been solved, work proceeded smoothly and the plant produced its first synthetic ammonia on 09 September 1913, after less than fifteen months of
construction,
16 a stunning achievement of contemporary engineering.
The throughput of the plant of course depended on the capacity of the
converters. During and after construction their capacity was increasingly
expanded. By the end of 1911 the pilot plant converters were 4 m long with a
diameter of 15 cm, this soon increased to 4 m long and 23 cm diameter and
then to 8 m long with a diameter of 28.5 cm, the latter each weighing 3.5
tonnes. These were the reactors initially installed in Oppau. By 1915 the
converters were 12 m long with a diameter of 108 cm and weighed 75
tonnes.
1 During the first full year of Oppau’s production in 1914, the plant
‘fixed’ 20 tonnes of nitrogen daily which in turn translated to 8800 tonnes of
ammonia or 26,280 tonnes of ammonium sulfate per year. Flushed with
success and with an insatiable market for their product, the BASF made plans
to expand production to 40 tonnes of fixed nitrogen daily, equivalent to
150,000 tonnes of ammonium sulfate per year.
17
At the same time Bosch, who had now been umbilically connected to the
nitrogen problem for eleven years, realised another long-cherished dream viz,
to open an agricultural research station to study the influence of nitrogenous
fertiliser on plant physiology. This was eventually established at Limburgerhof
near Ludwigshafen,
17 and one feels that as far as Robert was concerned, there
could hardly have been a more fitting recognition of the technology he helped
to create—one which Woodland Toms too must have entirely approved.
Notes
1. Carl Bosch Nobel speech; ‘The Development of the Chemical High Pressure
Method During the Establishment of the New Ammonia Industry’, available at;
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1931/boschlecture.html and also from, Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1922–1941, Elsevier
Publishing Company, Amsterdam, (1966).
2. Vaclav Smil, Enriching the Earth, MIT Press, (2001), p. 95.
3. A catalyst of iron and chromium oxides at 250–450 °C.
4. See Smil, op. cit. (note 2), p. 97, his reference no. 47.
5. See Smil, op. cit. (note 2), p. 99, his reference no. 56.
6. Hydrogen is a vey small molecule and diffuses easily through many substances. Early airships for example deflated easily unless the buoyancy bag was
coated with a substance that hindered diffusion—often aluminium coatings.
The easy diffusion of the hydrogen and the ‘high’ temperature and pressure
caused the de-carburisation.
7. In early plants, the ammonia was removed by absorption in water ‘scrubbers’.
220
D. Sheppard
construction,
16 a stunning achievement of contemporary engineering.
The throughput of the plant of course depended on the capacity of the
converters. During and after construction their capacity was increasingly
expanded. By the end of 1911 the pilot plant converters were 4 m long with a
diameter of 15 cm, this soon increased to 4 m long and 23 cm diameter and
then to 8 m long with a diameter of 28.5 cm, the latter each weighing 3.5
tonnes. These were the reactors initially installed in Oppau. By 1915 the
converters were 12 m long with a diameter of 108 cm and weighed 75
tonnes.
1 During the first full year of Oppau’s production in 1914, the plant
‘fixed’ 20 tonnes of nitrogen daily which in turn translated to 8800 tonnes of
ammonia or 26,280 tonnes of ammonium sulfate per year. Flushed with
success and with an insatiable market for their product, the BASF made plans
to expand production to 40 tonnes of fixed nitrogen daily, equivalent to
150,000 tonnes of ammonium sulfate per year.
17
At the same time Bosch, who had now been umbilically connected to the
nitrogen problem for eleven years, realised another long-cherished dream viz,
to open an agricultural research station to study the influence of nitrogenous
fertiliser on plant physiology. This was eventually established at Limburgerhof
near Ludwigshafen,
17 and one feels that as far as Robert was concerned, there
could hardly have been a more fitting recognition of the technology he helped
to create—one which Woodland Toms too must have entirely approved.
Notes
1. Carl Bosch Nobel speech; ‘The Development of the Chemical High Pressure
Method During the Establishment of the New Ammonia Industry’, available at;
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1931/boschlecture.html and also from, Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1922–1941, Elsevier
Publishing Company, Amsterdam, (1966).
2. Vaclav Smil, Enriching the Earth, MIT Press, (2001), p. 95.
3. A catalyst of iron and chromium oxides at 250–450 °C.
4. See Smil, op. cit. (note 2), p. 97, his reference no. 47.
5. See Smil, op. cit. (note 2), p. 99, his reference no. 56.
6. Hydrogen is a vey small molecule and diffuses easily through many substances. Early airships for example deflated easily unless the buoyancy bag was
coated with a substance that hindered diffusion—often aluminium coatings.
The easy diffusion of the hydrogen and the ‘high’ temperature and pressure
caused the de-carburisation.
7. In early plants, the ammonia was removed by absorption in water ‘scrubbers’.
220
D. Sheppard