On the large scale, ammonia is prepared by direct combination of dinitrogen and dihydrogen by Haber process.
In this process, dinitrogen reacts with dihydrogen under high pressure of 200 × 105 Pa (200 atm) and temperature around 700 K to produce ammonia. N2(g) + 2H2(g) ⇌ 2NH3(g) ; Δf H° = -46.1 kJ mol-1
Iron oxide with trace amounts of K2O and Al2O3 is used as catalyst in Haber process.
High pressure favours the formation of ammonia as equilibrium is attained rapidly under these conditions.