In this paper, we present an experimental study on the effect of soluble surface active agents (SAA) on the exothermic absorption removal of gaseous pollutants with chemical reactions. Ammonia is absorbed into sulfuric acid solution, and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is introduced as the soluble SAA in either the gas or in the absorbent liquid. Both the ammonia absorption rate and the surface temperature change are measured to examine the effect of soluble IPA impurities on chemical absorption systems employing a sulfuric acid solution.