Sulfuric
acid, H2SO4, has many uses, because it is a strong acid,
an oxidising agent and also a dehydrating agent. It is cheap to make.
Concentrated sulfuric acid reacts violently with water if it is added to it, so
the acid is diluted by adding it to water.
Always remember that you oughter
Add the acid to the water.
Most sulfuric acid is used to make other chemicals rather than being used itself. The only sulfuric acid you are likely to come across in everyday life is that used in car batteries.
The Contact Process was developed by Rudolf Messel and Peregrine Phillips in the 1870s. The process first used platinum as the catalyst but this was later replaced by the cheaper vanadium(V) oxide. In 1843, the German chemist Justus von Liebig wrote
'It is no exaggeration to say that we may judge the commercial prosperity of a country from the amount of sulfuric acid that it consumes.'
This continued to to be true until quite recently because sulfuric acid was involved (directly or indirectly) in the production of most manufactured goods. Today, however, modern economies produce more electronic goods and these use less acid in their production. Also, services, like banking and insurance have become increasingly important.
| World production | 156 million tonnes per year. |
| UK production | 2 million tonnes |
| Manufacture | Contact process |
| Raw material | Sulfur, air, water. Sulfur is extracted from oil and natural gas products, mined from underground deposits by the Frasch process and produced by roasting metal ores that contain sulfides |
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General chemicals | 21% |
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Paint and pigments | 20% |
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Detergents and soaps | 19% |
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Fibres | 6% |
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Dyestuffs | 6% |
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Other | 28% |
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| Map | Aerial view of plant |
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| Unlabelled process diagram | Labelled process diagram |
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| Unlabelled diagram of the converter | Labelled diagram of the converter |
last update March 2006