Most of the sulfur used in the United States is chemically synthesized from hydr

Question

Most of the sulfur used in the United States is chemically synthesized from hydrogen sulfide gas recovered from natural gas wells. In the first step of this synthesis, called the Claus process, hydrogen sulfide gas is reacted with dioxygen gas to produce gaseous sulfur dioxide and water. Suppose a chemical engineer studying a new catalyst for the Claus reaction finds that 678. liters per second of dioxygen are consumed when the reaction is run at 166.°C and 0.72atm . Calculate the rate at which sulfur dioxide is being produced. Give your answer in kilograms per second. Round your answer to 2 significant digits.

Explanation / Answer

The reaction for Claus process is

2H2S + 3O2 =    2SO2 + 2H2O

Here, 3 moles of O2 gives 2 moles of SO2

1 mole of O2 = 22.4 L

So, 678 L of dioxygen = (678/22.4) = 30.27 moles

Now,

3 moles of O2 = 2 moles of SO2

1 mole of O2 = 0.67 mole of SO2

30.27 moles of O2 = 20.08 moles of SO2

Molecular mass of SO2 = 64.066

1 mole of SO2 = 64.066 g

20.08 moles of SO2 = 1299.31g = 1.299 kg

Rate of production of SO2 =1.299 kg s-1

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