{"id":367472,"date":"2026-07-15T15:04:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=367472"},"modified":"2026-07-15T15:04:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:34:39","slug":"sulphur-dioxide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/sulphur-dioxide\/","title":{"rendered":"Sulphur Dioxide"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong> According to CREA, about 81% of SO\u2082 emissions from coal-fired power plants within 300 km of Delhi-NCR come from plants exempted from installing flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\">About Sulphur Dioxide<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 288px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scied.ucar.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/extra_large\/public\/media\/images\/so2_molecule_sm_0.gif.webp?resize=288%2C216&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Sulfur Oxides \" width=\"288\" height=\"216\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Center for Science Education<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is a<strong> heavy, colourless, toxic gas.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Source:<\/strong> Its largest source in the atmosphere is the<strong> burning of fossil fuels by power plants and other industrial facilities.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Other sources<\/strong>:<strong> Industrial processes <\/strong>such as extracting metal from ore<strong>; natural sources such as volcanoes; and locomotives, ships and other vehicles and heavy equipment<\/strong> that burn fuel with a high sulfur content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Properties:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Physical State and Appearance:<\/strong>\u00a0At room temperature, sulfur dioxide is a<strong> colourless gas with a pungent and suffocating smell.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Solubility:<\/strong>\u00a0It is<strong> easily soluble in water and many organic solvents.<\/strong> In water, it forms sulphurous acid (H<sub>2<\/sub>SO<sub>3<\/sub>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Molecular Weight:<\/strong> Its molecular weight is <strong>approximately 64.07 g\/mol.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Boiling and Melting Points:<\/strong>\u00a0The<strong> boiling point of SO<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0is -10 degrees Celsius<\/strong>, and the <strong>melting point is -72 degrees Celsius.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Chemical Stability:<\/strong> It is a <strong>stable compound<\/strong> but can be oxidised to sulfur trioxide (SO<sub>3<\/sub>), which can react with water to form sulfuric acid (H<sub>2<\/sub>SO<sub>4<\/sub>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Density:<\/strong> Its density\u00a0at room temperature and pressure is <strong>approximately 2.926 g\/L.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"11uwps9\" data-start=\"111\" data-end=\"216\" data-is-last-node=\"\">It reacts with <strong>other substances in the atmosphere to form sulfur oxides (SO\u2093) and fine particulate matter (PM).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Harmful Effects of Sulfur Dioxide (SO\u2082)<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Health Effects:<\/strong> Short-term exposure to SO\u2082 can<strong> irritate the respiratory system and make breathing difficult.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Environmental Effects:\u00a0<\/strong>High concentrations of SO\u2082 and other sulfur oxides <strong>can damage vegetation by injuring leaves and reducing plant growth.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It also <strong>contributes to the formation of acid rain,<\/strong> which acidifies soil and water bodies, damages forests, and harms aquatic ecosystems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Effects on Visibility:<\/strong> SO\u2082 reacts with <strong>atmospheric compounds to produce fine particles<\/strong> that cause haze and reduce visibility.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Damage to Buildings and Cultural Heritage:<\/strong> <strong>Sulfur-containing particles settle on surfaces and can stain or corrode buildings<\/strong>, monuments, statues, and other stone materials.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\">About Findings of the CREA reports<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nearly 81 per cent of the estimated sulphur dioxide (SO\u2082) emissions from coal-fired power plants<\/strong> within a 300-kilometre radius of Delhi-NCR<strong> originate from plants<\/strong> exempted from mandatory installation of <strong>Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) systems.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The findings indicate that <strong>78 per cent<\/strong> <strong>of India&#8217;s coal-fired power plants are exempt from mandatory FGD installation<\/strong> following the <strong>July 2025<\/strong> revision of emission norms, despite FGD technology being capable of reducing <strong>SO\u2082 emissions by up to 95 per cent<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It notes that<strong> higher coal-based electricity generation under a strong El Ni\u00f1o scenario<\/strong>, driven by increasing electricity demand and reduced hydropower generation, could further increase SO\u2082 emissions in the Delhi-NCR region.<\/li>\n<li><strong>SO\u2082<\/strong> is identified as a major precursor to <strong>PM2.5<\/strong>, which is associated with respiratory diseases, cardiovascular illnesses, stroke, and premature deaths.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: According to CREA, about 81% of SO\u2082 emissions from coal-fired power plants within 300 km of Delhi-NCR come from plants exempted from installing flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems. About Sulphur Dioxide Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is a heavy, colourless, toxic gas.\u00a0 Source: Its largest source in the atmosphere is the burning of fossil fuels by&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/sulphur-dioxide\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sulphur Dioxide<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,1738,12039],"tags":[11872,10504],"class_list":["post-367472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-science-and-technology-daily-factly-articles","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-down-to-earth","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}