Some Practical Aspects of Sulphuric Acid Plant Operation with Particular Reference to Catalyst Performance

This paper describes the research and operating experience of one company which produces both sulphuric acid and vanadium catalyst, with the object of providing background and guidance in the use of vanadium catalyst for sulphuric acid plant operators.

An attempt is made to indicate what can reasonably be expected of a vanadium catalyst, how to get the best out of a catalyst in general use and how the performance of vanadium catalysts of different types can be tailored to meet specific operating problems or requirements.

Vanadium catalyst manufacture is still as much an art as it is a science, and the art is the art of compromise. Compromise is essential because most of the virtues we seek in a catalyst are mutually exclusive or contradictory. Examples will be given of some of the consequences of these conflicts on practical operations and ways which have been found to circumvent them or to minimise them.