The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 313

Chapter 313: Chapter 275: Synthetic Ammonia_2

Haber first conducted a series of experiments to explore the optimal physicochemical conditions for ammonia synthesis.

In the experiments, some of the data he obtained were different from Nestor’s; he did not blindly follow authority but relied on experiments to test, and finally confirmed that Nestor’s calculations were incorrect.

With the assistance of Lorenzo, a British student, Haber successfully designed a set of equipment suitable for high-pressure experiments and a process for synthesizing ammonia, which involves: blowing steam over hot coke to obtain a nearly equal volume mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas.

The carbon monoxide in the mixture further reacts with steam under the action of a catalyst, producing carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas. Then, the mixed gas is dissolved in water under a certain pressure, and carbon dioxide is absorbed to produce relatively pure hydrogen gas.

Similarly, steam is mixed with an appropriate amount of air and passed through red-hot coke; oxygen in the air reacts with carbon to produce carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide and is absorbed and removed, thus obtaining the required nitrogen gas.

The mixture of nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas is synthesized into ammonia under high temperature and pressure conditions and the action of a catalyst.

But what are the optimal high temperature and pressure conditions? And which catalyst is the best? This still requires a lot of effort to explore.

With perseverance and through continuous experiments and calculations, Haber finally achieved inspiring results in 1909.

This means that at 600℃ high temperature, 200 atmospheric pressure, and osmium as a catalyst, a yield of about 8% ammonia can be obtained. An 8% conversion rate is not high, which will certainly affect the economic benefits of production.

Haber knew that the synthesis of ammonia could not reach as high a conversion rate as sulfuric acid production, where the oxidation reaction of sulfur dioxide has almost a 100% conversion rate. What to do? Haber believed that if the reaction gas could be processed in a closed loop under high pressure and the ammonia produced could be continuously separated from the loop, the process would be feasible. He successfully designed the closed-loop process for the feed gas. This is the Haber process for synthesizing ammonia.

After the birth of the ammonia synthesis technology, Haber’s name became famous throughout the European chemical community.

After successfully obtaining the patent for the Haber process of ammonia synthesis, Haber also received the news that he had won the Victoria Chemistry Award that year.

In order to bring his process out of the laboratory and formally start industrial production, Haber made a decisive decision to accept Arthur’s invitation and take up a position at the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemical Research Association.

Of course, what really attracted Haber, in addition to the various conditions of the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemical Research Association, was Arthur’s additional promise that as long as Haber was willing to give his process to Australasia, Australasia would do its best to quickly industrialize Haber’s process, build an ammonia synthesis plant within five years, and officially start production.

At that time, the benefits would be shared with Haber, and he was invited to serve as the Executive Vice President of the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemical Research Association.

Arthur’s confidence in being able to build a full-scale ammonia synthesis plant stemmed from the fact that, in the original history, Haber’s ammonia synthesis concept was officially realized in 1913, and a 30-ton-per-day ammonia synthesis plant was built and put into operation at that time.

It would take only about three years to build the plant, and historically, Haber had only given the technology to Germany’s largest chemical company.

Arthur didn’t believe that, with the full support of the nation, he could lag far behind a chemical company.

The day after Haber’s arrival, Arthur announced Haber’s appointment as deputy chairman of the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemical Research Association and, in the presence of Haber and Butler Kent, announced that the Royal Financial Group would invest one million Australian dollars in the construction of an ammonia synthesis plant using the Haber process.

Haber contributed his ammonia synthesis technology, holding forty percent of the shares, while Arthur’s royal financial group invested 1 million Australian dollars, holding sixty percent of the shares.

The ammonia synthesis plant would be located in the Leonora Industrial Base, and the construction of the plant itself would not be difficult; however, the specific equipment and methods for industrial production of ammonia synthesis still needed further research by Haber and other members of the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemical Research Association.

Arthur made a promise in this regard: as long as the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemical Research Association could solve the ammonia production problem, the royal family would give the Association one million Australian dollars for research funding and an additional twenty thousand Australian dollars for each member.

One million Australian dollars in research funding, divided among the 20-plus experts of the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemical Research Association, would amount to tens of thousands of Australian dollars per person.

And as long as the group could solve the ammonia production technology issue, each member would receive an additional twenty thousand Australian dollars in rewards, which is equivalent to four years of their salary, and no one would refuse.

It is important to know that the salaries of members of the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemistry Research Association are definitely not low and are generally at a medium-to-high level in Europe.

Moreover, Arthur is generous. As long as there are significant research results, there will be rewards. Therefore, the actual income of these members is even higher than that of most experts in Europe. Also, they have free access to laboratories and an annual fixed amount of research funding. This is why experts are willing to change their nationality to come to Australasia.

After entrusting the challenge of industrializing synthetic ammonia to the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemistry Research Association and letting Haber pay attention to the construction of the synthetic ammonia factories, Arthur finally set his mind at ease.

In fact, besides synthetic ammonia, Australasia currently also attaches great importance to the chemical industry.

Several chemical factories that have newly settled in the Leonora Industrial Base have mainly enjoyed the strong support of Australasia for the chemical industry.

In addition to the extra tax concessions, the royal financial group and government provided double loans to these chemical industries to ensure that they have sufficient funds for development.

At present, the tax paid by general industries is about eleven percent, while that of the chemical industry is only eight percent.

And these chemical factories can occasionally get free help from members of the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemistry Research Association. Of course, if they have sufficient funds, they can directly hire these members as consultants.

Besides these, the Australasian government has also provided greater support for the chemical engineering majors in various universities.

Not only has the number of students admitted to the chemical engineering majors increased, but there has also been more reduction in tuition and miscellaneous fees for students enrolling in chemical engineering majors. There are also more scholarships and benefits to cultivate more talent for the chemical industry.

Currently, the strongest in the chemical industry should be Australasia National University and Oakland University.

The chemical engineering major of Australasia National University currently enrolls up to 400 students per year, while that of Oakland University enrolls 200 students per year.

In addition to the chemical engineering majors in other universities, regardless of their size, the chemical industry of Australasia can train at least 700 university students per year, which can make up for the shortage of talent in the chemical industry.

Of course, as for top chemical talents, Australasia currently has no way to cultivate them by itself and can only rely on hiring them from Europe and the United States.

Most of the time, however, they hire from Europe. After all, education in Europe is already very popular, and various talents are also very abundant, making it somewhat easier to win them over.

In countries like the United States, although the economy is very developed, education is not as widespread as in Europe.

Even the reason for the rise of the United States in later generations is due to the attraction of a large number of European talents during World War I and World War II.

To draw talents from the United States now, first, these talents are highly valued by the American government, and second, their talent may not necessarily be comparable to Europeans.

With the current good relationship between Australasia and Germany, it is relatively easy for Australasia to invite some chemical experts from Germany.

So far, Australasia has hired more than forty well-known experts from Europe, most of whom are outstanding talents who have basically joined the Royal Australasian Physical and Chemistry Research Association.

The remaining talents with a little fame have also entered the chemical engineering majors of various universities under Arthur’s arrangement, cultivating more middle-level talents in the chemical industry in Australasia.

Although the chemical industry has both advantages and disadvantages for human society, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages and are very important for a country’s development.

Under various measures taken by Australasia to develop the chemical industry, various chemical factories have sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain, and talents in the chemical industry have gradually been accumulated.