Method for Synthesizing Ammonia, and Apparatus for Said Method

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for synthesizing ammonia and an apparatus for the method. The method for synthesizing ammonia according to the present invention comprises: a step of melting a metal containing at least an alkali metal; and a step of supplying a hydrogen gas and a nitrogen gas to the molten metal.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . An apparatus for synthesizing ammonia, comprising:
 a vessel containing a metal comprising sodium;   a heating means for heating the vessel to melt the metal kept in the vessel; and   a gas supplying means for supplying a hydrogen gas and a nitrogen gas to the heated and molten metal.   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus according to  claim 21 , further comprising a stirring means for stirring the molten metal. 
     
     
         23 . apparatus according to  claim 21 , further comprising a bubbling means for making the hydrogen gas and the nitrogen gas into bubbles. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the vessel is housed in a high-pressure equipment that controls a pressure in the vessel. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the vessel is made of boron nitride. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the heating means is selected from the group consisting of resistance heating, heating, radio-frequency heating, and combustion heating. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus according to  claim 21 , comprising one or more recovery tanks for collecting ammonia. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus according to  claim 27 , wherein one of the one or more recovery tanks is a recovery tank for recovering an evaporated alkali metal and/or a reaction product of the alkali metal and the hydrogen gas. 
     
     
         29 . The apparatus according to  claim 21 , wherein the vessel comprises (i) an inorganic material, or (ii) iron, titanium, chromium, or a metal thereof, the inorganic material being a material selected from the group consisting of boron nitride (BN), alumina (Al 2 O 3 ), calcia (CaO), and yttria (Y 2 O 3 ). 
     
     
         30 . The apparatus according to  claim 22 , wherein the stirring means is a means selected from the group of a rotary shaker, a stirring blade, and a stirring rod. 
     
     
         31 . The apparatus according to  claim 23 , wherein the bubbling means is a bubbler. 
     
     
         32 . The apparatus according to  claim 23 , wherein the bubbles are fine bubbles having an order from nanometers to micrometers. 
     
     
         33 . An apparatus for synthesizing ammonia, comprising:
 a vessel for keeping a metal containing an alkali metal;   a heating means for heating the vessel to melt the metal kept in the vessel; and   a gas supplying means for supplying a hydrogen gas and a nitrogen gas to the heated and molten metal.   
     
     
         34 . The apparatus according to  claim 33 , wherein the alkali metal is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium.