Sulphuric acid is one of the most widely used strong acids in various industries. This acid is mainly produced and consumed in huge volumes for fertilizer manufacturing, oil refining, and chemical industry. The level of purity required for different industrial applications can vary significantly. While regular commercial grade Sulphuric acid works well for many purposes, some specialized applications demand an ultra-high purity level without any impurities. This article discusses the properties and production of ACS reagent grade Sulphuric acid used in such industrial sectors.
Production of Ultra-Pure Sulphuric Acid
The production process of ACS reagent grade Sulphuric acid involves multiple purification steps to remove any trace metallic or organic impurities from commercial-grade acid. Some of the key steps used are:
Distillation
Regular commercial Ultra-pure Sulphuric Acid contains various contaminants like iron, copper, lead, arsenic introduced during its production in lead chambers. The first step is to distill this acid under vacuum at elevated temperatures to separate impurities with higher boiling points from purified acid vapor. Repeated distillations help achieve higher purification levels.
Solvent Extraction
Ion exchange is used to remove ionic metallic impurities like sodium, potassium, calcium, etc. Chelating solvents forming stable complexes with metal ions facilitate their removal by extraction into an immiscible organic solvent phase.
Electrodialysis
This process applies direct current across a selective ion exchange membrane to transport ionic species like salts out of the solution. It effectively removes sub-ppb levels of ionic contaminants not removable via solvent extraction or distillation alone.
Column Chromatography
Adsorption chromatography columns packed with resins selectively adsorb and remove trace organic impurities in ppt range. Multiple columns connected in series can reduce total organic carbon content to sub-ppb levels.
Final Polish Filtration
The ultra-pure Sulphuric acid after completing the purification process undergoes micron-level filtration through sintered ceramic or polymeric membrane filters to eliminate any remaining undissolved particles down to sub-micron sizes.
Properties and Applications
ACS reagent grade Sulphuric acid produced via the above multi-step process exhibits the following distinctive properties making it suitable for specialized applications:
- Heavy metal ion content <1 ppb
- Total organic carbon <0.1 ppm
- Colorless and particle-free appearance
- High electrical conductivity
- Boiling point around 280°C
Semiconductor Industry
Semiconductor manufacturing requires an extremely cleanroom environment to fabricate integrated circuits without any particle or metal contamination that can cause defects. ACS reagent grade Sulphuric acid finds extensive use as a process chemical and cleaning agent in various wet etching and cleaning steps involved in wafer fabrication.
Pharmaceuticals
In the pharmaceutical industry, trace metallic and organic impurities in acids can adversely impact the purity and quality of active drug ingredients and final drug products. Ultra-pure Sulphuric acid satisfies the stringent impurity requirements for various acid-catalyzed chemical reactions and purification steps in drug manufacturing.
Specialty & Fine Chemicals
Production of agrochemicals, dyes & pigments, surfactants, and other specialty molecules demands very high chemical and material purity levels. Use of ACS reagent grade Sulphuric acid as a catalyst or reagent eliminates contamination issues and assists in developing reproducible, high-yield processes for such value-added chemicals.
Research & Analysis
Various analytical techniques like ICP-MS, ion chromatography, etc. employed in R&D and quality testing laboratories require the use of extremely pure acids for sample preparation and instrument calibration. ACS reagent grade Sulphuric acid serves this niche application area excellently.
Supply, Packaging and Quality Assurance
Major producers supply ultra-pure Sulphuric acid worldwide in convenient packages of carboys, drums, totes, and ISO tanks matched to customers’ requirements. Certifications like ISO 9001 assure stringent quality control during manufacturing. Analysis certificates demonstrate compliance of every batch with tight specifications on permissible levels of metallic, inorganic, and organic impurities. Proper transport and storage are also essential to maintaining the high purity level of this demanding acid.
Ultra-pure Sulphuric acid undergoes rigorous purification processes leveraging different techniques to remove all trace contaminants. Its exceptionally clean composition makes it uniquely suitable for niche industrial applications in sectors like semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals where material purity is critically important. With growing demand from such industries, production of this specialized acid will continue playing a key role in diverse manufacturing processes requiring an acid totally free of any impurities.
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