Sulphuric Acid is a strong acid and used for several chemical industries as well.
Uses of sulphuric acid
- manufacture of detergents
- manufacture of fertilisers
- as a battery acid
Manufacture of sulfuric acid from Contact Process
Raw materials used:
- Sulfur
- Air
- Water
The process of producing Sulfuric acid is as follows
1. Burning Sulfur in air
S(s) +O2 (g) -> SO2 (g)
2. Reacting Sulfur dioxide with air
This is a reversible reaction
2SO2 (g) + O2 (g) ⇌ 2SO3 (g)
Conditions used and Explanation:
- Temperature 450 °C
- Pressure 2 atm
- Vanadium (V) Oxide as the Catalyst
Temperature:
The forward reaction is exothermic in this reaction. In order to achieve a high yield of Sulfur trioxide, using lower temperatures is likely. Under lower temperatures the forward reaction will be favored but the kinetic energy of the particles will be less to achieve a high rate. A moderate temperature is used.
Pressure:
High pressures results in favoring the forward reaction producing less number of moles. According to the equilibrium forward reaction is favored even at the room temperature. A very high pressure is not economically advantageous. Therefore a small increase in the pressure is used for the process.
Catalyst:
Catalyst reduces the activation energy for the reaction to occur.
3. Sulphur troxide is absorbed to concentrated sulfuric acid
Sulfur trioxide when dissolved in water produces sulfuric acid. This reaction is exothermic and produces a huge amount of heat enough to evaporate sulfuric acid. Therefore it is first absorbed to sulfuric acid producing the product H2S2O7
4. Dissolve in water
Produced H2S2O7 is dissolved in water to produce sulfuric acid as the final step.
Sulfur dioxide used in this process has many uses
1. as a bleach.
2. in the manufacture of wood pulp for paper.
3. as a food preservative (by killing bacteria).
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catalyst
Conditions used
Explanation
GCSE Chemistry
Manufacture
process
Raw materials
Sulfur dioxide
sulphuric acid
Uses
