SULPHURIC ACID PRODUCTION

1 GENERAL INFORMATION

Sulphuric acid is an important basic inorganic chemical, due to its various indus-
trial applications. Most of the sulphuric acid is consumed by the fertiliser indus-
try. Other important applications are the oil refining industry, the production of
pigments, and the steel industry and extraction processes of the non-ferrous
metal industry.
Sulphuric acid is furthermore used by the reference installation for the produc-
tion of viscose fibre.
The reference installation is operating three sulphuric acid production lines us-
ing different technologies for the production. All three production plants work af-
ter the principle that sulphur or sulphur containing waste gases are burned.

Sulphur-containing gases generated during the spinning process are collected

and recovered as the chemicals carbon disulphide and sulphuric acid. The co-
product sodium sulphate is produced from the input chemicals sulfuric acid and
sodium hydroxide solution. (Source: Operator information 2016).

2 INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES USED

The production of viscose fibres includes the treatment of pulp in several pro-
cess steps with carbon sulphide and a subsequent spinning step in sulphuric
acid baths. The waste gases contain CS2 and H2S (strong odorous gases and
weak odorous gases) and are combusted to avoid odour emissions. The thereof
obtained H2SO4 is reused in the production process.

Table 1: Information of the three sulphuric acid production lines 2015. (Source: Operator information 2016)

Technology Output H2SO4 Output steam Input Input Input Conversion

Liquid Strong gas Weak gas
sulphur
t/d GJ/d t/h m³/h m³/h %
Sulphuric acid dry contact 300 964 (45 bar) 4.1 - - 99.9
production line 1 process
Sulphuric acid wet/dry con- 72 203 (45 bar) 0.68 80 6,560 99.8
production line 2 tact process
Sulphuric acid TOPSOE 151 924 (45 bar) 0.69 850 24,600 99.9
production line 3

Umweltbundesamt  Vienna, 2017 1

Sulphuric acid production – Industrial Processes used

Another process used to produce sulphuric acid is the combustion of elemental

sulphur. The resulting sulphur dioxide is converted in sulphur trioxide in a dou-
ble contact process and finally absorbed in water for the formation of H2SO4.
Elemental sulphur is also added to strong odour gases if the sulphur concentra-
tion is not high enough.

The reference installation operates three sulphuric acid production lines as

shown in Table 1.

Description sulphuric acid production line 1 – dry contact process

In production line 1 elemental sulphur is combusted for the formation of SO 2,
which is subsequently oxidised to SO3 in a 4 layer double contact process with
intermediate absorption after layer 3.

Sulphur handling Liquid sulphur is pumped to the burner of the furnace from the sulphur storage
systems tank. All pipes and filters are double-walled and heated in order to avoid the so-
lidification of liquid sulphur before it is burned.
Sulphur furnace The liquid sulphur (ca. 4,000 kg/h) is injected into the sulphur furnace with a
pressurised atomiser burner. The combustion air is dried in a drying tower with
concentrated H2SO4 in counter-flow.
The gas after the furnace contains approx. 10 – 11 vol% SO2, the temperature
in the furnace is approx. 1,070 °C. After the furnace the gas is cooled to approx.
460 °C in the waste heat boiler.

Contact tower – dry The conversion of SO2 to SO3 is carried out in the contact tower in 4 layers ap-
contact process plying a vanadium pentoxide catalyst.
Since the conversion is an exothermic process, the gas temperature rises from
approx. 460 °C to 600 C (layer 1). For shifting the process to the product side,
the temperature is lowered after each layer by a heat exchanger to approx.
460 °C.
Acid unit After layer 3, the gas is cooled with boiler feed water to 225 °C and enters the
intermediate absorber. SO3 is removed from the gas stream resulting in concen-
trated sulphuric acid.
The gas which does not contain SO3 anymore is heated to 420 °C with steam
and conducted to the fourth layer. The remaining SO2 is oxidised to SO3 and,
after heat exchange, conducted to the final absorber. In the final absorber, SO 3
is removed via concentrated, trickled H2SO4 in counter flow. The resulting sul-
phuric acid is stored in a 2,000 t tank or is pumped to the viscose production
unit.
The exhaust gas is cleaned by cartridge filters to avoid sulphuric acid mist. The
waste gas stream is 22,500 Nm³/h (source: operator information 2015).

Description sulphuric acid production line 2 – LURA 1

This H2SO4 production unit was built in order to eliminate H2S and CS2 from the
strong odour gases which occur during the production of viscose. The strong
gases contain 40 – 45 Vol% H2S and 15 – 25 Vol% CS2. Dependent on the

2 Umweltbundesamt  Vienna, 2017

 Sulphuric acid production – Industrial Processes used

availability of strong gases from the production process elemental sulphur is fed
into the line to ensure a steady SO2 concentration in the combustion gas. The
conversion to sulphuric acid is carried out in a combined wet/dry contact process
(Source: Operator information 2016).

Before entering the furnace, condensate in strong odour gases is separated. Sulphur furnace
The strong gases and liquid sulphur are combusted at 1,100 °C to ensure a
steady SO2 concentration of 7 – 8 Vol%. After passing the heat recovery boiler
the gas is fed into the contact tower.
The conversion of SO2 to SO3 is carried out in a 4 layer contact tower applying Contact tower
a vanadium pentoxide catalyst.
Excess heat due to the chemical reaction is discharged after each layer with a
heat exchanger.
The wet contact process is necessary as the gases contain water (if H2S is
burned H2O is generated) and so H2SO4 is formed during the catalytic oxidation
of SO2 to SO3. Therefore, the gas enters the intermediate absorber after layer 3
with approx. 360 °C to avoid corrosion due to condensation of H2SO4.
H2SO4 mist formed in the intermediate absorber is separated by mist filter.
The remaining SO2 is oxidised to SO3 in layer 4 by a dry contact process and
removed as H2SO4 in the final absorber.
Both absorption towers (intermediate absorber after level 3 and final absorber Absorption towers
after level 4) are filled with packing material. The gas stream is channelled in
counter current to H2SO4.
The formed H2SO4 is conducted continuously to tanks. It is reused in the spin-
ning process.
H2SO4 mist in the exhaust gas (6,500 Nm³/h) is abated by cartridge filters
(Source: Operator information 2016).

Description sulphuric acid production line 3 – TOPSOE

The production line 3 is utilized, as production line 2, to abate H2S and CS2
generated in the production of viscose.
Therefore, strong odour gases from the spinning process and weak odour gas- Sulphur furnace
es from the spinning vats (serves also as combustion air supply) are combusted
in a furnace for the formation of SO2. Before the weak gas enters the furnace, it
is cleaned via a gas scrubber to remove remaining substances and solids from
the spinning baths.
To ensure constant operating conditions (SO2 and temperature), liquid sulphur
is dosed. If necessary to reach the required reaction temperature, fuel oil extra
light is co-combusted. The ignition burner uses natural gas.

The combustion gas is cooled in the waste heat boiler and the energy is used
for the steam production.
The gas is conducted with 400 °C in the converter, which has 2 catalyst layers SO2-converter
for oxidising SO2 to SO3. After layer 1, the gas is cooled down by an intermedi-
ate cooler. Both layers are filled with TOPSOE-H2SO4-catalyst.

Umweltbundesamt  Vienna, 2017 3

Sulphuric acid production – Current Emissioin and Consumption Levels

Subsequently the gas is cooled to approx. 290 °C in a process gas cooler. Wa-
ter is dosed adequately for the formation of acid in terms of steam after the
cooler. Condensation nuclei are added and the gas is conducted to the WSA-
condenser.

WSA condenser The WSA condenser is a vertical tube falling film condenser/concentrator with
tubes made of borosilicate, acid and shock resistant glass. The process gas
flows up the tubes and is cooled by ambient air circulating on the outside of the
tubes. Sulphuric acid condenses in the tubes and flows downward counter-
current to the process gas. This contact with the hot process gas concentrates
the acid to the desired concentration. The acid is collected (260 °C) cooled by
adding already cooled down acid and delivered to the storage tanks with 35 °C.
(http://www.sulphuric-acid.com/techmanual/Technology/wsa.htm)
The condenser is cooled with air. The generated hot air (230 °C) is used to pre-
heat the boiler feed water.
To reduce the remaining SO2 contamination in the exhaust air, a peroxide
scrubber is installed. The total efficiency is about 99.9%. The exhaust gas vol-
ume is 21,000 Nm³/h.

3 CURRENT EMISSIOIN AND CONSUMPTION

LEVELS

3.1 Air

SO2 and SO3 (H2SO4 aerosols) are the major air emissions in the production of
sulphuric acid.
SO2 emissions are emitted due to an incomplete reaction of SO2 into SO3 on
the catalyst. SO2, which is not converted into SO3, is hardly absorbed in water.
SO2 emissions are dependent on SO2 content of the raw gases, the oxygen
concentration, the reaction parameters (temperature) and the resulting conver-
sion rate of the contact process.
In Table 2 emission limit values (ELV) are presented. Line 1 and line 2 have
similar ELVS of 700 mg/Nm³ and 625 mg/Nm³ respectively. Line 3 has an emis-
sion limit value of 200 mg/Nm³.
The emissions have to be monitored continuously according to the figures pre-
sented in Table 2.

1), 2), 3)
Table 2: Emission limit values monitoring
Emission limit values for 700 mg/Nm³
line 1 continuous
SO2 of sulphuric acid dry contact process recorded as daily average
production lines 1-3. line 2 625 mg/Nm³ continuous
(Source: Operator wet/dry contact process recorded as daily average
information 2016) line 3 200 mg/Nm³ continuous,
TOPSOE recorded as daily average
1)
Ge20-13-01-310-2010, Ge20-13-01-372-2010
2)
Ge20-13-01-158-2010, Ge20-13-01-372-2010
3)
Ge20-13-01-315-2003

4 Umweltbundesamt  Vienna, 2017

 Sulphuric acid production – Current Emissioin and Consumption Levels

The distributions of the daily average values of SO2 emissions for the 3 lines
are presented in Table 3 and Figure 2. The daily averages were recorded dur-
ing April and July 2016. According to the emission limit values the lowest emis-
sions were obtained for line 3 (TOPSOE process with subsequent H 2O2 scrub-
3
ber) were the values were in the range of 120 – 160 mg/Nm . For line 1 and 2
the majority of daily averages in the reference period were between 500 –
3
700 mg/Nm .
Some measured values are higher than the emission limit values because the
plant is operated at the upper capacity limit. For the emission limit value compli-
ance, validated values (measured values minus the measurement uncertainty)
are used. All validated values are below the emission limit value.

[mg/Nm³] Line 1 [mg/Nm³] Line 2 [mg/Nm³] Line 3 Table 3:

No. of values No. of values No. of values Daily averages of SO2
emissions to air.
500 – 600 18 16% 400 – 500 3 2% 75 – 100 0 0%
(Source: Operator
600 – 700 60 52% 500 – 600 8 7% 100 – 125 2 2%
information 2016)
700 – 800 37 32% 600 – 625 8 7% 125 – 150 119 98%
Total 115 100% 625 – 650 38 31% 150 – 175 0 0%
650 – 700 64 53% 175 – 200 0 0%
Total 121 100% Total 121 100%

Figure 1:
SO2 emissions to air
Daily averages of SO2
800 emissions to air.
700
600
SO2 [mg/Nm³]

500
400
300
200
100
0
Apr 2016 May 2016 Jun 2016 Jul 2016 Aug 2016
Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3

Source: Operator information (2016)

Month line 1 line 2 line 3 line 1 line 2 line 3 Table 4:

[mg/Nm³] [kg/h] Monthly averages of
SO2 emissions to air
Jan 2013 441 708 135 10.01 4.45 3.02
2013 and 2014. (Source:
Feb 2013 453 697 161 10.11 4.30 2.82
Operator information
Mar 2013 455 688 153 10.09 4.17 2.96 2016)
Apr 2013 520 694 170 11.33 4.10 2.98
May 2013 609 694 165 13.14 4.00 2.99
Jun 2013 492 558 155 11.04 3.66 2.99
Jul 2013 481 730 158 10.87 5.25 2.87

Umweltbundesamt  Vienna, 2017 5

Sulphuric acid production – Current Emissioin and Consumption Levels

Month line 1 line 2 line 3 line 1 line 2 line 3

[mg/Nm³] [kg/h]
Aug 2013 481 708 159 10.82 5.08 2.98
Sep 2013 476 711 173 10.93 5.16 3.05
Oct 2013 508 722 165 11.37 5.40 2.96
Nov 2013 384 719 152 8.51 5.41 2.98
Dec 2013 360 728 157 8.31 5.50 2.96
Jan 2014 375 725 147 8.73 5.45 2.98
Feb 2014 381 716 140 8.91 5.34 2.99
Mar 2014 336 716 164 7.91 5.35 2.98
Apr 2014 262 713 144 6.25 5.14 2.98
May 2014 305 649 166 7.05 4.93 1.45
Jun 2014 293 708 143 6.78 5.16 3.03
Jul 2014 336 708 145 7.64 5.17 3.04
Aug 2014 336 702 159 7.08 5.15 3.02
Sep 2014 392 711 157 7.70 5.18 3.07
Oct 2014 290 716 147 6.31 5.19 3.00
Nov 2014 288 716 160 5.87 5.25 2.88
Dec 2014 279 716 132 5.89 5.28 2.97

In Table 4 and Figure 2 monthly averages of SO2 emissions for the three pro-
duction lines over a period of two years (January 2013 – December 2014) are
displayed. The monthly averages (MA) of line 1 (double contact dry process)
3
are mostly in the range of 200 – 500 mg/Nm with only one value above 500
3
mg/Nm . The range of monthly averages for line 2 (wet/dry contact process) for
3
the two year period (2013 – 2014) is 600 – 700 mg/Nm . The lowest monthly
3
averages within the range of 100 – 200 mg/Nm were obtained for line 3
(TOPSOE process with subsequent H2O2 scrubber).

Figure 2:
SO2 emissions
Monthly averages of
SO2 emissions to air. 800 14
700 12
SO2 [mg/Nm³]

600 10
SO2 [kg/h]

500
8
400
6
300
200 4

100 2
0 0
Feb 2013
Mar 2013
Apr 2013

Oct 2013

Feb 2014
Mar 2014
May 2013

Apr 2014

Oct 2014
May 2014
Jul 2013

Jul 2014
Jan 2013

Jun 2013

Jan 2014

Jun 2014
Aug 2013
Sep 2013

Nov 2013
Dec 2013

Aug 2014
Sep 2014

Nov 2014
Dec 2014

Line 1 [mg/Nm³] Line 2 [mg/Nm³]

Line 3 [mg/Nm³] Line 1 [kg/h]
Line 2 [kg/h] Line 3 [kg/h]

Source: Operator information (2016)

6 Umweltbundesamt  Vienna, 2017

 Sulphuric acid production – Current Emissioin and Consumption Levels

The formation of SO3 emissions takes place due to incomplete absorption. SO3
emissions are monitored periodically 4 times a year for line 1 as well as line 2
and monthly for line 3. No measures are taken to reduce SO3 emissions to air
and no emission limit value is permitted.

SO3 Minimum Yearly Maximum Table 5:

[mg/Nm³] Average SO3 emissions to air for
Line 1 9.1 16.5 22.4 production lines 1,2
Line 2 12.2 21.2 26.3 and 3. (Source:
Operator information
Line 3 7.6 20.3 50.6
2016)
Minimum and Maximum emission values represent averages over four hours. All emission values
were obtained during 1 year (June 2015 – July 2016) and refer to standard conditions (0°C and
1,013 mbar) and dry gas.

Emission values for SO3 are presented in Table 5 and range from 9.1 –
3 3
22.4 mg/Nm for line 1. Line 2 has a similar range from 12.2 – 26.3 mg/Nm .
Minimum values and yearly average for line 3 are also similar compared to the
3
other production lines. The maximum value is 50.6 mg/Nm and therefore high-
er in relation to line 1 and 2.
Including the maximum averages, all SO3 emission values are within the range
3
of ≤50 mg/Nm .
The sulphuric acid production lines are fully enclosed, therefore no fugitive Fugitive emissions
emissions SO2 and SO3 occur.

3.2 Water

No waste water arises from the sulphuric acid production.

3.3 Waste

The first catalyst layers are exchanged every 5 to 10 years, the other layers
every 10 to 15 years. The decision to exchange the catalyst is made depending
on the catalysts reaction rate. In between the catalyst exchanges the catalyst
beads are sieved to remove dust.
Used catalyst material is recycled in the metal industry.

3.4 Energy

The sulphuric acid production is an exothermic process. Excess heat is used to

produce steam.

Umweltbundesamt  Vienna, 2017 7

Sulphuric acid production – References

4 REFERENCES

UMWELTBUNDESAMT (2001): Wiesenberger, H.; Kircher, J.: Stand der Technik in der
Schwefelsäureerzeugung im Hinblick auf die IPPC-Richtlinie. Monographien,
Bd. M-137. Umweltbundesamt, Wien.

UMWELTINSPEKTION (2015): Schwefelsäureproduktionsanlagen.

8 Umweltbundesamt  Vienna, 2017