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Industrial Chemical Pump for Sulfuric Acid

March Chemical Pumps For Sulfuric Acid

Seeking a pump for the chemical Sulfuric Acid, March Pumps has many choices! From 5 GPM to 200 GPM, March Pumps has a pump for Sulfuric Acid for the application. If pumping the chemical Sulfuric Acid at room temperature, it is recommended to go with a centrifugal sealless magnetic drive chemical pump made up of Polypropylene or Kynar plastic, Encapsulated Impeller, Viton O-Ring, and either a Carbon or Mica Teflon Bushing.

Choosing a Sulfuric Acid Industrial Pump

Before deciding on which pump to choose to handle sulfuric acid liquids, you should be aware of the characteristics of sulfuric acids that affect different parts of pumps. You should also consider different aspects that determine the best possible Sulfuric Acid Pump for your special purposes. These aspects include but are not limited to the concentration of the acid, liquid temperature, its specific gravity and the materials composing the pump. The chemical Sulfuric Acid can also be heavy depending on the concentration and temperature. If the specific gravity is more than 1.1, a trimmed impeller is absolutely necessary to prevent decoupling or overloading the motor.

Higher concentrations and higher temperatures of the chemical Sulfuric Acid, together or by themselves, may make the pumps listed above unsuitable. It is highly recommended, regardless of the temperature or concentration, that you contact a local distributor or March Manufacturing direct to review your application before ordering a pump.

Sulfuric Acid, chemically written as H2SO4, dissolves in water and is known to be an extremely corrosive chemical that can be very dangerous to those who come into direct contact with it. Sulfuric acid extends itself to a wide-range of industries, being critical to chemical production. Sulfuric acid is also used the industrial production of metals in addition to other industrial and manufacturing settings.

While sulfuric acid has its drawbacks, it is a chemical compound that is widely used and beneficial to many industries. As such, March Pump offers a wide-range of pumps built to handle sulfuric acid and provides recommendations to clients about the best chemical pumps for sulfuric acid applications.

The TE-5C-MD is a great option for pumping sulfuric acid along with the TE-7R-MD and the 335-CP-MD 1&3 Phase Magnetic Drive Pump, among countless other chemical pump options. Many of March Pumps’ chemical pumps can come with an explosion proof motor. March Pumps’ chemical pump experts encourage clients to ask them for help in selecting the right pump for their business and industrial challenges.

With sulfuric acid present in so many industries, March Pump’s experts can guide clients toward the perfect pump for their needs, especially when it comes to complex chemicals like that of sulfuric acid.

What is Sulfuric Acid and How Does it Affect a Pump?

Sulfuric Acid, or H2So4, is a colorless and heavy substance that is available only in liquid form. Among other characteristics, sulfuric acid is a powerful protonating and moderately strong oxidizing agent. These characteristics have a profound impact on the different materials that a pump is made of.

For example, sulfuric acid with a concentration of above 95% can easily transform carbon (C), widely used as a pump bushing, to carbon dioxide (Co2). Nitrile rubber, also known as Buna-N, is widely used for pumps’ O-rings, but with concentrations of above 70%, it cannot resist sulfuric acid at all.

What are Some Applications of Sulfuric Acids in the Industry?

Sulfuric acid is one of the most important compounds made by the chemical industry. It is used to make hundreds of compounds needed by almost every industry. Worldwide production of sulfuric acid stands at around 180 million tons per year, with the USA alone producing about 40 million tons and Europe and Russia producing circa 19 and 9 million tons of it respectively. Some of the applications of sulfuric acid in the industry are as follows:

• Chemical Manufacturing: Almost 50% of the worldwide sulfuric acid is used to produce phosphate fertilizers. This is a particularly important fertilizer for handling sulfur deficiency.
• Mining: Sulfuric acid is widely used in the mining industry to recover different types of metals like zinc or copper, from their ores or the ground.
• Desalination:Desalination is the process of removing salts and minerals from saline water, but also generally from any material. In the case of saline water, sulfuric acid is used for pH adjustment of sea water.
• Biofuel: There are different processes for generating biodiesel and some of them involve using sulfuric acids. To create this kind of biodiesel generators, a proper sulfuric acid pump is needed.
• Phosphoric Acid Manufacturing: Phosphoric acid is manufactured on a commercial scale through the wet process, thermal process, or dry kiln process. Approximately 80% of the world’s phosphoric acid is acquired through the wet process.
• Petroleum Refining: Sulfuric acid is used in the refining of petroleum where it washes out impurities from gasoline as well as other refinery products.
• Paper Industries: Sulfuric acid is one of the ingredients used in paper and pulp manufacturing to generate chlorine dioxide, a powerful agent which bleaches water and facilitates pH correction.
• Sugar bleaching: Liquid sulfur dioxide, a precursor of sulfuric acid, is added to milled white sugar before evaporation to brighten its color.

Pumping Considerations for Sulfuric Acid

Sulfuric acid in pure form is highly corrosive against any material it comes into contact with, hence the need to choose wisely when picking the right sulfuric acid chemical pump.

Below are some of the considerations that come into play:

• Workplace safety – Preventing exposure of your workforce to sulfuric acid from pump leakages or corroded metals which release toxic fumes is paramount when handling sulfuric acid chemical pumps. Sulfuric acid is a highly poisonous substance that attacks the respiratory, nervous, and circulatory systems with deadly effects. Additionally, hydrogen gas and sulfur dioxide can pose fire risks within the plant if leakages aren’t regularly checked and dealt with.
• Chemical pump materials – When selecting a sulfuric acid chemical pump for your plant the acid concentration, specific gravity, and temperature determine how much your pump can resist corrosion. Different chemical pump materials are used depending on the acid concentration, with plastics normally recommended for low concentration sulfuric acid. Special attention should be given to the piping system, especially any weak points such as connections, valves, and in-line instruments. All connections should be flanged, and flange guards should be used to prevent acid spray-outs.
• Sulfuric acid storage – Sulfuric acid is an aggressive oxidizer that tests the strength and design of many storage tanks to the limit. Understanding the acid’s corrosiveness, molecular weight, and concentration under use becomes important when choosing the right type of storage. Storage tanks should have a strong load tolerance and an antioxidant inner surface. They should include a provision for secondary containment.
• Specialized pumps – The use of specialized pumps such as AODD, or Magnetic pumps becomes key when dealing with sulfuric acid that has a high concentration, temperature, and pressure. These perform much better than shaft-sealed pumps.
• Air-Operated Double-Diaphragm pumps (AODD) are positive displacement (PD) pumps which when built with polypropylene casing, and fitted with a PTFE diaphragm becomes much more effective when handling sulfuric acid with up to 70% concentration.
• Magnetic drive pumps or mag drive centrifugal pumps use magnet assembly to provide the drive to the impeller, which together with the pumped fluid, is contained within a hermetically sealed housing. This means that there are no mechanical seals that wear and eventually fail, reducing the need for regular replacement.

Why March Pumps are the Best Pumps to Transfer Sulfuric Acid

At March Pumps we stock sulfuric acid chemical pumps that can withstand the difficult conditions that reactive chemicals like sulfuric acid subject them to. Our high quality, USA made centrifugal sealless magnetic drive pumps use Viton seals and come with a Ceramic Shaft guaranteeing unbeatable performance and durability of your sulfuric acid pump. Talk to us today for a free, no-obligation quote.

Finding the Right Sulfuric Acid Pump

Choosing the correct chemical pump can be a bit complicated at first, with some of the parameters involved sounding overwhelming to a non-engineer. Because the needs and design of a pump will vary based on the industry and process involved, it is always recommended that you discuss your needs with a manufacturer or distributor prior to purchase. And, as always, our experts our on hand to help determine which March Pump best suits your needs. Just give us a call or contact us online.