Water-gas shift reaction
Reacción de desplazamiento del gas de agua
- Date
- 1780 · confidence high
- Place
- Florence, Italy
- Credited to
- Felice Fontana
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
A chemical reaction converting carbon monoxide and water vapor into carbon dioxide and hydrogen (CO + H2O ⇌ CO2 + H2), discovered by Felice Fontana in 1780 and later key to producing industrial hydrogen.
What it led to
- a classic source of industrial hydrogen before the Haber-Bosch process
- combination with coal gasification to produce cheap hydrogen
- a key step in modern hydrogen production
- a precursor step to catalytic ammonia synthesis (Haber)