Exergy efficiency evaluation of the production of sulfuric acid from liquid sulfur

Abstract Sulfuric acid is one of the most important products in inorganic synthesis. Half of the manufactured amount of sulfuric acid is used for the production of mineral fertilizers. In this paper, a technological scheme for the manufacture of sulfuric acid from liquid sulfur using double contacting with intermediate absorption is studied. The production method allows the increase of the degree of oxidation of sulfur dioxide up to 99.5%, and the decrease of its content in the waste gas. For evaluation of the exergy efficiency of the technological scheme investigated, one of the modern methods of thermodynamic analysis-exergy method is used. Exergy balance of the whole manufacture and its individual steps is done. Internal and external exergy losses, exergy efficiency are calculated. The overall exergy efficiency is 55.15%. The main sources for losses are determined, and the methods for minimizing losses are described.