Patent ID: 7413721

Claim:
A method for forming ammonia, comprising: forming a plasma from a gas, and wherein the gas is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen; air and hydrogen; nitrogen and hydrogen; nitrogen and argon; helium and nitrogen; and methane and nitrogen; providing a source of metal particles, and supplying the metal particles to the plasma to form metal nitride particles; providing a source of water in liquid and/or vapor form, and reacting the metal nitride particles with the source of water; elevating the temperature of the water so as to increase a speed of chemical reaction of the metal nitride particles with the source of water to produce, at least in part, ammonia and a metal hydroxide; separating the ammonia from the metal hydroxide; reducing the metal hydroxide so as to substantially recover the metal particles; and supplying the recovered metal particles back to the plasma to generate more metal nitride particles.