Industrial manufacture of ammonia by Haber process → is catalysed by finely divided iron → allowing good yields at lower pressure.
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in petroleum refining → large hydrocarbon molecules in crude oil → need to be broken down into smaller molecules.
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this is so they can be used as fuels + also as raw materials for the production of plastics
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the breaking of chemical bonds proceeds very slowly even with high heat and pressure.
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by using catalysts → less extreme physical conditions are required. this saves energy and also makes the refinery safer to operate.
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similarly → production of plastics benefit from use of catalysts.
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this is bc formation of long chain of polymers → would proceed very slowly without use of catalysts
- There is answer technique example outside.
Example
- Ethane () and hydrogen react to give ethane ().
- this reaction occurs extremely slowly → even at high temp. and pressure → but when nickel is added as a catalyst → the reaction occurs readily at 200 degrees
- the speed of the above reaction increases in the presence of nickel → as nickel provides an alternative pathway with lower activation energy for the reaction to proceed.
