What are the prospects for sulfuric acid plants to develop sulfate-based product lines?
Thread Content
Given the current downturn in the sulfuric acid industry, has anyone thought about developing downstream sulfate products? It is said that in the past, under the leadership of Mr. Sun Shibai, the sulfuric acid factory in Shanghai made a living from sulfuric acid, and developed a range of sulfate products based on it – if one path didn’t work, another would. Under the current circumstances, what are the prospects for development? Could you all share your insights?
Developing downstream industries for sulfuric acid, such as hydrofluoric acid and fertilizers, should be a good approach.
1. Copper sulfate is a substance that is used in large quantities. From the perspectives of resources and environmental protection, it should be produced by recycling existing resources. This method can only yield copper sulfate products of agricultural or industrial grade; to obtain copper sulfate products of feed or electroplating grade, further processing and refinement are necessary. The market demand for such products is also increasing steadily. Therefore, the copper sulfate products of feed grade and electroplating grade produced by this manufacturing facility do not face any issues with market sales, and they have good prospects for market development. 2. Magnesium sulfate, also known as Epsom salt, bitter salt, purgative salt, or laxative salt, has the molecular formula MgSO4·7H2O and a relative molecular weight of 246.47. Industrial magnesium sulfate usually refers to magnesium sulfate heptahydrate; it appears as white, fine crystals in an orthorhombic or prismatic shape, and is odorless with a bitter taste. Relative density 1.68. Uses: Magnesium sulfate is mainly used in industries such as industry, agriculture, food, feed, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizers. 3. Zinc sulfate ZnSO4·7H2O is a white crystal with astringent properties; it weathers easily in dry air and is soluble in water. It is mainly used as a raw material for manufacturing zinc barium white and other zinc salts, and it is also an important material for synthetic fibers. It is also used as a coal dye, a preservative for wood and leather, for clarifying bone glue, as an emetic in medicine, and as an antifungal agent. It is also used in electroplating, mineral flotation, etc. It is used as a trace element fertilizer in agriculture. The livestock industry uses it as a feed additive, etc. These include agricultural zinc sulfate, zinc sulfate heptahydrate, zinc sulfate monohydrate, and polybasic zinc sulfate, among others.
That’s right; sulfuric acid currently costs only two or three hundred yuan, so it should be possible to develop downstream products