Adiabatic Converter for Sulfur Trioxide Production
Adiabatic Converter for Sulfur Trioxide Production
A furnace is necessary for the combustion of liquid sulfur in air: +.
S
liq
O
2
SO
2
The sulfur dioxide then undergoes a catalytic conversion into sulfur trioxide, , in an adiabatic reactor: +⇌.
SO
3
SO
2
1
2
O
2
SO
3
Sulfur trioxide is prepared on a massive scale as a precursor to sulfuric acid.
This Demonstration computes the extent of reaction, , the exit temperature, , and the composition of the effluent for the adiabatic converter used for production. To do so, one has to write: (1) the chemical equilibrium using the equilibrium constant (T)=exp(30.2021-0.048292T+0.0000186433), obtained by fitting the free energy data versus temperature for and , and (2) the energy balance: =, which exploits the fact that the converter is adiabatic.
ξ
T
3
SO
3
K
2
2
T
SO
2
SO
3
H
2
H
3
Finally, the temperature at the entrance of the converter is chosen equal to =700 Kelvin, a value that depends on the energy produced in the furnace, , used to generate live or superheated steam.
T
2
Q
The user-specified values of the mole fraction of are in the range typically used in the industry.
SO
2