ABSTRACT
We open this chapter discussing the manufacture of nitric acid for three reasons. First, it is a vital industrial chemical. Second, its synthesis can be made chemically and economically viable
only
if there are fairly strict temperature controls in several parts of the process. Finally, a substance called a
catalyst
(see Chapter 11), is added to speed up the rate of the process. The catalyst in the industrial manufacture of nitric acid is made up of platinum and rhodium.
