3. Chemical Process Industries

Sulfuric acid (\(\ce{H2SO4}\)) is the largest volume industrial chemical produced in the World. The consumption of sulfuric acid is often used to monitor a country’s degree of industrialisation.

It is a viscous, high density liquid (1.83 g/cc), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol.

It is sold as 98% (concentrated), 10% (dilute), or 29–32% (for use in car batteries).

Almost all sulfuric acid in the world today is made by the Contact Process, and so called, because in a key step of the production process, the reactants are in contact with the catalyst — vanadium pentoxide (\(\ce{V2O5}\)).