Interesting Industrial Processes Quiz

Answer: Losing Electrons

The first stage of the contact process is the oxidation of sulphur. The equation is (S + O2 ---> SO2). The result, as shown by the equation, is sulphur dioxide which is a gas.

As an extra bit of chemical knowledge, oxidation means a gain in oxygen and a loss of electrons. It is the opposite of the process of reduction. When oxidation and reduction happen simultaneously in a reaction, it is said to be a redox reaction.

Answer: Oleum

Oleum is the chemical term for fuming sulphuric acid. This round-a-bout way of creating sulphuric acid is necessary despite the fact that adding water to the gas of sulphur trioxide creates sulphuric acid far quicker. The reason this isn't done in industry is due to the erratic nature of the reaction.

It causes a mist of sulphuric acid which is difficult to control. The chemical formula for oleum is H2S2O7.

Answer: Vanadium (V) Oxide

Vanadium (V) oxide or vanadium pentoxide is the catalyst that is used. As is described above, a catalyst is a substance that speeds up a reaction without being used up in the process, therefore, catalysts are useful as they can decrease the temperatures and pressures needed for successful reactions. These decreased criteria make the overall production of a substance a lot cheaper.

The chemical formula for vanadium pentoxide is V2O5.

Answer: The Haber Process

The production of ammonia is named after the German chemist Fritz Haber. He discovered how to artificially produce ammonia and received a Nobel prize for his findings. The process is sometimes referred to as the Haber-Bosch process, as a man named Carl Bosch commercialised the process and led to the production of ammonia on a mass scale.

The importance of creating ammonia is in the fact that it is a huge boost to agriculture and farming. Ammonia is one of the constituents that forms the commonly known ammonium nitrate fertiliser.

Answer: Hydrogen

The second raw material is hydrogen. As we have a very small amount of hydrogen in our natural atmosphere, it is extracted from natural gas. Ammonia has the chemical formula NH3, this shows that one mole of ammonia contains one atom of nitrogen and three atoms of hydrogen.

Answer: Liquification

The ammonia and unused gases enter a cooling tank or chamber. Here the ammonia liquefies and is stored in the chamber until it is ready to be siphoned off for transportation. The unused hydrogen and nitrogen gases flow through another tube to be reused.

Answer: Haematite

Haematite is the name of the substance containing the desired iron. It is also known as iron ore. In this raw state, the iron is in the form of an oxide and needs to be reduced (loss of oxygen) to obtain a pure specimen of iron.

Answer: Coke

Coke is another raw product needed for this reaction. As said above, it is necessary for the reduction of iron from its ore.

Answer: Removes all acidic impurities

Lime has a pH of over 7 and therefore helps in the process of removing any of the unwanted acidic impurities. Only after these impurities have been removed are we left with the finished product of molten pure iron. It can then be used in the creation of, amongst other things, steel, in separate industrial processes.

Answer: Slag

Slag is the name of the substance which contains all the acidic impurities and other unwanted substances from the reactions which have taken place in the blast furnace. It isn't totally useless however, as it can be used as a cheap way of creating fertilisers.

I hope you enjoyed the quiz and I thank you very much for playing!