Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Although nearly 100% sulfuric acid solutions can be made, the subsequent loss of SO 3 at the boiling point brings the concentration to 98.3% acid. The 98.3% grade, which is more stable in storage, is the usual form of what is described as "concentrated sulfuric acid".
John Roebuck of Kinneil FRS FRSE (1718 – 17 July 1794) was an English industrialist, inventor, mechanical engineer, and physician who played an important role in the Industrial Revolution and who is known for developing the industrial-scale manufacture of sulfuric acid.
1650 – Turquet de Mayerne obtains a gas or "inflammable air" by the action of dilute sulphuric acid on iron. 1662 – Boyle's law (gas law relating pressure and volume). 1670 – Robert Boyle produces hydrogen by reacting metals with acid. 1672 – "New Experiments touching the Relation between Flame and Air" by Robert Boyle.
One of the first chemicals to be produced in large amounts through industrial processes was sulfuric acid. In 1736 pharmacist Joshua Ward developed a process for its production that involved heating sulfur with saltpeter, allowing the sulfur to oxidize and combine with water. It was the first practical production of sulphuric acid on a large scale.
The contact process is a method of producing sulfuric acid in the high concentrations needed for industrial processes. Platinum was originally used as the catalyst for this reaction; however, because it is susceptible to reacting with arsenic impurities in the sulfur feedstock, vanadium(V) oxide (V 2 O 5) has since been preferred.
This was the first practical production of sulphuric acid on a large scale. [12] Ward was in many ways quite generous to those living in poverty. He opened hospitals for the poor in Westminster and the City of London, and the clinics did not charge people for their service. It is estimated that he gave around the sum of £3,000 to charity.
In his Methods of Chemical Nomenclature (1787), Lavoisier invented the system of naming and classification still largely in use today, including names such as sulfuric acid, sulfates, and sulfites. In 1785, Berthollet was the first to introduce the use of chlorine gas as a commercial bleach.
He was instrumental in building the chemical supply business in the U.S. The specialty materials business of Honeywell traces its roots back to a small sulfuric acid company he started in 1870. Nichols was one of the original founders of the American Chemical Society, serving as president in 1918 and 1919.