Sulfur trioxide manufacture

A gas phase reversible reaction is carried out in a fixed bed reactor. The gas is recycled via a condensor or absorber, where the reaction product is removed from the gas phase (as in ammonia and sulfur trioxide manufacture). 

Dyes, Dye Intermediates, and Naphthalene. Several thousand different synthetic dyes are known, having a total worldwide consumption of 298 million kg/yr (see Dyes AND dye intermediates). Many dyes contain some form of sulfonate as —SO H, —SO Na, or —SO2NH2. Acid dyes, solvent dyes, basic dyes, disperse dyes, fiber-reactive dyes, and vat dyes can have one or more sulfonic acid groups incorporated into their molecular stmcture. The raw materials used for the manufacture of dyes are mainly aromatic hydrocarbons (67—74) and include ben2ene, toluene, naphthalene, anthracene, pyrene, phenol (qv), pyridine, and carba2ole. Anthraquinone sulfonic acid is an important dye intermediate and is prepared by sulfonation of anthraquinone using sulfur trioxide and sulfuric acid. 

Sulfuric acid is the most important sulfur-containing intermediate product. More than 85% of the sulfur consumed in the world is either converted to sulfuric acid or produced direcdy as such (see Sulfuric acid and sulfur trioxide). Worldwide, well over half of the sulfuric acid is used in the manufacture of phosphatic fertilizers and ammonium sulfate for fertilizers. The sulfur source may be voluntary elemental, such as from the Frasch process recovered elemental from natural gas or petroleum or sulfur dioxide from smelter operations. 

Economic Aspects. Merchant sulfur dioxide is produced by eight North American manufacturers the total was about 410,000 metric tons in 1994 (310,000 in the United States, 90,000 in Canada). The largest producers in the United States are Rhc ne-Poulenc (from sulfur trioxide reduction by sulfur) and Hoechst Celanese. There is also a larger captive production. Growth of merchant sulfur dioxide is projected at 2—3%/yr. The mid-1995 price was 0.25/kg. 

Cyclamate is about 30 times (8% sucrose solution sweetness equivalence) more potent than sugar. Its bitter aftertaste is minor compared to saccharin and acesulfame-K. The mixture of cyclamate and saccharin, especially in a 10 1 ratio, imparts both a more rounded taste and a 10—20% synergy. Cyclamate (6) is manufactured by sulfonation of cyclohexylamine (7). Many reagents can be used, including sulfamic acid, salts of sulfamic acid, and sulfur trioxide (74—77). 

The acid is rather slow to react with aUphatic hydrocarbons unless a double bond or other reactive group is present. This permits straight-chain fatty alcohols such as lauryl alcohol [112-53-8] C22H2 0, to be converted to the corresponding sulfate without the degradation or discoloration experienced with the more vigorous reagent sulfur trioxide. This is important in shampoo base manufacture (see Hairpreparations). 

Modem plants manufacture chlorosulfuric acid by direct union of equimolar quantities of sulfur trioxide and dry hydrogen chloride gas. The reaction takes place spontaneously with evolution of a large quantity of heat. Heat removal is necessary to maintain the temperature at 50—80°C and thus minimize unwanted side reactions. The sulfur trioxide may be in the form of 100% Hquid or gas, as obtained from boiling oleum, ie, fuming sulfuric acid, or may be present as a dilute gaseous mixture as obtained direcdy from a contact sulfuric acid plant (24). The hydrogen chloride gas can be in the form of 100% gas or in a diluted form. 

Phosphate fertilizer complexes often have sulfuric and phosphoric acid production facilities. Sulfuric acid is produced by burning molten sulfur in air to produce sulfur dioxide, which is then catalytically converted to sulfur trioxide for absorption in oleum. Sulfur dioxide can also be produced by roasting pyrite ore. Phosphoric acid is manufactured by adding sulfuric acid to phosphate rock. The... 

After sulfur dioxide is produced by combustion of sulfur, further oxidation is needed in the manufacture of H2S04. The reaction, producing sulfur trioxide, S03, is exothermic heat is released ... 

Oleum. Fuming sulfuric acid a soln of sulfur trioxide in sulfuric acid used as a sulfating and sulfonating agent. See under Acidity in Acids in Vol 1, A88-R to A90-R Acids Used in Manufacture and Analysis of Explosives in Vol 1, A93-L to A93-R and under Nitration in this Vol For analytical procedures, see under Glass Bulbs for Weighing Acids in Vol 6, G78-R to G79-R... 

Two successive stages in the industrial manufacture of sulfuric acid are the combustion of sulfur and the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide. From the standard reaction enthalpies... 

One stage in the manufacture of sulfuric acid is the formation of sulfur trioxide by the reaction of S02 with 02 in the presence of a vanadium(V) oxide catalyst. Predict how the equilibrium composition for the sulfur trioxide synthesis will tend to change when the temperature is raised. 

In the manufacture of sulfuric acid, a mixture of sulfur dioxide and air is passed over a series of catalyst beds, and sulfur trioxide is produced according to the reaction ... 

Used industrially as a chemical intermediate for pharmaceuticals and herbicides used in the manufacture of flame-resistant products used as a stabilizer for liquid sulfur trioxide. 

Reinluft A flue-gas desulfurization process using coke. The carbon acts as a catalyst for the oxidation of the sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide in the presence of water, and the sulfur trioxide is retained on the coke. The coke is regenerated in another vessel by heating with a hot gas stream, which reduces the sulfur trioxide back to sulfur dioxide and expels it for use in sulfuric acid manufacture. The key to this process is the inexpensive adsorbent. Developed by Reinluft GmbH and Chemiebau Dr. A. Zieren GmbH, and marketed as the Reinluft (Clean Air) Process. Four plants had been built by 1985. 

The oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide in the manufacture of sulfuric acid is... 

Sulfuric Acid. Essentially all sulfuric acid manufactured in this industry is produced by the contact process, in which SO2 and oxygen contact each other on the surface of a catalyst (vanadium pentaoxide) to form SO3 gas. Sulfur trioxide gas is added to water to form sulfuric acid. The sulfur dioxide used in the process is produced by burning elemental sulfur in a furnace. 

Alcohol sulfates (AS) are usually manufactured by the reaction of a primary alcohol with sulfur trioxide or chlorosulfonic acid followed by neutralization with a base. These are high foam surfactants but they are sensitive to water hardness and higher levels of phosphates are required. This latter requirement has harmed the market for this type of detergent, but they are 2% of production for the major household surfactant market. Sodium lauryl sulfate (R = Cn) is a constituent of shampoos to take advantage of its high-foaming properties. 

Sulfur trioxide is an intermediate in manufacturing sulfuric acid. It is used for sulfonation of organic compounds and in manufacturing explosives. 

Sulfur trioxide is produced as an intermediate in manufacturing sulfuric acid by the contact process (See Sulfuric Acid). The process involves catalytic oxidation of sulfur dioxide to trioxide. 

---