Lecture III
Sulphuric Acid
Prepared by: Tarik
CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• PRODUCTION
• PROPERTIES
• USES
• MANUFATURING PROCESS
• ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• WASTE MANAGEMENT
• SAFTEY
Definition of Sulphuric acid
• sulphuric acid is a colourless dense oily corrosive liquid
produced by the reaction of sulphur trioxide with water and used
in accumulators and in the manufacture of fertilizers, dyes, and
explosives. Formula: H2SO4
Discovery of Sulphuric acid
Names of Sulphuric acid
• King of compounds
• Oil of vitriol
• Dipping acid
• Battery acid
• Electrolyte acid
• Mattling acid
• Dihydrogen sulphate
World production of sulphuric acid
Properties of sulphuric acid
Soluble
in water
dense diprotic
Properties
of
sulphuric Viscous
Non acid Colour-
volatile less
liquid
Highly Oily
corrosive liquid
Properties
Chemical Properties
• As dehydrating agent
• Sulphuric acid acts as a catalyst in the
following reactions:
• C12 H22O11 + H2SO4 12C + 11H2O
• The dehydrating ability of sulfuric acid
is often utilised in laboratories to dry
gas mixtures that are being prepared or
analysed.
Cont.
Uses of sulphuric acid
MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Processes for manufacturing of sulphuric acid
• There are three industrial processes for manufacturing of sulphuric acid.
• Contact process
• Lead chamber process
• Wet Sulfuric Acid Process (WSA)
The contact process-raw materials
Sources of So2
• Sulfur burning
• Pyrites roasting
• Metal sulfide roasting and smelting
• Metal sulfate roasting
• Combustion of H2S or other sulfur-containing gases
1. Furnace or Burner (Only necessary if raw sulphur is used)
Air is cleaned by electrostatic precipitation, dried then heated
to approx. 600oC.
Pure (liquid) sulphur is sprayed under pressure into the
furnace, reacting with the oxygen in the air. The product is
sulphur dioxide
S(l) + O2(g) SO2(g)
Alternative sources of sulphur dioxide are also used,
either extracted from natural gas (some deposits
contain a lot of hydrogen sulphide) or from the
roasting of sulphide ores in the extraction of metals
like zinc or lead
Treatment of burner gas
• Sulphur dioxide burner gas contains impurities like CO2 , As , F , N2 , Cl2 and dust.
• Also contain moisture which can cause corrosion to equipment.
• To remove all these impurities the burner gas is passed through dust filter chamber ,washing
tower and then drying tower
Dust filter chamber
Washing tower
Drying tower
Step2: catalytic oxidation of sulphur dioxide
Contact chamber
Step 2: The Equilibrium yield
• Using Le Chatelier’s principal, the equilibrium yield of sulfur trioxide will
increase:
• As temperature decrease. Since the reaction is exothermic a decrease in
temperature will favour the forward reaction.
• As pressure increases. Since there are more gas particles on the reactants
the forward reaction will result in a decreased pressure.
• If excess reactants are added.
Step 3: Absorption of sulphur trioxide
• Direct reaction of SO3 with water is very exothermic which results in the
formation of steam. sulphuric acid as gas is very difficult to collect .
• SO3 (g) + H2O(l) H2SO4(l) ∆H= -103kjper mole
• Due to this SO3 is absorbed in H2SO4 to produce oleum
• SO3 (g)+ H2O (l ) H2S 2 O 7(l)
Step 4: Dilution tower
• Oleum is mixed with water to form sulphuric acid
• H2S 2 O 7(l) + H2O 2 H2SO4(l)
Block diagram
•
Advantage and Disadvantages
Contact Process
• ADVANTAGES
• Larger amount of sulphuric acid is manufactured
• High concentration of sulphuric acid is obtained as compared to all other
processes
• Widely used
• DISADVANTAGES
• The biggest problem is that the catalyst can be poisoned if the sulfur
dioxide is not fairly pure. Also it could be faster.
Advantage and Disadvantages
Wet sulphuric avid process
• Advantages
• There are little or no waste by-products produced by this process. It is also
the most economic way to get rid of sulfurous waste gases.
• Disadvantages
• This process produces an acid with low concentration instead of the high
concentrations that the Contact Process yields.
Advantage and Disadvantages
Lead Chamber process
• Advantages
• The original acid to be used can be obtained at any concentration.
• Disadvantages
• The acid in the chamber is between 62% and 68% sulfuric acid.
• This process is not used as widely as the Contact Process is today mainly because this process
produces a more dilute acid than the Contact Process which yields pure sulfuric acid. The
Contact Process also produces a much larger amount of sulfuric acid than the Lead Chamber
Process.
