Frank–Caro process

Frank–Caro process Cyanamide process
Process type	Chemical
Product(s)	calcium cyanamide
Leading companies	North Western Cyanamide Company
Main facilities	Odda, Norway
Year of invention	1895–1899
Developer(s)	Adolph Frank Nikodem Caro

’’Use Nitrolim’’, ad for the fertilizer produced at the cyanamide factory in Odda, Norway

The Frank–Caro process, also called cyanamide process, is the nitrogen fixation reaction of calcium carbide and nitrogen gas in an electric furnace heated at about 1,000°C. The synthesis produces calcium cyanamide (CaCN₂) and carbon.

CaC₂ + N₂ = CaCN₂ + C

History

Adolph Frank

The Frank–Caro process was the first commercial process that was used worldwide to fix atmospheric nitrogen. The product was used as fertilizer and commercially known as Nitrolim or Kalkstickstoff in German.

The method was developed by the German chemists Adolph Frank and Nikodem Caro between 1895–1899. The world market for inorganic fertilizer was the first decades dominated by factories utilizing the cyanamid process.

Production facilities

The first full-scale factories was established in 1905 in Piano d´Orta (Italy) and Westeregeln (Germany). From 1908 the Frank–Caro process was used at North Western Cyanamide Company in Odda, Norway. With an annual production capacity of 12,000 ton from 1909, the factory in Odda was by far the largest in the world. At this time, first phase factories was established in Briançon (France), Martigny (Switzerland), Bromberg (Prussia/Poland) andg Knapsack (Germany). Today the cyanamide factory in Odda is still intact and put on the Norwegian tentative list to the UNESCO World Heritage List. ^[1]

Haber process

In the 1920s the more energy efficient Haber process gradually took over. In 1945 the production of calcium cyanamide reached a peak of an estimated 1.5 million tons a year. ^[2]

Patent

• German patent nr. DE 88363 (1895)

See also

• Linde process
• Odda process
• Birkeland–Eyde process
• Haber–Bosch process
• Linde–Frank–Caro process, a method to produce hydrogen from water gas

References

1. ^ "Rjukan/Notodden and Odda/Tyssedal Industrial Heritage Sites, Hydro Electrical Powered Heavy Industries with associated Urban Settlements (Company Towns) and Transportation System". UNESCO. http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5472/. Retrieved 2010-06-29. 
2. ^ "Chemical Landmarks Discovery of the Commercial Processes for Making Calcium Carbide and Acetylene". National Historic Chemical Landmarks. http://acswebcontent.acs.org/landmarks/landmarks/cal/cal_abundant.html. Retrieved 2010-11-04. 

External links

• Chemical Landmarks
• Guide to the Papers of Adolf Frank (1834–1916)
• Calsium cyanamid
• Nitrogen fixation article