Chapter 12 Sulphur
Chapter 12 Sulphur
Chapter 12 Sulphur
Sources of Sulphur:
Sulphur is found in many places in the world in different forms. It usually
exists in volcanic regions in USA, Mexico and Sicily. Sulphur could also be
obtained from some metal ores like Copper pyrites (CuFeS 2) and Blende
(ZnS).
Properties of Sulphur:
In room temperature, sulphur is a yellow, brittle solid which doesn’t
conduct electricity as it is a non-metal. Sulphur is insoluble in water. It is
able to react with both metals and non-metals.
Sulphur Dioxide:
Sulphur dioxide is the product of combustion of sulphur or sulphur-
containing fuels. As you have studied in the previous chapter, it is an air
pollutant as it causes acid rain. However, SO2 has important uses too:
Bleaching wood pulp for the manufacturing of paper
It is used as a food preservative as it kills bacteria
Manufacturing of Sulphuric acid
1
Page
Kareem Mokhtar ©
Contact Process (Manufacturing of Sulphuric Acid):
Sulphuric acid is one of the most important chemicals in the industry
since it has a role in the manufacturing of almost every product.
Sulphuric acid is manufactured by a process called Contact Process and it
involves several steps:
The product of the previous step is them cleaned of any dirt or dust.
Then sulphur dioxide is burned in more air producing sulphur
trioxide. This is a reversible reaction and it has to be done in the
following conditions:
1. Catalyst: Vanadium (V) Oxide (V2O5)
2. Temperature: 450oC
3. Pressure: 2 atm
2SO2 + O2 2SO3
Kareem Mokhtar ©
The amount of sulphuric acid produced in this reaction is twice the
amount of concentrated sulphuric acid used in the 3 rd stage.
Long ago, they did the same approach but when they reached the third
stage they reacted sulphur trioxide with water instead of sulphuric acid.
This gave sulphuric acid directly, but the reaction was very violent and
produces a harmful acidic mist which hard to deal with. This is why the
other approach is preferred.
Kareem Mokhtar ©