The Olin Raschig process is a

chemical process In a scientific sense, a chemical process is a method or means of somehow changing one or more chemicals or chemical compounds. Such a chemical process can occur by itself or be caused by an outside force, and involves a chemical reaction of some ...

for the production of hydrazine. The main steps in this process, patented by German chemist Friedrich Raschig in 1906 and one of three reactions named after him, are the formation of

monochloramine Monochloramine, often called chloramine, is the chemical compound with the formula NH2Cl. Together with dichloramine (NHCl2) and nitrogen trichloride (NCl3), it is one of the three chloramines of ammonia. It is a colorless liquid at its melting p ...

from

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...

and hypochlorite, and the subsequent reaction of monochloramine with ammonia towards hydrazine. The process was further optimised and used by the

Olin Corporation Olin Corporation is an American manufacturer of ammunition, chlorine, and sodium hydroxide. The company traces its roots to two companies, both founded in 1892: Franklin W. Olin's Equitable Powder Company and the Mathieson Alkali Works. Olin che ...

for the production of anhydrous hydrazine for aerospace applications. The commercially used Olin Raschig process consists of the following steps: *

sodium hypochlorite Sodium hypochlorite (commonly known in a dilute solution as bleach) is an inorganic chemical compound with the formula NaOCl (or NaClO), comprising a sodium cation () and a hypochlorite anion (or ). It may also be viewed as the sodium s ...

solution is mixed with a threefold excess of ammonia at 5 °C to give monochloramine *the monochloramine solution is added to a 30-fold excess of ammonia at 130 °C and elevated pressure *excess ammonia and the side product sodium chloride are removed *water is removed by

azeotropic distillation In chemistry, azeotropic distillation is any of a range of techniques used to break an azeotrope in distillation. In chemical engineering, ''azeotropic distillation'' usually refers to the specific technique of adding another component to gener ...

with

aniline Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C6 H5 NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an industrially significant commodity chemical, as well as a versatile starti ...

References

Chemical processes {{Reaction-stub