THE CONTACT PROCESS

Question 1

what is the contact process?

Answer 1

The contact process is an industrial method involving reversible reactions for manufacturing sulfuric acid

Question 2

what are the 3 primary steps of this process?

Answer 2

1. Sulfur is combusted with oxygen to form sulfur dioxide: S₈ + 8O₂ → 8SO₂
2. Sulfur dioxide is further oxidized using a vanadium (V) oxide catalyst to form sulfur trioxide
   2SO₂ + O₂ ⇄ 2SO₃
3. The sulfur trioxide is reacted with water to form sulfuric acid: SO₃ + H₂O → H₂SO₄