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Haber-Bosch process

Haber-Bosch process

5.3
A process that makes ammonia by combining nitrogen and hydrogen gases at high temperature and pressure with an iron catalyst
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : proceso Haber-Bosch
  • The Haber-Bosch process revolutionized agriculture by enabling the mass production of ammonia for fertilizers.

Examples

  • Slowly shut down all the factories that employ the Haber-Bosch process to fix nitrogen for artificial fertilizers, and the problem will take care of itself.

    Blog text (18)
  • The Haber-Bosch process

    Blog text (11)
  • One process that is an important industrial process is the Haber Bosch process, where you take nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas and make ammonia.

  • The Haber-Bosch process, a way of producing massive amounts of fertilizer by artificially synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen, increased crop yields.

    Blog text (6)
  • The price of fertilizer thus reflects the interplay of energy costs (associated with P mining and processing and with nitrogen fixation through the Haber-Bosch process) and global supply and demand for mineral P.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Thus, in 1919, three German scientists were awarded prizes, among them Fritz Haber, the inventor of gas warfare, receiving the chemistry prize for his discovery of the Haber-Bosch process of ammonia synthesis.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Farmers today rely on the Haber-Bosch process to produce nitrogen fertilizers essential for crop growth.

  • Using the Haber-Bosch process, industries create ammonia by combining hydrogen and nitrogen gases under specific conditions.

Synonyms

Haber process
vsHaber-Bosch process
  • Specialized
5.5

A factory method for making ammonia by reacting nitrogen and hydrogen gases under high pressure and heat with iron

uses the fuller two-name historic form rather than the shorter name

Surface Forms

Morphology

Haber-Bosch + process

This is an eponymic technical term: 'Haber-Bosch' is a proper name (the scientists) and carries no lexical information about ammonia synthesis, while 'process' only indicates a procedure. A B1 learner who knows the words ‘Haber’, ‘Bosch’ (as names) and ‘process’ would not be able to derive the specific meaning (industrial ammonia production under high pressure), so the expression is opaque.

Etymology

Haber-Bosch process is named after two scientists, Haber and Bosch, who built large factory machines to pull nitrogen from the air and mix it with hydrogen to make ammonia. That's why the name now means 'a way to make ammonia' on a large scale, the method used to produce many fertilizers.