[HN Gopher] New calcium material functions as an ammonia synthes... ___________________________________________________________________ New calcium material functions as an ammonia synthesis catalyst Author : PaulHoule Score : 35 points Date : 2023-08-15 03:46 UTC (1 days ago) (HTM) web link (phys.org) (TXT) w3m dump (phys.org) | billyjmc wrote: | [dead] | actionfromafar wrote: | Electrical production of fertilizer, here we go? | [deleted] | achr2 wrote: | Isn't calcium production one of the major contributors to | atmospheric CO2 - something like 8% globally due to cement? Would | this process be a net benefit or just move the footprint further | back in the chain? | ajb wrote: | Possibly, but catalysts are usually not required in anything | like the same quantity that the process feedstocks are - they | are only replaced due to attrition and wear, because the point | of a catalyst is that it's not consumed in the desired chemical | reaction | sacred_numbers wrote: | The reason cement is a major contributor to CO2 emissions is | because of how much cement we produce. I don't know the | lifetime or effectiveness of this catalyst, but typically you | only need a tiny amount of catalyst to start a reaction and the | catalyst material can be used over and over for a long time. | gibolt wrote: | We produce a lot of it, *and* it has high CO2 emissions. The | chemical reaction that gives concrete strength releases CO2. | stonogo wrote: | This article doesn't clarify why the authors are so surprised | about calcium catalyzing this reaction. The Frank-Caro process is | based on calcium carbide and is over a hundred years old. Anyone | have any insights here? | alan-crowe wrote: | Reading the Wikipedia page, the Frank-Caro process is a | straight forward chemical reaction. Shovel calcium carbide into | your reactor. After the reaction is done, shovel calcium | cyanamide out of the reactor and on to your farm land to | fertilize it. The calcium is "consumed" in the process, in | direct proportion to the amount of fertilizer that the reaction | creates. | | The article talks about Ca3CrN3H as a catalyst, giving the | impression that the three nitrogen atoms in the compound stay | put; it is different nitrogen atoms that get pumped into the | reactor and leave as ammonia to be spread as fertilizer. The | calcium remains in place, merely making the reaction go faster. | | Catalysis is always a bit mysterious because the catalyst is | unchanged by the reaction as though it wasn't involved at all. | I don't think that there is any expectation that one can | discover catalysts by taking reactants as a hint. Indeed, the | classic platinum catalyst in a catalytic converter uses | platinum, a very unreactive metal. | londons_explore wrote: | > Although the activity of the catalyst for ammonia synthesis is | relatively low, | | aka, not useful commercially. Better luck next time. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-08-16 23:00 UTC)