Sulphuric acid by extraction
from sulphide ores

Metallurgical processes for smelting and refining sulphide ores, such as copper, lead, zinc, nickel, etc., produce a waste gas containing dust, metallic vapours and sulphur dioxide that must be treated before discharge into the environment. The most common method for treating the gas is a sulphuric acid plant with upstream gas cleaning.

In this process, the purified SO₂ in the gas is catalytically oxidised to  SO₃ by means of the contact process and subsequently converted to sulphuric acid.