Germany's Supplies of Nitric Acid

Abstract

AN article in the Times of January 6 deals with the resources in Germany for producing nitric acid. Formerly, the major part of the world's supply of nitrates came from the caliche beds on the west of the Andes, but of recent years, as is well known, nitric acid and nitrates have been manufactured by the electric process of Birkeland and Eyde in various parts of Norway. Franck and Caro, some years ago, introduced a process whereby ammonia can be produced from calcium carbide, after conversion into calcium cyanamide. The Ostwald-Kaiser process of partially oxidising ammonia by passing it along with air over platinum or other contact substances, afforded a practical means of producing cheap nitric acid. Then the discovery of Haber and Le Rossignol, that nitrogen and hydrogen could be combined in presence of contact agents under high pressure, and at moderate temperatures, made it possible to synthesise ammonia more cheaply than it could be obtained by recovery from gasworks liquors.