CONTENTS: A) Sulphuric Acid B) Ammonia and Its Salts C) Alloys D) Synthetic Polymers E) Glass and Ceramics F) Composite Materials

Sulphuric Acid

Sulphuric acid (H SO)

Uses of sulphuric acid

1) Manufacture of detergents 2) Production of fertiliser 3) Manufacture of artifical fibres 4) Manufacture of paint 5) Leather tanning 6) As electrolyte in car batteries 7) Remove sulphur compounds in crude oil 8) Produce other chemicals 9) Remove oxides from the surface of metals

Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid Sulphuric acid (H SO ) was discovered in the ninth century by an Islamic physician and alchemist, Ibn Zakaria Al-Razi. Sulphuric acid does not occur naturally. It has to be manufactured. More sulphuric acid is produced eachyear as compared to any other chemicals. Sulphuric acid is manufactured in industry through Contact Prosess. The raw materials used are sulphur, air and water. This prosess consists of three stages.

STAGE 1 In the furnace, molten sulphur is burnt in dry air to produce sulphur dioxide, SO . The gas produced is purified and cooled.

STAGE 2 In the converter, sulphur dioxide, SO and excess oxygen gas, O are passed over a few plates of vanaidium (V) oxide, V O catalyst at 450 to produced sulphur trioxide, SO .

About 99.5% of the sulphur dioxide , SO is converted into sulphur trioxide, SO through this reversible reaction. STAGE 3

In the absorber, the sulphur trioxide, SO is first reacted with concentrated sulphuric acid, H SO to form a product called oleum, H S O .

The oleum, H S O is then diluted with to produced concentrated sulphuric acid, H SO in large quantities.

The two reactions I the third stage are eguivalent to adding sulphur sulphur trioxide, SO directly to water.

However, this is not done in industry because sulphur trioxide, SO reacts too violently with water. This produces a lot of heat and a large cloud of sulphuric acid and is difficult to condense.

Sulphur Dioxide and Environmental Pollution

Sulphur dioxide, SO is one of the by-products of the Contact Process. It can cause environmental pollution. Fossil fuels produce sulphur dioxide, SO that causes acid rain. Until today, scientists are still searching for the alternative energy to replace fossil fuels . Sulphur dioxide, SO can cause acid rain. Natural rainwater has a pH of about 5.4. Acid rain uccurs when pH of the rain is between 2.4 and 5.0 This is due to the reaction of sulphur dioxide, SO with rainwater.