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Acids and Alkalis

Manufacture of Sulfuric Acid  -  The Contact Process.

Sulfuric acid is made using the contact process.

Sulfuric acid has many uses in industry.
The amount of sulfuric acid which a country uses in one year
can be a measure of that country's economic development
(how modern or wealthy it is).


Raw Materials
to Make Sulfuric acid.

The raw materials (the things you need) are sulfur, air and water.
Sulfur is available from fossil fuels and sulfide ores.

When sulfur in fossil fuels is burned it produces sulfur dioxide gas.

This is the balanced chemical equation for the reaction of
sulfur with oxygen.

sulfur  oxygen   arrow   sulfur dioxide.
S(s)  +     O2(g)    arrow           SO2(g)


Sulfide ores
are heated in air
to produce the metal oxide and sulfur dioxide gas, for example

lead sulfide      +      oxygen   arrow   lead oxide + sulfur dioxide
2PbS(s)          +        3O2(g)  arrow      
2PbO(s)     +     2SO2(g)

The metal is then extracted from the metal oxide.

Sulfur is oxidised in these reactions to become sulfur dioxide.
Both of the above reactions are exothermic.
The sulfur dioxide gas produced from both of the above methods
is used to make sulfur trioxide.


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