Commercially sulphur has two main methods of production.

One of these methods includes extracting sulphur form salt dorms. The sulphur is recovered from here by a technique referred to as the Frash process. This is a very effective form of extracting sulphur as it produces it with purity as high as 99.99%. The method this implements includes drilling wells ranging in depth from 60-600m into the area within the ground where sulphur is formed and then lining this opening with pipes that are of 6inches in diameter. This pipe is divided into two further pipes of even smaller diameter and are concentrically placed within the larger pipe. One of these pipes is used to carry water while the other pipe is used to transport molten sulphur at high pressures. Superheated water is injected through these pipes until it reaches the bottom of the pipe and travels through the opening of the pipe into an area referred to as cap rock which is where the sulphur is situated. This increases the temperature and causes the sulphur to melt which settles to the bottom of the deposit. Air pressure is applied to the second pipe which causes the molten sulphur to travel upwards onto the surface. The sulphur is the collected in stockpiles in large vats. These methods of extraction are applied in ocean floors on the Gulf of Mexico. The heat produced during the first stage of the reaction is very high in temperature. For this reason the gases produced are led across pipes that have cooling water travelling through them. There is a transfer in heat so with the outcome of the temperature of the water that is travelling through pipe is raised, consequently cooling the gases that are formed. The second reaction which occurs and produces the SO3 is also very exothermic and is favoured under conditions of high pressures. A high conversion rate is possible even though the reaction is favoured to occur at lower temperatures through the use of a catalyst.