Nitrate Plant No. 1

Nitrate Plant No. 1. . An Experimental Plant , During World War 1, construction of the first ammonia synthesis plant in the U.S. began on this location in October 1917. With plans acquired by American and British espionage, construction of U.S. Nitrate Plant No. 1 took only a few months (crash-basis, wartime-footing), with hopes to produce explosive materials to help win the war. While this "experimental plant" did not reach full operational capacity before the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, it laid the major scientific, technological, and engineering groundwork for future fertilizer production in the U.S. The plant was permanently closed in January 1919 and eventually sold to and repurposed by Reynolds Aluminum., The Haber Process , The process converts atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia by a reaction with hydrogen using a metal catalyst under high temperatures and pressures. The inventor, Fritz Haber, won a Nobel Prize for proving-up this process and implementing it first in Germany., (captions) , Blue Gas/Syn Gas Unit , Ammonia and Power Units . This historical marker is in Sheffield in Colbert County Alabama