Potassium nitrate ( ) or saltpeter is obtained from natural sources such as guano and evaporites or manufactured via the Haber process; it is the oxidant in gunpowder ( black powder ) and an important agricultural fertilizer.
42.
Although the Haber process is mainly used to produce fertilizer today, during World War I it provided Germany with a source of ammonia for the production of explosives, compensating for the Allied trade blockade on Chilean saltpeter.
43.
During World War II, the efforts to industrialize the Haber process benefited greatly from the Bergius process, allowing Nazi Germany access to the synthesized fuel produced by " IG Farben ", thereby decreasing oil imports.
44.
In 1913, barely five years later, a research team from BASF, led by Carl Bosch, developed the first industrial-scale application of the Haber process, sometimes called the " Haber-Bosch " process.
45.
In January 2012, " Radiolab " aired a segment on Haber, including the invention of the Haber Process, the Second Battle of Ypres, his involvement with Zyklon B, and the death of his wife, Clara.
46.
After the World War I, because of the production of artificial nitrates, synthesized first in Germany by the combination of the Haber process and the Ostwald process, the world market for saltpeter, which was Chile s main export, collapsed.
47.
In the early twenty-first century, the effectiveness of the Haber process ( and its analogues ) is such that more than 99 percent of global demand for synthetic ammonia, a demand which exceeds 100 million tons annually, is satisfied thereby.
48.
Before the war, Germany had imported nitrates for propellant manufacture and the war could only be continued because of the discovery of the Haber process to synthesise nitrates from atmospheric nitrogen but developing the Haber process and building factories to exploit it took time.
49.
Before the war, Germany had imported nitrates for propellant manufacture and the war could only be continued because of the discovery of the Haber process to synthesise nitrates from atmospheric nitrogen but developing the Haber process and building factories to exploit it took time.
50.
Due to its dramatic impact on the human ability to grow food, the Haber process served as the " detonator of the population explosion ", enabling the global population to increase from 1.6 billion in 1900 to today's 7 billion.
