Question

The following table is related to an industrial process of an acid.

Name of the process	Reactant	Catalyst	Final product
(a)	SO2 + O2	(b)	(c)

Identify (a), (b) and (c).

Answer 1

Name of the process	Reactant	Catalyst	Final product
(a) Contact process	SO2 + O2	(b) Vanadium oxide	(c) Sulphuric acid

The contact process is an industrial method used to produce sulphuric acid through a sequence of reactions.

1. Combustion of Sulphur: \[\ce{S + O2(g) -> SO2(g)}\]

2. Formation of SO₃: \[\ce{SO2 + O2 ->[V2O5][\underset{2-3 atm}{450°C} ] SO3(g)}\]

3. Formation of Oleum: \[\ce{SO2 + H2SO4 -> \underset{Oleum}{H2S2O7}}\]

Formation of Sulphuric acid

\[\ce{H2S2O7 + H2O -> 2H2SO4}\]