New Technology

The first step in the chemical process - the electric arc furnace - made it possible, by means of electricity and magnetic waves, to achieve the high temperature required for the decomposition of atmospheric nitrogen. This method of production, known as the Birkeland-Eyde process, was in use for the first 25 years.
The first industrial scale production took place in Notodden in 1905, and contributed to a substantial increase in food production. Later, at the beginning of the 1930s, new factories were established at Notodden and Rjukan based on the Haber-Bosch process.