Claude Process

The Claude Process. This process is [sic] worked at numerous factories in France and Belgium. The cost of the hydrogen used in the HABER-BOSCH process accounts for about 75 per cent of the cost of the ammonia produced: in the CLAUDE process the hydrogen is made by the electrolysis of water. Some of this hydrogen is burned in air, leaving nitrogen to be used in the ammonia synthesis and synthetic water suitable for the electrolytic cells. The rest of the plant, which works at 750 atmospheres, will be understood from the diagram. To withstand the enormous pressures the converters are made of special steel, and the catalyst is mounted on a gun breech- block device to allow easy withdrawal for replacement. Many variations of the process are possible; in some the nitrogen is obtained from producer-gas, in others from liquid air.

A Textbook of Theoretical and Inorganic Chemistry, F.A Philbrick, E.J.Holmyard, 1932