation’ patent called the
‘high pressure’ patent, Deutsches Reichspatent D.R.P. 238450, filed on 14
September 1909. Two further proposals were submitted later, the ‘diffusion’
patent (D.R.P. H48062 IV/12 g) and the ‘external heat’ patent (D.R.
P. H47701 IV/2 k). The first of these was shortly to prove particularly
apposite following BASF’s discovery of ‘hydrogen attack’ (Chap. 10). It
claimed that if a metal body—heated externally—was to be used as the
reaction chamber, then it could be protected from chemical change by a
protective coating. The second proposal patented the idea of the ‘cold
regenerator’ to ensure efficient heat exchange, and both these proposals were
submitted in Robert’s name as well as Haber’s both as Assignors to the BASF.
Other patent applications were to follow, but Haber and Robert appeared
to have solved a problem—at least in principle—that had bedevilled chemists
for well over a century. The BASF now had the task of scaling up the modest
75 cm high prototype and building a whole new technology and industry
around it, and rarely if ever had a process been brought in an academic
laboratory to such an advanced state of technical development before being
handed on to industry.
43 If successful, the two men easily saw the consequences of all this. It would answer Crooke’s challenge, solve the world’s
nitrate problem, end the dangerous Chilean trade and beat Nernst and
Ostwald to chemistry’s ‘holy grail’. They would share in the profits too,
becoming rich and famous! Haber was beside himself with the prospect and
he reverted to his basic instincts, throwing a celebratory party a few days later
at a local hotel, J. E. Coates recalling
43 that Haber declared ‘invite whomever
you like!’ Everyone from the laboratory was there, together with University
colleagues, friends and anyone that anybody wanted to bring along. The wine
flowed freely that night and when it was all over Coates recalled that ‘We
could only walk in a straight line by following the streetcar tracks!’ (Fig. 8.6)
8 The Big Fix …
177