Non Metals And Their Compounds  

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Non Metals And Their

Compounds
Chemistry Form 4

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General Chemical Properties of Non Metals

Chlorine

Hydrogen Chloride

Sulphur

Sulphur Dioxide

Sulphuric Acid 

The Contact Process for the Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid

Describe the contact process for the manufacture of sulphuric acid

Sulphuric acid is an important laboratory and industrial reagent. It is produced in large

scale through the Contact Process. The process involves four major stages. These are:

1. production of sulphur dioxide; Ask

Ticha
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2. purification of sulphur dioxide;

3. catalytic conversion of sulphur dioxide (SO2) to sulphur trioxide (SO3); and

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 4. conversion of sulphur trioxide to sulphuric acid.
Non Metals And Their Compounds 
Chemistry Form 4
1. Production of sulphur dioxide
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The sulphur dioxide used in the Contact Process can be obtained from different
sources. These include:

(a) Burning sulphur in air:

This is the most convenient method of producing sulphur dioxide.

(b) Burning sulphide ores such as iron pyrite (FeS2) and zinc blend (ZnS):

Sulphur dioxide gas is produced as a by-product.

2. Purification of sulphur dioxide

The sulphur dioxide produced in the first stage is mixed with air, ready for passing it
over the catalyst. Before contact with the catalyst is allowed, the gas mixture has to
be purified to remove impurities. This is achieved by passing the mixture through an
electrostatic precipitator to remove any dust. It is then washed with water to remove
impurities such as traces of arsenic (III) oxide (As2O3). The gas mixture is then
passed through concentrated sulphuric acid to remove all moisture. The three
impurities (As2O3, dust and moisture), if not removed, will poison the catalyst thereby
rendering it useless.

3. Catalytic conversion of sulphur dioxide to sulphur

trioxide
The purified and dried mixture of sulphur dioxide and air is passed through a heat Ask
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exchanger to acquire the necessary heat for the conversion to sulphur trioxide. The
Kidevu
mixture is then taken to the conversion chamber, which contains a catalyst. The

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 catalyst used is finely divided vanadium (V) oxide (vanadium pentoxide, V2O5) which
Non Metals And Their Compounds 
Chemistry Form 4 is heated to 450°C.
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Originally, platinized asbestos was used as a catalyst. But, compared to vanadium
(V) oxide, platinum is very expensive and easily poisoned by impurities. So it has
been replaced by vanadium (V) oxide as the usual catalyst used in the Contact
Process.

Sulphur dioxide remains in contact with the catalyst during the conversion process,
hence the name Contact Process. The reaction that takes place during the
conversion is:

The conversion takes place at a temperature of 450°C and normal atmospheric

pressure (1 atm).

The reaction is exothermic, which means that, as sulphur trioxide is formed, heat
energy is released. If the temperature rises above 450°C the yield of sulphur trioxide
decreases.

Once the reaction has started, no external heating is required. Thus, the heat
exchanger maintains the temperature at 450°C. According to Le Chatelier’s principle,
a lower temperature should be used to shift the equilibrium to the right, hence
increasing the percentage yield. However, too low temperature will lower the
formation rate to an economical level. Hence, to increase the rate, high temperature
(450°C), medium pressure (1-2 atm) and a catalyst (V2O5) are used to ensure
maximum yield. The catalyst only serves to increase the rate of reaction as it does
not change the position of the dynamic equilibrium.

About 98% of the possible yield of sulphur trioxide is obtained.

4. Conversion of sulphur trioxide to sulphuric acid

The sulphur trioxide from the conversion chamber is passed through a heat
exchanger to remove excess heat. It is then taken to an absorption tower where it is
Ask
dissolved in concentrated sulphuric acid to form oleum or fuming sulphuric acid: Ticha
Kidevu

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 Non Metals And Their Compounds 
Oleum is then carefully diluted with the correct amount of water to give ordinary
Chemistry Form 4
concentrated sulphuric acid:
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Sulphur dioxide cannot be dissolved directly in water to form sulphuric acid. The
reaction is so highly exothermic that the heat produced vapourizes the sulphuric acid
formed. This makes it difficult to collect the gas because the acid vapour (mist)
produced is very stable and cannot be condensed.

The flow diagram for the manufacture of sulphuric acid is show in the figure below

A flow diagram of the Contact Process

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The Properties of Sulphuric Acid

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 Explain the properties of sulphuric acid
Non Metals And Their Compounds 
Chemical properties of dilute sulphuric acid
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Dilute sulphuric acid reacts with metals, metal oxides, metal hydroxides and metal
carbonates and hydrogencarbonates to produce salts.

Reaction with metals

Dilute sulphuric acid reacts with many metals above hydrogen in the activity
series to form sulphates and hydrogen gas, e.g.

Reaction with metal oxides

Reactions of metal oxides with dilute sulphuric acid are neutralization reactions.
Metal oxides react with dilute sulphuric acid to form a salt (sulphate) and water,
e.g.

Reaction with metals hydroxides

The reaction between dilute sulphuric and a metal hydroxide is a neutralization

reaction. Metal hydroxides react with dilute sulphuric acid to form a sulphate
and water, e.g

Reaction with metal carbonates and hydrogencarbonates Ask

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Dilute sulphuric acid reacts with metal carbonates and hydrogencarbonates to
give metal sulphates, carbon dioxide and water, e.g.
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 Non Metals And Their Compounds 
Chemistry Form 4
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Chemical properties of concentrated sulphuric acid

Concentrated sulphuric acid as a dehydrating agent

As a dehydrating agent, it will remove the elements of water (hydrogen and

oxygen) from a compound to form a new compound. It will dehydrate sugar,
paper and wood. These are all made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The
acid removes the hydrogen and oxygen as water, leaving carbon behind.

When concentrated sulphuric acid is added to sugar, a vigorous reaction

occurs, causing the reaction mixture to rise and fill the beaker.

The colour of the sugar changes to brown and finally black. Concentrated
sulphuric acid dehydrates sugar (glucose) by taking away the elements of
water (hydrogen and oxygen) from the sugar, leaving carbon.

The acid will also dehydrate sucrose to form carbon.

The final product is a black mass of carbon. The reaction is highly exothermic.
The heat produced evaporates the water formed from the reaction.

The acid also dehydrates some hydrated salts. When concentrated sulphuric
acid is added to hydrated blue copper (II) sulphate crystals, the colour changes
from blue to white. The acid dehydrates the hydrated copper (II) sulphate
crystals to anhydrous copper (II) sulphate powder:

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Concentrated sulphuric acid also dehydrates methanoic acid and ethanol to
give carbon monoxide and ethene gases respectively:
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 Non Metals And Their Compounds 
Chemistry Form 4
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Concentrated sulphuric acid as a drying agent

As a drying agent, concentrated sulphuric acid absorbs traces of water from

substances. Because of its ability to absorb water, it is used for drying most
gases prepared in the laboratory that it would not react with. It cannot be used
for drying ammonia, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide or any gas with which it
reacts.

Sulphuric acid as an oxidizing agent

Hot concentrated sulphuric acid is a strong oxidizing agent. It oxidizes both

metals and non-metals while it is reduced to sulphur dioxide.

Concentrated sulphuric acid oxidizes charcoal (carbon) to carbon dioxide,

sulphur to sulphur dioxide and copper to copper (II) sulphate.

With sulphur and copper, the orange colour of the dichromate (VI) paper
changes to green. This confirms the presence of sulphur dioxide gas.

With carbon, a white precipitate is formed on the glass rod when the rod dipped
in lime water (calcium hydroxide) is placed in the mouth of the test tube. This
confirms the presence of carbon dioxide gas which reacts with the calcium
hydroxide on the glass rod to produce a white precipitate of calcium carbonate.

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 Non Metals And Their
The Uses Compounds
of Sulphuric Acid 
Chemistry Form 4

0 of 10 Subtopics Complete Explain the uses of sulphuric acid

Sulphuric acid is one of the most important industrial chemicals. It has widely varied uses
and plays some part in the production of nearly all manufactured goods. The following
are some of the uses of sulphuric acid:

1. Manufacture of fertilizers The major use of sulphuric acid is the production of

fertilizers such as ammonium sulphate and superphosphates (phosphate fertilizers).

2. Manufacture of chemicals It is widely used in the manufacture of chemicals e.g. in

making hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, phosphoric acid, sulphate salts, synthetic
detergents, soap, paints and pigments, explosives, plastics and drugs.

3. Refining of crude oil A large quantity of sulphuric acid is used in refining crude oil.

4. Extraction and manufacturing of metals Sulphuric acid is used in the iron and
steel-making industry to remove rust and scale from the surface of the rolled iron
sheets. It is also used in processing metals e.g. in pickling (cleaning) iron and steel
before plating them with tin or zinc to produce galvanized iron.

5. Manufacture of alum Sulphuric acid is used in the manufacture of aluminium

sulphate, which is used in water treatment plants to filter impurities and to improve the
taste of water. Aluminium sulphate is made by reacting bauxite with sulphuric acid.

6. Manufacture of natural and man-made fibres Sulphuric acid is used for making
natural and synthetic (artificial) fibres. For example, the textile called rayon is made
from cellulose fibres derived from wood. These fibres are dissolved in a solution of
tetraamminecopper (II) sulphate to produce a thick liquid which is then injected into
sulphuric acid to form rayon fibres.

7. Other uses:Sulphuric acid is used as (i) an electrolyte in lead-acid batteries, which

are used in cars, to allow the flow of electrons between the plates in the battery. The
sulphuric acid used in this way is called battery acid; (ii) as a general dehydrating
agent in its concentrated form in tanning leather; and (iii) in waste water treatment.

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 Non Metals And Their Compounds
Nitrogen 
Chemistry Form 4
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Ammonia

Carbon

Carbon Dioxide
Chemistry Form 4 Topics

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 Non Metals And Their Compounds 
Chemistry Form 4
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