Contact process | chemistry | Britannica
Contactprocess plants are of two types. The simpler type, the sulfurburning contact plants, use sulfur as the raw material. Molten sulfur is burned to form sulfur dioxide, which is cooled, then oxidized, usually in the presence of pellets of porous siliceous material impregnated with vanadium pentoxide and a potassium compound, to form sulfur xide at moderately high temperatures.