Phenolic resin based activated carbon fibres (ACF) impregnated with oxides of various transition metals were investigated for the catalytic oxidation of SO2 into H2SO4. Oxidation was carried out in the packed bed tubular reactor in the presence of O-2 and H2O. The activity of the various metals impregnated on ACF was observed to be in the order, Cu > N > Co > Cr. It was found that the metal oxides were dispersed as monolayer on ACF up to similar to 5% (w/w) loading, beyond which crystallites formation occurred. A kinetic mechanism for the catalytic oxidation of SO2 into H2SO4 was proposed and incorporated in a transport model developed to explain the experimental breakthrough data.