In the dawn of the twentieth century...
Introducing Fritz Haber.
Fritz Haber was revered by the military for his work in producing ammonia and development and deployment of chlorine and poisonous gases for WWI. However, his personal life was a different story. His wife, Clara Immerwahr, also a chemist, was an opponent of Haber's work in chemical warfare. After an argument over his involvement, Immerwahr committed suicide. Their son, grieving for his mother at a tender age of 13, followed after his mother's footsteps and committed suicide due to his shame in Haber's contributions to WWI.
And now Carl Bosch.
Carl Bosch was a pioneer in chemical engineering who enabled the large-scale production of ammonia through his studies in high pressure industrial processes. In fact, the Haber-Bosch process was the first industrial chemical process to use high pressure for a chemical reaction. His works were highly praised internationally. In 1937 he was appointed president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, Germany’s highest scientific position. However, due to his disagreements with the Nazi policies, he was removed from his position when Adolf Hitler rose to power.
So. The Haber-Bosch Process.
When the Allies blocked off all trade routes going to and from Germany, they lost all source of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate, their source of nitrogen. Because of this, their need for nitrogen in easily accessible forms became urgent.
In 1908, Fritz Haber developed a method of making use of the inactive nitrogen in the atmosphere to produce ammonia, a chemical compound with attractive chemical characteristics in the military, industrial and agricultural sectors. As the process was developed right before World War II, the German military used the ammonia produced for explosives.
After WWI, the uses of ammonia leaned towards agricultural purposes, where fertilizer is produced in the form of anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate. Today, the Haber-Bosch process produces 453 billion kilograms of nitrogen fertilizer per year, and consumes about 1-2% of the world's energy annually. The fertilizer it produces plays an important part in feeding about 35% of the world's population.
Fritz Haber was revered by the military for his work in producing ammonia and development and deployment of chlorine and poisonous gases for WWI. However, his personal life was a different story. His wife, Clara Immerwahr, also a chemist, was an opponent of Haber's work in chemical warfare. After an argument over his involvement, Immerwahr committed suicide. Their son, grieving for his mother at a tender age of 13, followed after his mother's footsteps and committed suicide due to his shame in Haber's contributions to WWI.
And now Carl Bosch.
Carl Bosch was a pioneer in chemical engineering who enabled the large-scale production of ammonia through his studies in high pressure industrial processes. In fact, the Haber-Bosch process was the first industrial chemical process to use high pressure for a chemical reaction. His works were highly praised internationally. In 1937 he was appointed president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, Germany’s highest scientific position. However, due to his disagreements with the Nazi policies, he was removed from his position when Adolf Hitler rose to power.
So. The Haber-Bosch Process.
When the Allies blocked off all trade routes going to and from Germany, they lost all source of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate, their source of nitrogen. Because of this, their need for nitrogen in easily accessible forms became urgent.
In 1908, Fritz Haber developed a method of making use of the inactive nitrogen in the atmosphere to produce ammonia, a chemical compound with attractive chemical characteristics in the military, industrial and agricultural sectors. As the process was developed right before World War II, the German military used the ammonia produced for explosives.
After WWI, the uses of ammonia leaned towards agricultural purposes, where fertilizer is produced in the form of anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate. Today, the Haber-Bosch process produces 453 billion kilograms of nitrogen fertilizer per year, and consumes about 1-2% of the world's energy annually. The fertilizer it produces plays an important part in feeding about 35% of the world's population.