On Feb 11, 22:21, Tony Duell wrote:
> So yes, it can be got to work. But it's not trivial (as far as I can
> remember, the commericial process involved a catalyst as well).
Both commercial processes do (well, the NO2 in the lead chamber process
isn't strictly a catalyst, but it goes in one end and is mostly recovered
at the other, so it's similar). It's a question of speed and yield.
> I am not saying that there is _no_ SO3 produced without a catalyst (so
> that, for example, I would easily believe that 'acid rain' contains some
> sulphric acid produced by the oxidation of SO2 in the atmosphere)
It does. A good proportion of SO2 is converted to sulphuric acid by the
action of strong sunlight on the SO2 and water vapour. A slow process,
though. The major constituents of acid rain are SO2 and various nitrogen
oxides, roughly 70% and 30% respectively.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Received on Mon Feb 11 2002 - 18:06:46 GMT