Sulphuric Acid Lab Report

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Sulphuric acid/ sulfuric acid is a type of organic acid with wide range of uses. It has the molecular formula of H2SO4 and a molecular weight of 98.079 g/mol. This organic acid has an appearance of a colourless to a light yellowish liquid with an odorless scent.
Contact Process is a process that is commonly used to produce sulphuric acid. To date, there are three types of contact process which are the Single-Contact Process, Double-Contact Process and the Wet Contact Process. It is known that the Double Contact Process is more commonly in used due to its high practicality in manufacturing sulphuric acid. In large plants, the production of sulphuric acid and be up to 1.3 tonne in excess per metric tonne. The contact process can be categorized …show more content…

Chemical equation: . This reaction is exothermic and catalyst is needed to increase the rate of conversion in this reaction. The catalyst used is the vanadium pentoxide. Vanadium pentoxide is manufactured into different types of shape. However it has been found that the most efficient ones would be the daisy-shaped catalyst though the one more commonly in used would be the ring-shaped.With reference to Le Chatelier’s Principle, the increase of temperature in an exothermic reaction will decrease the equilibrium of the conversion. Therefore, it is important for the reaction to take place in low temperature. The recommended temperature range would be from 400℃ to 450℃. According to the chemical equation, 2 mole of sulphur dioxide and 1 mole of oxygen will give us 2 mole of sulphur trioxide. This makes 3 molecules on the left side of the equation whilst 2 molecules on the right side of the equation. In agreement to Le Chatelier’s Principle, the increase of pressure will favor the conversion of sulphur triodixe. However, it is not conventional for manufacturing therefore pressure will be set at 1 atm.
The third step is the absorber step. The sulphur trioxide gas will then be absorbed from the gas mixture formed previously in the reactor step. As much as 98%wt of sulphuric acid is absorbed from the gas mixture. Heat is produced during this reaction. Chemical equation: …show more content…

It is estimated that about 800,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid is produce to meet the market’s demand. This chemical is widely used in the latex industry to coagulate rubber, electronic industry as an etching agent, the palm oil industry as a neutralizing agent, and as a base chemical for many chemical industries. Sulphuric acid is also heavily in used for the manufacturing of fertilizers and in the automotive industry. Blooming agriculture industry in the country and the increasing production of automotive has contributed huge needs for sulphuric acid. The worldwide production of the sulphuric acid stands around 200 million tonnes per annum. In Malaysia, one of the largest manufacturers of sulphuric acid is produced by See Sen Chemical Berhad with an annual capacity of 255,500 metric tonnes. The sulphuric acid plant is located at Kemaman,Terengganu. That being said, with the large amount of acid produced by only just one manufacturer, we can imagine that the demand for sulphuric acid in the country is

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