The fixation of atmospheric nitrogen by the silent electric discharge process — I

THE very great increase in the demand for nitrates during the war for the manufacture of explosives and fertilizers, together with the shortage of imported Chile saltpeter, which was the principal source of nitrates before the war, has been emphasized sufficiently in previous papers. This condition of increased demand and curtailed supply led not only to the establishment of many manufacturing plants for the production of nitrates by well-known methods, but also to laboratory research and commercial development in connection with promising new processes.