One metric ton (1000 kg) of coal is required to produce 7.3 MW-hr of electrical energy. In 1993, the Thomas Hill power plant (a small, coal-fired plant supplying rural electric cooperatives) produced 7100000.0 MW-hr. If low sulfur (1%) coal were used, and the gaseous effluent were the only means of discharging the sulfur, what volume of sulfuric acid (1.84 g/mL) would be produced in that year after the resulting sulfur dioxide reacted with atmospheric oxygen and water vapor (in liters)?
The solution shows how, in a step by step process, we can calculate the amount of sulfuric acid formed due to sulfur-rich coal burning in one year.