The process employed in the industrial preparation of tetraoxosulphate(VI) acid is

Answer Details

Tetraoxosulphate(VI) acid is the IUPAC name for sulphuric acid, \(\text{H}_2\text{SO}_4\). Its large-scale industrial manufacture uses the Contact process.

The Contact process involves three main stages:

1. Sulphur is burned in air to produce sulphur(IV) oxide: \(\text{S} + \text{O}_2 \rightarrow \text{SO}_2\)
2. Sulphur(IV) oxide is oxidised to sulphur(VI) oxide using a vanadium(V) oxide (\(\text{V}_2\text{O}_5\)) catalyst at about 450 \(^\circ\text{C}\): \(2\text{SO}_2 + \text{O}_2 \rightleftharpoons 2\text{SO}_3\)
3. The \(\text{SO}_3\) is absorbed in concentrated \(\text{H}_2\text{SO}_4\) to form oleum (\(\text{H}_2\text{S}_2\text{O}_7\)), which is then carefully diluted with water to give concentrated sulphuric acid.

The other named processes serve different purposes. The Haber process manufactures ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. The Frasch process is used for mining sulphur deposits underground using superheated water. The Bosch process (or water-gas shift reaction) produces hydrogen from carbon monoxide and steam. None of these produces sulphuric acid.