Which catalyst is used in Bosch process?

Bosch process

1. The Bosch process is used on a very large scale for industrial purposes.
2. It is used to produce Hydrogen commercially.
3. The Bosch process mainly involves two-step and they are as follows:

Production of water gas or syngas

1. Water-gas is produced when steam is passed over red hot coke.
2. The process is carried out under a very high-temperature range.
3. The chemical reaction is represented as:
   $$\begin{gathered} \mathrm{C}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)\stackrel{1200°\mathrm{C}}{\to }\underset{(\mathrm{Water}\mathrm{gas})}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+\mathrm{CO}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)} \\ \mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{Hydrogen}\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{monoxide} \end{gathered}$$

Production of Hydrogen by separating the Carbon monoxide from water gas

1. In this step large amount of Hydrogen is produced when an excess amount of steam is passed over water gas.
2. The reaction is carried out under $450°\mathrm{C}$ and catalyst used in the reaction is Chromium oxide and Iron oxide.
3. When we react to water gas in the excess of steam at $450°\mathrm{C}$, we get Carbon dioxide and Hydrogen.
4. The chemical reaction is as follows:
   $$\begin{gathered} \underset{(\mathrm{Water}\mathrm{gas})}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+\mathrm{CO}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)\underset{450°\mathrm{C}}{\overset{{\mathrm{Fe}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3/{\mathrm{Cr}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3}{\to }}{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+2{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right) \\ \mathrm{Hydrogen}\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{Hydrogen} \\ \mathrm{monoxide}\mathrm{dioxide} \end{gathered}$$

Therefore, in the Bosch process, Iron oxide and Chromium oxide are used.