Answer to Question #230880 in Chemical Engineering for Lokika

Question

5)The most favorable conditions of temperature and pressure for oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide are

a) Low temperature high pressure b) low temperature low pressure c) High temperature high pressure d) high temperature low pressure

Answer 1

This reaction is the Contact process and is done by adding an excess of oxygen to sulphur dioxide in the presence of the catalyst vanadium pentoxide, under temperatures of 450 °C and pressure of 1-2 atm.To increase the reaction rate, high temperatures (450 °C), medium pressures (1-2 atm), and vanadium(V) oxide ($V_2O_5$) are used to ensure a 96% conversion. The catalyst only serves to increase the rate of reaction as it does not change the position of the thermodynamic equilibrium.

C.