Sulfuric Acid Essay, Research Paper
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 t
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 8×108 m3
since 1m3=1000L, therefore 8×1011 L
0.0443 mol/L x 8×1011 = 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.