A Plant Design on the Production of Specialty Chemicals from a

Coal Gasification Acid Waste Gas Stream

Review of related literature

Carbon disulfide

Pure Carbon disulfide is a colourless liquid with a pleasant odour that is like the smell of
chloroform. The impure carbon disulfide that is usually used in most industry processes is a
yellowish liquid with an unpleasant odour. In nature, very small amounts of Carbon disulfide are
found in gases from volcanic eruptions and in marshy areas.

Carbon disulfide evaporates at room temperature, and the gas is more than twice as heavy
as air. Carbon disulfide easily forms explosive mixtures with air and catches fire very easily; it is
dangerous when exposed to heat, flame, sparks, or friction. Vapours can be ignited by contact
with an ordinary light bulb. It is incompatible or reactive with strong oxidizers; chemically active
metals such as Sodium, Potassium and Zinc; azides; rust; halogens; and amines. When exposed to
heat or flame, carbon disulfide reacts violently with chlorine, azides, ethylamine diamine, ethylene
imine, fluorine, nitric oxide, and zinc. When heated to decomposition, it emits highly toxic fumes of
Sulfur oxide; it can react vigorously with oxidizing materials. It is miscible with anhydrous methanol,
ethanol, ether, benzene, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and oils. Carbon disulfide reacts almost
quantitatively with water vapour at high temperatures to form Hydrogen sulfide
.
Carbon disulfide's most important industrial use has been in the manufacture of
regenerated cellulose rayon, by the viscose process, and cellophane. Another principal industrial
use for Carbon disulfide has been as a feedstock for Carbon tetrachloride production. It has
also been used to protect fresh fruit from insects and fungus during shipping, in adhesives for
food packaging, and in the solvent extraction of growth inhibitors.

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 A Plant Design on the Production of Specialty Chemicals from a
Coal Gasification Acid Waste Gas Stream

Ammonium sulfate

Ammonium sulfate is an inorganic salt with a number of commercial uses. It is used largely
as an artificial fertilizer for alkaline soils. It is also used as an agricultural spray adjuvant for water
soluble insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides.

Ammonium sulfate occurs naturally as the rare mineral mascagnite in volcanic fumaroles
and due to coal fires on some dumps. However, it can also be produced artificially using several
reactions. It can be made by reacting synthetic ammonia (or by-product ammonia from coke-ovens)
with sulfuric acid in the reaction

2 NH3 + H2SO4 → (NH4)2SO4

A mixture of Ammonia gas and water vapour is introduced into a reactor that contains a
saturated solution of Ammonium sulfate and about 2 to 4% of free Sulfuric acid at 60 °C.
Concentrated Sulfuric acid is added to keep the solution acidic, and to retain its level of free
acid..

Also, dry, powdered Ammonium sulfate may be formed by spraying Sulfuric acid into a
reaction chamber filled with Ammonia gas. The heat of reaction evaporates all water present in
the system, forming a powdery salt.

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 A Plant Design on the Production of Specialty Chemicals from a
Coal Gasification Acid Waste Gas Stream

Sodium sulfite

Sodium sulfite is a white crystalline or powder sodium salt of Sulphurous acid. It is primarily
used in the pulp and paper industry. It is also used in water treatment as an oxygen scavenger
agent, in the photographic industry to protect developer solutions from oxidation and (as hypo
clear solution) to wash fixer (Sodium thiosulfate) from film and photo-paper emulsions, in the
textile industry as a bleaching, desulfurizing and dechlorinating agent and in the leather trade for
the sulfitization of tanning extracts.

One way to produce Sodium sulfite is by Sulfur dioxide scrubbing which is known as a flue
gas desulfurization process. Sodium sulfite is commonly made by reacting soda ash with sulfur
dioxide in an aqueous medium. Sulfur dioxide-containing gas is passed through an aqueous
solution of Sodium carbonate to form a solution of Sodium bisulfite, which is then neutralized, as
by addition of further Sodium carbonate or of Sodium hydroxide to form the desired Sodium
sulfite. When Sodium carbonate is used for neutralization, the solution is boiled to expel evolved
Carbon dioxide. From the neutralized solution Sodium sulfite is obtained by crystallization. If
crystallization is carried out below about 35°C, the crystals formed are Sodium sulfite
heptahydrate (Na2SO3 .7H2O), which can be transformed into the anhydrous form by heating
above about 35° C. At about that temperature, the heptahydrate melts incongruently, forming
anhydrous Sodium sulfite and solution. Alternatively, crystallization of Sodium sulfite from the
neutralized solution can be conducted at temperatures above 35° C by evaporating water from
the solution, as by boiling it, in which case the crystals formed are anhydrous Sodium sulfite. The
process involved here, however, is a two step process: formation of Sodium bisulfite in the first
step, followed by neutralization thereof to form Sodium sulfite in the second step.

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 A Plant Design on the Production of Specialty Chemicals from a
Coal Gasification Acid Waste Gas Stream

sSodium bisulfite

Sodium bisulfite is a chemical compound with the chemical formula NaHSO3. It has wide
use in food industry as a common additive and as a preservative. It is a common reducing agent in
the chemical industries, as it readily reacts with dissolved Oxygen in the reaction

2 NaHSO3 + O2 → 2 NaHSO4

It is usually added to large piping systems to prevent oxidative corrosion.

Sodium bisulfite can be prepared in a number of ways. Commonly, Sodium bisulfite is

made by reacting Sulfur dioxide gas, SO2, in a solution containing Sodium hydroxide, NaOH,
or Sodium carbonate, Na2 CO3. Also, under certain conditions, this reaction can produce
Sodium sulfite, Na2 SO3. However, by reacting additional Sulfur dioxide gas into a solution of
Sodium sulfite, Sodium bisulfite can be produced.

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