[HN Gopher] New calcium material functions as an ammonia synthes...
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       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.
        
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       (page generated 2023-08-16 23:00 UTC)