Industrial Applications of Sulfuric Acid

Sulfuric Acid is known as a general-purpose chemical, the king of chemicals due to its many applications as a raw material or process agent. Sulfuric acid is the most commonly used chemical in the world and is used in almost all industries, such as

Fertilizers

Pharmaceuticals

Gasoline

Automotive batteries

Paper bleaching

Sugar bleaching

Water treatment

Sulfonation agent

Cellulose fiber

Steel manufacturing

Coloring agent

Amino acid intermediates

Regeneration of ion exchange resin

Sulfuric acid is an important industrial chemical that is widely used in the manufacturing process of many commodities. Sulfuric acid is used in the pulp and paper industry, in the production of chlorine dioxide, and in the cracking of tall oil. In the United Kingdom alone, more than 1 million tons of sulfuric acid are produced each year, with another 40 million tons produced in the United States, for a global annual production of approximately 180 million tons of sulfuric acid.

Sulfuric Acid

Sulfuric acid is a strongly acidic, oily liquid that may range in appearance from clear to cloudy. Concentrated Sulfuric Acid acts as both an oxidizing and dehydrating agent. In the environment, sulfuric acid is a component of acid rain because it is formed by the oxidation of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere in the presence of water. Atmospheric sulfur dioxide is produced by the combustion of sulfur-containing fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

In discretionary production, the extraction of sulfur or sulfur-bearing minerals is the sole objective, based on voluntary mining of discrete deposits for maximum economic recovery. In non-discretionary production, sulfur or sulfuric acid is recovered as an involuntary by-product in quantities that depend only on the demand for the primary product.

In the industrial production of sulfuric acid, the lead chamber process is now almost completely replaced by the contact process. Most of the sulfuric acid produced by the lead chamber process is used in the manufacture of fertilizers, as this acid is relatively dilute. In contrast, the contact process can prepare any desired concentration of acid.

Sulfuric acid is a very important commodity chemical, and in fact, a country's sulfuric acid production has been a good indicator of its industrial strength for the last century or so.

We also have Hydrochloric Acid available, please feel free to contact us if you need it