Why must OXYGEN be excluded in the Haber process? What will happen if air goes in?

Question

Why must OXYGEN be excluded in the Haber process? What will happen if air goes in?

Answer 1

The Haber process goes like this:

N2 + 3 H2 ->2 NH3

The temperature is 450 °C and pressure is around 300 bar.

If oxygen goes in then, because of the high process temperature, would react with hydrogen exothermically:

2 H2 + O2 ->2 H2O

No ammonia would be produced and the reactor would get out of control may be it would be totallydamagedd depending on the amount of oxygen coming in.