Exp.

4: Effect of Temperature on Ammonia Production

Observations:
Increasing the temperature increased the pressure exerted by the molecules, as indicated by the
increase in the number shown by the Pressure Indicator. As temperature increases and enters the
reaction vessel, thermal energy is converted into kinetic energy, making the molecules move faster,
and increasing the number of collisions. Thus, the rate of reaction also increases. This in turn
increases the pressure. Conversely, decreasing the temperature lowered the pressure as the
molecules moved slower, and less collision were induced. Thus, the rate of reaction decreases.
However, once the reaction reaches equilibrium at higher temperatures, less ammonia is produced
as in the reaction with lower temperatures. This is due to the nature of the equilibrium system of the
reaction. As it is exothermic, an increase in temperature will cause the system to favour the reverse
reaction, decreasing the yield of ammonia. Conversely, a decrease in temperature will cause the
system to favour the forward reaction, increasing the yield of ammonia.
Therefore, a balance between high temperatures, which will increase the rate of reaction, and cooler
temperatures, which will increase the yield of ammonia, has to be reached to maximise production
of ammonia.


Exp. 5: The Best Conditions for Ammonia Production - 1
A high pressure is maintained through the addition of N
2
and H
2
reactants to replace the extracted
ammonia. Increasing the pressure increased the rate of ammonia production, while decreasing the
pressure decreased the rate of ammonia production.

Exp. 6: The Best Conditions for Ammonia Production - 2
High pressure needs to be maintained to make sure the yield of ammonia does not decrease. As the
pressure decreases, two things happen: the rate of reaction of particles decreases, and the system
will favour the reverse reaction. Both these things decrease the yield of ammonia. Generally,
increasing the temperature increased the rate of ammonia production, while decreasing the
temperature decreased the rate of ammonia production. However, once the temperature reaches
580 degrees Celsius, the production of ammonia units per hour remains constant.
This result conflicts with the results in Exp. 4, due to the fact that Exp. 6 is an open system. This
means that the ammonia is already extracted from the reaction vessel before the reverse reaction
can occur as in Exp. 4, due to high temperatures. Therefore, in Exp. 6, the rate of ammonia
production does not decrease as the temperature increases, due to the open system.

Exp. 7: The Conditions for Economic Ammonia Production - 3
We discovered that the most economical way to produce ammonia was to increase pressure and
decrease temperature, as this would produce more ammonia, at a lower cost. Having high
temperatures like 580 degrees Celsius increased the production costs, and lowered the production
of ammonia.