Nitrogen: Chlorine Passed into Strong Ammonia in Excess

Nitrogen from ammonia and chlorine, as Thorpe's Dictionary (1912) gives it: chlorine passed through strong ammonia gives nitrogen and ammonium chloride. 8NH3 + 3Cl2 = 6NH4Cl + N2. The ammonia must stay in excess, or explosive nitrogen chloride can form; the gas is washed through sulphuric acid to take out ammonia. Nitrogen made this way always holds some oxygen. Chlorine is a poison gas: fume hood, respirator, face shield. The picture: our diagram.