Rust in natural gas
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The rust present in natural gas is reduced to iron oxide in the natural gas preheating furnace, along with other by-products. What are the chemical reactions involved in the reduction of natural gas to iron oxide?
In redox reactions, it is necessary to balance not only the number of atoms but also the change in oxidation states (or the gain and loss of electrons). Fe+2 → Fe3+: increase of 1; S2- → SO2: increase of 6. Thus, the total valence increase for one FeS molecule is 7. O2 → O2-: decrease of 2; the total valence decrease for one O2 molecule is 4. Therefore, the reaction equation is: 4FeS + 7O2 = 2Fe2O3 + 4SO2