GIVES OUT SECRETS
OF MAKING AMMONIA
______________________
Noted German Chemist
Ex-pounds before Congress
His Synthetic Process.
______________________
At the previous conference in London in 1909, Bernthsen had said that a
solution to the synthetic ammonia problem was as far away as ever, but now
he announced, ‘problem solved’, and he gave out the ‘secrets’ of making
ammonia, but these were largely confined to temperatures and pressure, the
candidate catalysts—osmium and uranium, thoroughly misleading—and
issues of the purity of reactants, with no mention at all of the difficult aspects
of technical engineering that had been overcome. He also announced that the
process was patented everywhere, and that the Oppau works was under
construction. In a prophetic statement he also pointed out that the ‘peaceful
development of the various new industries for the combination of the nitrogen of
the air … is to be expected …’. This then was the first real public
announcement of the existence of the new technology, which he maintained
had been ‘purposely delayed for the benefit of his brother chemists who are now
assembled in this city’. From 1912 onwards then, the world should have been
aware that Germany was becoming ‘nitrogen self-sufficient’ and the papers
published from 1913 to 1915 simply confirmed this view.
12.3 The Secrets of Synthetic Ammonia Really
Revealed?
The 1913 publications laid bare how the breakthrough made by the two men
in Karlsruhe was achieved. Technical and engineering detail was disclosed,
including the design and construction of the ‘furnace’, the need for a circulation apparatus, the pump and compressor, the hot and cold ‘regenerators’,
the most successful ‘contact’ substances and the sources of nitrogen and
hydrogen. Theoretical equilibrium yields of ammonia at various temperatures
and pressures were discussed as were the details of the practical yields found at
various flow rates through the apparatus. The % ammonia at *600 °C
increasing from about 3 to 5% as the pressure increases and the flow rate falls.
228
D. Sheppard
OF MAKING AMMONIA
______________________
Noted German Chemist
Ex-pounds before Congress
His Synthetic Process.
______________________
At the previous conference in London in 1909, Bernthsen had said that a
solution to the synthetic ammonia problem was as far away as ever, but now
he announced, ‘problem solved’, and he gave out the ‘secrets’ of making
ammonia, but these were largely confined to temperatures and pressure, the
candidate catalysts—osmium and uranium, thoroughly misleading—and
issues of the purity of reactants, with no mention at all of the difficult aspects
of technical engineering that had been overcome. He also announced that the
process was patented everywhere, and that the Oppau works was under
construction. In a prophetic statement he also pointed out that the ‘peaceful
development of the various new industries for the combination of the nitrogen of
the air … is to be expected …’. This then was the first real public
announcement of the existence of the new technology, which he maintained
had been ‘purposely delayed for the benefit of his brother chemists who are now
assembled in this city’. From 1912 onwards then, the world should have been
aware that Germany was becoming ‘nitrogen self-sufficient’ and the papers
published from 1913 to 1915 simply confirmed this view.
12.3 The Secrets of Synthetic Ammonia Really
Revealed?
The 1913 publications laid bare how the breakthrough made by the two men
in Karlsruhe was achieved. Technical and engineering detail was disclosed,
including the design and construction of the ‘furnace’, the need for a circulation apparatus, the pump and compressor, the hot and cold ‘regenerators’,
the most successful ‘contact’ substances and the sources of nitrogen and
hydrogen. Theoretical equilibrium yields of ammonia at various temperatures
and pressures were discussed as were the details of the practical yields found at
various flow rates through the apparatus. The % ammonia at *600 °C
increasing from about 3 to 5% as the pressure increases and the flow rate falls.
228
D. Sheppard