DISCOVERY 



S5 



itself a by-product in the Linde or liquid-air process 

 for the preparation of oxygen from the air. The nitro- 

 gen can be used directly as a fertiliser, and it can also 

 be converted by suitable treatment into ammonia 

 or the cyanides, which are used in countless metallur- 

 gical processes. If nitric acid is required, this can be 

 obtained from the ammonia by making use of a catalyst. 

 These substances are of great importance to the chemi- 

 cal manufacturer, for though they bring great changes 

 about, they themselves remain unchanged at the end 

 of the operation. Spongy platinum, which by the way 

 is now worth more than £40 an ounce, is the catalj'st 

 used in this case, so perhaps it is fortunate that it 

 suffers no change in the operation, and can be used 

 time after time. That this process was employed during 

 the war in Germany and the United States is now 

 common property, and it is rumoured that a plant is 

 to be set up on one of our coal-fields, from which the 

 power is to be derived. That this is a commercial 

 proposition in times of war has been proved by both 

 Germany and the United States ; whether it will pay 

 in times of peace is another matter, and a point that 

 tlie future alone will decide. 



We now come to the last process, the much discussed 

 Haber Process, named after the inventor. Essenti- 

 ally this is a process for the production of ammonia 

 synthetically from its elements nitrogen and hydrogen, 

 a matter of no little difficulty, as I have already in- 

 dicated above, on account of the lazy habits of the 

 element nitrogen. By means of a suitable catalyst 

 this can, however, be brought about. As in the cyan- 

 amide process, the nitrogen is first separated from the 

 oxygen ; the hydrogen is obtained by blowing steam 

 on to an incandescent mass of partly coked coal. 

 The gaseous ingredients are then mixed in the right 

 proportions, heated and subjected to the action of 

 pressure and a catalyst. Round the choice of a suit- 

 able catalyst and the proper pressure to use the con- 

 troversy has raged. Several catalysts have been 

 used ; finely divided pure iron, osmium and uranium 

 may be mentioned here. However, the fact remains 

 that, under these somewhat exacting conditions, 

 nitrogen may be prevailed upon to enter into partner- 

 ship with hydrogen, although somewhat reluctantly. 

 This process, which was originally a jealously guarded 

 secret of Germany (a secret which no doubt saved 

 them from collapse due to a lack of munitions), is 

 one to the perfection of which a great deal of patient 

 research has been devoted. The object of this 

 research has been to find the best working conditions, 

 to produce the greatest yield of ammonia at the 

 lowest figure. This latter point is very important 

 in times of peace, when other sources of nitrates are 

 available. Only a few days after the publication of 

 the long-delayed " Report of the Nitrogen Products 



Committee," The Times announced that the rights of 

 the new French Georges Claude Synthetic Ammonia 

 Process had been secured for the United Kingdom 

 and the Colonies by the Cumberland Coal, Power, and 

 Chemicals, Ltd., who intend erecting works in the West 

 Cumberland coal-fields as quickly as may be. This 

 new process was developed by M. Georges Claude at 

 the works of the Grande Paroisse, Montereau, near 

 Fontainebleau, and differs from the Habcr process in 

 several very important essentials. The chief of these 

 appears to be a matter of pressure ; whereas the 

 Germans used a comparatively low pressure of from 

 150 to 200 atmospheres, the new process employs 

 as many as 1,000, or 14,000 lb. to the square inch. 

 The advantage gained in increased yield compensates 

 for the increased cost of producing this enormous pres- 

 sure. It is estimated that the first Synthetic Ammonia 

 Plant to be erected will be capable of producing some 

 50,000 tons of ammonium sulphate annually. This 

 process is particularly suitable for this country, where 

 we have no great natural sources of electrical energy, 

 but good supplies of coal, which at any rate are ade- 

 quate for our present needs. At a time such as the 

 present, when so much is being done to revive agri- 

 culture in this country, and when freights are so high, 

 it is a matter of the greatest importance for these 

 islands to be rendered independent of other countries 

 in the matter of fertihsers. The outlook for the future 

 is rather more hopeful if these two great schemes 

 to which I have referred culminate in success. During 

 the war a great deal of the most useful research has 

 been done on this subject, and the recommendations 

 in the report of which mention has already been made 

 seem likely to bear fruit in the near future. The 

 Government erected a huge factory at Billingham-on- 

 Tees, but this had not been used when the Armistice 

 put an end to the war and the immediate need for 

 nitrates for explosive purposes. The factory is now 

 for sale, and there seems no reason why it should not 

 be turned to the use for which it was designed. Should 

 it be found possible to render this country independent 

 of foreign fertilisers, the benefit will be found in another 

 way : agriculture will become far more intensive, 

 imports of foodstuffs will diminish, and our exchange 

 will again tend to be stabilised, a condition which is 

 devoutly to be hoped for in the not distant future. 



Note. — Several illustrated articles have appeared in the 

 IVorld's Work on this subject, and there is a popular article, 

 with some good illustrations, in the January number of Conquest. 

 Any large te.xtbook on Chemistry gives a description of the 

 several methods. The " Report of the Nitrogen Products Com- 

 mittee " just issued discusses the matter very fully in all its 

 bearings. This is a most important report. In vol. vi of A 

 Textbook of Inorganic Chemistry, edited by Newton Friend, 

 and published by Charles Grifhn, will be found a very full 

 description of Nitrogen. This volume is in the press. 



