Title: Stepwise synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen by the action of catalysts based on potassium salts of transition metal carbonyl hydrides and potassium metal
Abstract: The authors recently reported new catalysts for the gas-phase synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. The catalysts were prepared by depositing the potassium salts of transition metal carbonyl hydrides: K/sub 2/Fe(CO)/sub 4/, K/sub 2/Fe/sub 2/(CO)/sub 8/, K/sub 2/Mo/sub 2/(CO)/sub 10/, K/sub 2/W/sub 2/(CO)/sub 10/, KMn(CO)/sub 5/, KRe(CO)/sub 5/, etc., on activated carbon, followed by thermal decomposition of the supported carbonylate with potassium metal. The most efficient system is K/sub 2/Fe/sub 2/(CO)/sub 8/ + K; with it hydrogenation of nitrogen proceeds at an appreciable rate already at 150/sup 0/C and atmospheric pressure, while at 250/sup 0/C its activity is approx. 2.5 times greater than that of grade SA-1 industrial ammonia synthesis catalyst. In the present work they report that these catalysts permit ammonia synthesis to be carried out stepwise, by first reacting nitrogen with the catalyst and then hydrogenating the nitrogenous product to ammonia with hydrogen. This result opens routes to a separate study of the nitrogen activation and hydrogenation steps on this kind of catalyst.
Publication Year: 1987
Publication Date: 1987-09-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot