Abstract: Improvement in the contact sulfuric acid process employing double conversion, double absorption using a cold, sulfur dioxide-containing feed gas stream obtained from a wet gas purification plant, which involves by-passing a portion of the cold feed gas stream around the primary conversion and intermediate absorption sections, and introducing it directly into the secondary conversion section, results in energy savings by reducing amount of power required to transport the gas through the plant, and by increasing the amount of recoverable heat of reaction from the secondary conversion section.