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Manufacture of Sulfuric Acid - The Contact Process.
Sulfur dioxide can
react with oxygen to produce sulfur
trioxide.
This is another example of oxidation.
This reaction is reversible (shown by the
arrow).
The forward reaction (from left to
right) is exothermic.
sulfur
dioxide + oxygen
sulfur
trioxide.
2SO2(g)
+ O2(g)
2SO3(g)
The
industrial conditions are
1) Temperature
450 °C.
2) Pressure
between 1 and 2
atmospheres.
3) Use a Vanadium(V) oxide
(V2O5) catalyst.
About
99% of the sulphur dioxide
is converted into sulfur
trioxide under these conditions.
The sulfur
trioxide is used to make sulfuric acid.
The effect on the rate of
reaction and the yield
which you get from a reversible reaction
depends on the conditions (use of
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.
Headings
Sulfuric Acid Search
Questions
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Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.