The Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid (Contact Process)

Abstract

IN the realm of pure chemistry, few better examples than the chemical change between sulphur dioxide and oxygen can be selected to illustrate the general principles involved in gas reactions, whilst its value in the elucidation of the mysterious influences at work in the field of catalysis cannot be overestimated. The fundamental features of the contact process, as we now know it, were first described by Peregrine Phillips, a vinegar manufacturer of Bristol, in his patent of 1831, and to him belongs the credit of making the original scientific discovery and of realising its commercial possibilities. Nevertheless, no practical success had been attained when, in 1868 to 1872, the synthetic production of alizarin removed one of the chief reasons for this slow development—the absence of a market for fuming sulphuric acid.

The Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid (Contact Process).

By F. D. Miles. ("The Manufacture of Acids and Alkalis", by Prof. George Lunge. Completely revised and rewritten under the editorship of Dr. A. C. Cumming. Vol. 4.) Pp. xv + 427. (London and Edinburgh: Gurney and Jackson, 1925.) 36s. net.