arrow).The forward reaction (from left to right) is exothermic.
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Manufacture of Sulfuric Acid - The Contact Process.
The Reaction of Oxygen with Sulfur Dioxide to make Sulfur Trioxide.
Sulfur dioxide is made by reacting
sulfur with oxygen.
Sulfur dioxide can be made to react with more
oxygen
to make sulfur trioxide.
This is another example of oxidation.
The reaction is reversible (shown by the
arrow).
The forward reaction (from left to
right) is exothermic.
This is the balanced
chemical
equation for the reaction of
sulfur dioxide with oxygen.
sulfur
dioxide + oxygen sulfur
trioxide.
2SO2(g)
+ O2(g)
2SO3(g)
The
industrial conditions for the chemical
reaction are
1) The Temperature is 450 °C.
2) The Pressure
is between 1 and 2
atmospheres.
3) A Vanadium(V) oxide
(V2O5) catalyst is used.
About
99% of the sulfur dioxide
is converted into sulfur
trioxide under these conditions.
The sulfur
trioxide is used to make sulfuric acid.
The effect on the rate of the
reaction and
the yield
which you get from a reversible reaction
depends on the conditions (temperature, pressure and catalyst).
These have been summarized for the
Haber
Process.
1. Increasing the temperature favours the endothermic reaction.
2. Increasing the pressure favours the smaller volume.
3. Using a catalyst gives the equilibrium conditions more quickly.
Links
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Revision Questions
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