Chemical Reactions

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Chemical Reactions INTRODUCTION:- Sulfuric acid (alternative spelling sulphuric acid) is a highly corrosive strong mineral acid with the molecular formula H2SO4. It is a pungent-ethereal, colorless to slightly yellow viscous liquid which is soluble in water at all concentrations.Sometimes, it is dyed dark brown during production to alert people to its hazards.The historical name of this acid is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is not encountered naturally on Earth in anhydrous form, due to its great affinity for water. Dilute sulfuric acid is a constituent of acid rain, which is formed by atmospheric oxidation of sulfur dioxide in the presence of water – i.e., oxidation of sulfurous acid. Sulfur dioxide is the main byproduct produced when sulfur-containing fuels such as coal or oil are burned. Sulfuric acid is formed naturally by the oxidation of sulfide minerals, such as iron sulfide. The resulting water can be highly acidic and is called acid mine drainage (AMD) or acid rock drainage (ARD). This acidic water is capable of dissolving metals present in sulfide ores, which results in brightly colored, toxic streams. Alternative Names:- 1. Oil of vitriol 2. Sulfuric acid 3. Vitriol 4. Battery acid 5. Electrolyte acid PHYSICAL PROPERTIES:- Appearance colourless, oily, corrosive liquid Melting point 10 deg C Molecular Formula H2O4S 337 deg C Boiling point 1mm of Hg at 145.8 deg C Vapor pressure 1.840 g/mL Density <0.3 (25 °C, vs air) vapor density 1.01 pH of 10 % of solution Non flammable Flammability limits 98.07848 g/mol Molar weight CHEMICAL PROPERTIES :- Attacks most metals. Attacks cloth, Corrosive property leather, and some plastics. Hygroscopic Sensitivity Highly soluble Water solubility Stable Stability CHEMICAL REACTIONS:- Reaction with water and dehydrating property:- Because the hydration reaction of sulfuric acid is highly exothermic, dilution should always be performed by adding the acid to the water rather than the water to the acid. Because the reaction is in an equilibrium that favors the rapid protonation of water, addition of acid to the water ensures that the acid is the limiting reagent. This reaction is best thought of as the formation of hydronium ions: + − 6 H2SO4 + H2O → H3O + HSO4 K1 = 2.4×10 (strong acid) − + 2− −2 HSO4 + H2O → H3O + SO4 K2 = 1.0×10 − 2− HSO4 is the bisulfate anion and SO4 is the sulfate anion. K1 and K2 are the acid dissociation constants. Acid-base properties:- As an acid, sulfuric acid reacts with most bases to give the corresponding sulfate. For example, the blue copper salt copper(II) sulfate, commonly used for electroplating and as a fungicide, is prepared by the reaction of copper(II) oxide with sulfuric acid: CuO (s) + H2SO4 (aq) → CuSO4 (aq) + H2O (l) Sulfuric acid can also be used to displace weaker acids from their salts. Reaction with sodium acetate, for example, displaces acetic acid, CH3COOH, and forms sodium bisulfate: H2SO4 + CH3COONa → NaHSO4 + CH3COOH Reactions with metals and strong oxidizing property:- Dilute sulfuric acid reacts with metals via a single displacement reaction as with other typical acids, producing hydrogen gas and salts. It attacks reactive metals such as iron, aluminium, zinc, manganese, magnesium and nickel. Fe (s) + H2SO4 (aq) → H2 (g) + FeSO4 (aq) Reactions with non-metal:- Hot concentrated sulfuric acid oxidizes non-metals such as carbon[21] (as bituminous coal) and sulfur. C + 2H2SO4 → CO2 + 2SO2 + 2H2O S + 2H2SO4 → 3SO2 + 2H2O Electrophilic aromatic substitution:- Benzene undergoes electrophilic aromatic substitution with sulfuric acid to give the corresponding sulfonic acids. MANUFACTURERS:- INDIA:- Alok Enterprise Pvt Ltd, Mumbai. Gauri Acids Pvt Ltd, Ahmedabad. Jainson Labs Pvt Ltd. Hyderabad Organo Chemical Industries, Gujarat Raja Sulphur Industries New Delhi Tecil Chemicals & Hydropower,Rajkot APPLICATIONS:- Sulfuric acid is a very important commodity chemical, and indeed, a nation's sulfuric acid production is a good indicator of its industrial strength. Sulfuric acid at high concentrations is frequently the maJor ingredient in acidic drain cleaners which are used to remove grease, hair, tissue paper, etc. largest amount of sulfuric acid is used to make phosphoric acid, used, in turn, to make the phosphate fertilizers. In the manufacture of fertilizers, ammonium phosphate and calcium super phosphate. In the manufacture of rayon and nylon and also in the preparation of dyes and drugs from coal tar derivatives. In the manufacture of the explosives such as Tri-nitro toluene , Tri-nitro glycerine and picric acid. In the manufacture of nitric acid, hydrochloric acid and phosphoric acid. In the manufacture of sodium sulphate for glass industry and ferrous sulphate for ink industry. In the purification of petrol, kerosene, and lubricants. It is used in metallurgy for extraction of metals. Leaching of metallic compounds gives sulphates which on electrolysis gives the metal in pure form .It is used for pickling of metals. It is used in storage of batteries. It is used as a laboratory reagent for the preparation of iodine, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Industrial Applications:- The major use for sulfuric acid is the production of phosphoric acid, used for manufacture of phosphate fertilizers. In this method, phosphate rock is used. This raw material is shown below as fluorapatite. This is treated with 93% sulfuric acid to produce calcium sulfate, hydrogen fluoride (HF) and phosphoric acid. The overall process can be represented as: Ca5F(PO4)3 + 5H2SO4 + 10H2O → 5CaSO4·2H2O + HF + 3H3PO4 Sulfur-iodine cycle The sulfur-iodine cycle is a series of thermo-chemical processes used to obtain hydrogen. It consists of three chemical reactions whose net reactant is water and whose net products are hydrogen and oxygen. 2H2SO4 → 2SO2 + 2H2O + O2 (830 °C) I2 + SO2 + 2H2O → 2HI + H2SO4 (120 °C) 2HI → I2 + H2 (320 °C) The sulfur and iodine compounds are recovered and reused, hence the consideration of the process as a cycle. This process is endothermic and must occur at high temperatures, so energy in the form of heat has to be supplied. METHODS OF PRODUCTION OF SULFURIC ACID:- Contact process Wet sulfuric acid process lead chamber Wet sulfuric acid process:- In the first step, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas is incinerated to SO2 gas: 2H2S + 3O2 → 2H2O + 2SO2 (−518 kJ/mol) This is then oxidized to sulfur trioxide using oxygen with vanadium(V) oxide as catalyst. 2SO2 + O2 → 2SO3 (−99 kJ/mol) (reaction is reversible) The sulfur trioxide is hydrated into sulfuric acid H2SO4: SO3 + H2O → H2SO4(g) (−101 kJ/mol) The last step is the condensation of the sulfuric acid to liquid 97–98% H2SO4: H2SO4(g) → H2SO4(l) (−69 kJ/mol) Lead Chamber Process:- Sulfur dioxide is generated by burning elemental sulfur or by roasting pyritic ore in a current of air: 4FeS2 + 11O2 → 2Fe2O3 + 8SO2 Nitrogen oxides are produced by decomposition of niter in the presence of sulfuric acid or hydrolysis of nitrosylsulfuric acid: 2NaNO3 + H2SO4 → Na2SO4 + H2O + NO + NO2 + O2 2NOHSO4 + H2O → 2H2SO4 + NO + NO2 In the reaction chambers, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide dissolve in the reaction liquor. Nitrogen dioxide is hydrated to produce nitrous acid which then oxidizes the sulfur dioxide to sulfuric acid and nitric oxide. The reactions are not well characterized but it is known that nitrosylsulfuric acid is an intermediate in at least one pathway. The maJor overall reactions are: 2NO2 + H2O → HNO2 + HNO3 SO2 (aq) + HNO3 → NOHSO4 NOHSO4 + HNO2 → H2SO4 + NO2 + NO SO2 (aq) + 2HNO2 → H2SO4 + 2NO Nitric oxide escapes from the reaction liquor and is subsequently reoxidized by molecular oxygen to nitrogen dioxide. This is the overall rate determining step in the process: 2NO + O2 → 2NO2 Nitrogen oxides are absorbed and regenerated in the process, and thus serve as a catalyst for the overall reaction: 2SO2 + 2H2O + O2 → 2H2SO4 ANALYSIS OF PROCESSES:- Production from wet sulphuric acid is reJected because This process produces an acid with low concentration instead of the high concentrations that the Contact Process yields. Production from lead chamber process is rejected because This process is not used as widely as the Contact Process is today mainly because this process produces a more dilute acid than the Contact Process which yields pure sulfuric acid. The Contact Process also produces a much larger amount of sulfuric acid than the Lead Chamber Process. SELECTED PROCESS:- Production of Sulfuric Acid by Contact process. CONTACT PROCESS:- The process can be divided into five stages: Combining of sulphur and oxygen Purifying sulphur dioxide in the purification unit; Adding excess of oxygen to sulfur dioxide in presence of catalyst vanadium pentoxide, with temperatures of 450 degrees Celsius and pressure of 1-2 atm.; Sulfur trioxide formed is added to sulfuric acid which gives rise to oleum (disulfuric acid); The oleum then is added to water to form sulfuric acid which is very concentrated. Purification of air and SO2 is necessary to avoid catalyst poisoning In the first step, sulfur is burned to produce sulfur dioxide. S (s) + O2 (g) → SO2 (g) This is then oxidized to sulfur trioxide using oxygen in the presence of a vanadium(V) oxide catalyst. This reaction is reversible and the formation of the sulfur trioxide is exothermic. 2SO2 (g) + O2 (g) ⇌ 2SO3 (g) The sulfur trioxide is absorbed into 97–98% H2SO4 to form oleum (H2S2O7), also known as fuming sulfuric acid. The oleum is then diluted with water to form concentrated sulfuric acid. H2SO4 (l) + SO3 (g)→ H2S2O7 (l) H2S2O7 (l) + H2O (l) → 2H2SO4 (l) Note that directly dissolving SO3 in water is not practical due to the highly exothermic nature of the reaction between sulfur trioxide and water. The reaction forms a corrosive aerosol that is very difficult to separate, instead of a liquid. SO3 (g) + H2O (l) → H2SO4 (l) Purification unit:- This includes the dusting tower, cooling pipes, scrubbing tower, drying tower, arsenic purifier and testing box.
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