FREE ESSAY ON SULFURIC ACID

SULFURIC ACID

Sulfuric Acid Industry in Ontario
Among the many plants in Ontario where sulfuric acid is 
produced, there are three major plant locations that should 
be noted on account of their greater size. These are: (1) 
Inco. - Sudbury, (2) Noranda Mines Ltd. - Welland, and (3) Sulfide - Ontario
There are a number of factors which govern the location 
of each manufacturing plant. Some of these factors that have 
to be considered when deciding the location of a Sulfuric Acid plant are: 
a. Whether there is ready access to raw materials;
b. Whether the location is close to major transportation routes;
c. Whether there is a suitable work force in the area for 
plant construction and operation;
d. Whether there is sufficient energy resources readily available;
e. Whether or not the chemical plant can carry out its
operation without any unacceptable damage to the environment.
Listed above are the basic deciding factors that govern 
the location of a plant. The following will explain in 
greater detail why these factors should be considered.1) Raw Materials
The plant needs to be close to the raw materials that 
are involved in the production of sulfuric acid such as 
sulfur, lead, copper, zinc sulfides, etc..2) Transportation
A manufacturer must consider proximity to transpor- 
tation routes and the location of both the source of raw 
materials and the market for the product. The raw 
materials have to be transported to the plant, and the 
final product must be transported to the customer or 
distributor. Economic pros and cons must also be thought 
about. For example, must sulfuric plants are located 
near the market because it costs more to transport 
sulfuric acid than the main raw materials, sulfur. 
Elaborate commission proof container are required for the 
transportation of sulfuric acid while sulfur can be much 
more easily transported by truck or railway car.
3) Human Resources For a sulfuric acid plant to operate, a 
large work force will obviously be required. The plant must 
employ chemists, technicians, administrators, computer 
operators, and people in sales and marketing. A large number 
of workers will also be required for the daily operation of 
the plant. A work force of this diversity is therefore likely 
to be found only near major centres of population.4) Energy Demands
Large amounts of energy will also be required for the 
production of many industrial chemicals. Thus, proximity 
to a plentiful supply of energy is often a determining 
factor in deciding the plant's location. 5) Environmental Concerns
Most importantly, however, concerns about the 
environment must be carefully taken into consideration. 
The chemical reaction of changing sulfur and other 
substances to sulfuric acid results in the formation of 
other substances like sulfur dioxide. This causes acid 
rain. Therefore, there is a big problem about sulfuric 
plants causing damage to our environment as the plant is 
a source of sulfur emission leading to that of acid rain.6) Water Supplies
Still another factor is the closeness of the location 
of the plants to water supplies as many manufacturing 
plants use water for cooling purposes. 
In addition to these factors, these questions must also 
be answered: Is land available near the proposed site at a 
reasonable cost? Is the climate of the area suitable? Are 
the general living conditions in the area suitable for the 
people involved who will be relocating in the area? Is there 
any suggestions offered by governments to locate in a particular region?
The final decision on where the sulfuric acid plant 
really involves a careful examination and a compromise among 
all of the factors that have been discussed above.Producing Sulfuric Acid
Sulfuric acid is produced by two principal processes-- 
the chamber process and the contact process.
The contact process is the current process being used to 
produce sulfuric acid. In the contact process, a purified 
dry gas mixture containing 7-10% sulfur dioxide and 11-14% 
oxygen is passed through a preheater to a steel reactor 
containing a platinum or vanadium peroxide catalyst. The 
catalyst promotes the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to 
trioxide. This then reacts with water to produce sulfuric 
acid. In practice, sulfur trioxide reacts not with pure 
water but with recycled sulfuric acid.The reactions are: 2SO2 + O2 --* 2SO3
SO3 + H2O --* H2SO4 The product of the contact plants is 98-100% acid. This 
can either be diluted to lower concentrations or made 
stronger with sulfur trioxide to yield oleums. For the 
process, the sources of sulfur dioxide may be produced from 
pure sulfur, from pyrite, recovered from smelter operations 
or by oxidation of hydrogen sulfide recovered from the 
purification of water gas, refinery gas, natural gas and other fuels.
Battery Acid Industry Many industries depend on sulfuric acid. Among these 
industries is the battery acid industry.
The electric battery or cell produces power by means of 
a chemical reaction. A battery can be primary or secondary.
All batteries, primary or secondary, work as a result of a 
chemical reaction. This reaction produces an electric 
current because the atoms of which chemical elements are 
made, are held together by electrical forces when they react to form compounds.
A battery cell consists of three basic parts; a 
positively charged electrode, called the cathode, a 
negatively charged electrode, called the anode, and a 
chemical substance, called an electrolyte, in which the 
electrodes are immersed. In either a wet or dry cell, 
sufficient liquid must be present to allow the chemical reactions to take place.
Electricity is generated in cells because when any of 
these chemical substances is dissolved in water , its 
molecules break up and become electrically charged ions. 
Sulfuric acid is a good example. Sulfuric acid, H2SO4, has 
molecules of which consist of two atoms of hydrogen, one of 
sulfur and four oxygen. When dissolved in water, the 
molecules split into three parts, the two atoms of hydrogen 
separate and in the process each loses an electron, becoming 
a positively charged ion (H+). The sulfur atom and the four 
atoms of oxygen remain together as a sulfate group (SO4), and 
acquire the two electrons lost by the hydrogen atoms, thus 
becoming negatively charged (SO4--). These groups can 
combine with others of opposite charge to form other compounds.
The lead-acid cell uses sulfuric acid as the 
electrolyte. The lead-acid storage battery is the most 
common secondary battery used today, and is typical of those 
used in automobiles. The following will describe both the 
charging and discharging phase of the lead-storage battery 
and how sulfuric acid, as the electrolyte, is used in the 
process. The lead storage battery consists of two electrodes 
or plates, which are made of lead and lead peroxide and are 
immersed in an electrolytic solution of sulfuric acid. The 
lead is the anode and the lead peroxide is the cathode. When 
the battery is used, both electrodes are converted to lead 
sulfate by the following process. At the sulfate ion that is 
present in the solution from the sulfuric acid. At the 
cathode, meanwhile, the lead peroxide accepts two electrons 
and releases the oxygen; lead oxide is formed first, and then 
lead joins the sulfate ion to form lead sulfate. At the same 
time, four hydrogen ions released from the acid join the 
oxygen released from the lead peroxide to form water. When 
all the sulfuric acid is used up, the battery is discharged 
produces no current. The battery can be recharged by passing 
the current through it in the opposite direction. This 
process reverses all the previous reactions and forms lead at 
the anode and lead peroxide at the cathode.Proposed Problem
i) The concentration of sulfuric acid is 0.0443 mol/L.
The pH is: No. mol of hydrogen ions = 0.0443 mol/L x 2
= 0.0886 mol/L hydrogen ions pH = - log [H]
= - log (0.0886) = - (-1.0525) = 1.05 Therefore, pH is 1.05.
ii) The amount of base needed to neutralize the lake water is:
volume of lake = 2000m x 800m x 50m
= 800,000,000 m3 or 8x108 m3
since 1m3=1000L, therefore 8x1011 L
0.0443 mol/L x 8x1011 = 3.54 x 1010 mol of H2SO4 in water
# mol NaOH = 3.54 x 1010 mol H2SO4 x 2 mol NaOH
1 mol H2SO4
= 7.08 x 1010 mol of NaOH needed
Mass of NaOH = 7.08 x 1010 mol NaOH x 40 g NaOH
1 mol NaOH
= 2.83 x 1012 g NaOH or 2.83 x 109 kg NaOH
Therefore a total of 2.83 x 1012 g of NaOH is needed to 
neutralize the lake water.iii) The use of sodium hydroxide versus limestone to 
neutralize the lake water:
Sodium hydroxide: Sodium hydroxide produces water when 
reacting with an acid, it also dissolves in water quite 
readily. When using sodium hydroxide to neutralize a lake, 
there may be several problems. One problem is that when 
sodium hydroxide dissolves in water, it gives off heat and 
this may harm aquatic living organisms. Besides this, vast 
amounts of sodium hydroxide is required to neutralize a lake 
therefore large amounts of this substance which is corrosive 
will have to be transported. This is a great risk to the 
environment if a spill was to occur.
The following equation shows that water is produced when 
using sodium hydroxide.2NaOH + H2SO4 --* Na2 SO4 + 2H2O
Limestone: Another way to neutralize a lake is by 
liming. Liming of lakes must be done with considerable 
caution and with an awareness that the aquatic ecosystem
will not be restored to its original pre-acidic state even 
though the pH of water may have returned to more normal 
levels. When limestone dissolves in water it produces carbon 
dioxide. This could be a problem since a higher content of 
carbon dioxide would mean a lowered oxygen content especially 
when much algae growth is present. As a result, fish and 
other organisms may suffer. Limestone also does not dissolve 
as readily as sodium hydroxide thus taking a longer period of 
time to react with sulfuric acid to neutralize the lake. The 
equation for the neutralization using limestone is as follows:
Ca CO3 + H2SO4 --* CaSO4 + H2O.
iv) The effect of the Acid or excessive Base on the plant and animal life:
You will probably find that there aren't many aquatic 
living organisms in waters that are excessively basic or 
acidic. A high acidic or basic content in lakes kill fishes 
and other aquatic species. Prolonged exposure to acidic or 
excessively basic conditions can lead to reproductive failure 
and morphological aberration of fish. A lowered pH tends to 
neutralize toxic metals. The accumulation of such metals in 
fish contaminates food chains of which we are a part as these 
metals can make fish unfit for human consumption. 
Acidification of a lake causes a reduction of the production 
of phytoplankton (which is a primary producer) as well as in 
the productivity of the growth of many other aquatic plants. 
In acidic conditions, zooplankton species will probably 
becompletely eliminated. In addition, bacterial 
decomposition of dead matter is seriously retarded in 
acidified lake waters. Other effects of acidic conditions 
arean overfertilization of algae and other microscopic plant 
lifecausing algae blooms. Overgrowth of these consumes 
quickly most of the oxygen in water thus causing other life 
forms to die from oxygen starvation.
When there are excessive base or acid in waters, not 
only do aquatic organisms get affected but animals who depend 
on aquatic plants to survive will starve too, since few 
aquatic plants survive in such conditions. Therefore each 
organism in the aquatic ecosystem is effected by excessive 
basic or acidic conditions because anything affecting one 
organism will affect the food chain, sending repercussions 
throughout the entire ecosystem.
v) The factors that govern this plant's location, if this 
plant employs 40% of the towns people:
The major factors that would govern this plant's 
location would be whether there is ready access to raw 
materials; whether the location is close to major 
transportation routes; whether energy resources are readily 
available and if there is an adequate water supply in the 
area. Since this plant would employ 40% of the towns people, 
the plant should be close to the town while still far enough 
so that in case of any leakage of the plant, the town will be 
within a safe distance of being severely affected. The 
factor of whether the general living conditions in the area 
are suitable for the workers should also be considered as well.