Haber processThe Haber process, also called the Haber–Bosch process, is the main industrial procedure for the production of ammonia. It is named after its inventors, the German chemists: Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who developed it in the first decade of the 20th century. The process converts atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) by a reaction with hydrogen (H2) using a metal catalyst under high temperatures and pressures. This reaction is slightly exothermic (i.e.
Cracking (chemistry)In petrochemistry, petroleum geology and organic chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or long-chain hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of carbon-carbon bonds in the precursors. The rate of cracking and the end products are strongly dependent on the temperature and presence of catalysts. Cracking is the breakdown of a large hydrocarbons into smaller, more useful alkanes and alkenes.
Normal form (abstract rewriting)In abstract rewriting, an object is in normal form if it cannot be rewritten any further, i.e. it is irreducible. Depending on the rewriting system, an object may rewrite to several normal forms or none at all. Many properties of rewriting systems relate to normal forms. Stated formally, if (A,→) is an abstract rewriting system, x∈A is in normal form if no y∈A exists such that x→y, i.e. x is an irreducible term. An object a is weakly normalizing if there exists at least one particular sequence of rewrites starting from a that eventually yields a normal form.
Confluence (abstract rewriting)In computer science, confluence is a property of rewriting systems, describing which terms in such a system can be rewritten in more than one way, to yield the same result. This article describes the properties in the most abstract setting of an abstract rewriting system. The usual rules of elementary arithmetic form an abstract rewriting system. For example, the expression (11 + 9) × (2 + 4) can be evaluated starting either at the left or at the right parentheses; however, in both cases the same result is eventually obtained.