Ostwald process
E1025755
The Ostwald process is an industrial chemical method for producing nitric acid by catalytically oxidizing ammonia, fundamental to large-scale fertilizer and explosives manufacture.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
industrial chemical process
ⓘ
nitric acid production process ⓘ |
| byProduct | water ⓘ |
| catalyst |
platinum
ⓘ
rhodium ⓘ |
| category |
nitrogen industry process
ⓘ
oxidation process ⓘ |
| dependsOn | Haber–Bosch process NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| developedBy | Wilhelm Ostwald NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| developedInYear | 1902 ⓘ |
| economicImportance | major source of nitric acid worldwide ⓘ |
| enables |
mass production of nitrate-based explosives
ⓘ
mass production of nitrogen fertilizers ⓘ |
| environmentalImpact | NOx emissions ⓘ |
| feedstockFor |
ammonium nitrate production
ⓘ
calcium ammonium nitrate production ⓘ nitrophosphate fertilizers ⓘ |
| field |
chemical engineering
ⓘ
industrial chemistry ⓘ |
| hasStep |
absorption of nitrogen dioxide in water to form nitric acid
ⓘ
catalytic oxidation of ammonia to nitric oxide ⓘ oxidation of nitric oxide to nitrogen dioxide ⓘ |
| industrialUse |
explosives manufacture
ⓘ
fertilizer production ⓘ |
| inputFrom | ammonia produced by Haber–Bosch process ⓘ |
| keyIntermediate |
nitric oxide
ⓘ
nitrogen dioxide ⓘ |
| mitigation | tail-gas treatment for NOx removal ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Wilhelm Ostwald NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| operatesAtPressure | about 4–10 atm ⓘ |
| operatesAtTemperature | about 800–950 °C ⓘ |
| produces |
nitric acid
ⓘ
nitric oxide ⓘ nitrogen dioxide ⓘ |
| reactionType | heterogeneous catalytic oxidation ⓘ |
| recycles | nitric oxide ⓘ |
| relatedProcess | Haber–Bosch process NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| requires |
excess air
ⓘ
high temperature-resistant catalyst gauze ⓘ |
| safetyConcern |
emission of nitrogen oxides
ⓘ
handling of hot oxidizing gas mixtures ⓘ |
| stoichiometry |
2 NO + O2 → 2 NO2
ⓘ
3 NO2 + H2O → 2 HNO3 + NO ⓘ 4 NH3 + 5 O2 → 4 NO + 6 H2O ⓘ |
| usedIn | large-scale nitric acid plants ⓘ |
| usesReactant |
ammonia
ⓘ
oxygen ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.