Boric acid is an important inorganic chemical, widely used in glass, ceramics, metallurgy, medicine, pesticide and other fields. In the field of raw materials for chemical production, there are several main manufacturing methods of boric acid:
1. Sulfuric acid method
Sulfuric acid method is the main method of producing boric acid in China at present, and its process principle is to react magnesium borate ore powder with sulfuric acid to produce boric acid and magnesium sulfate. The reaction equation is: Mg2B2O5 + 3H2SO4 = 2B(OH)3 + 3MgSO4. the solution after the reaction is filtered, washed, dried and so on, to get boric acid products. The advantages of the
sulfuric acid method are that the raw materials are easy to obtain, the production process is simple and the cost is low. However, the disadvantage of this method is that the waste residue of magnesium sulfate produced is difficult to deal with, which is easy to cause environmental pollution.
2. Hydrochloric acid method
The hydrochloric acid method is to react magnesium borate ore powder with hydrochloric acid to produce boric acid and magnesium chloride. The reaction equation is: Mg2B2O5 + 6HCl = 2B(OH)3 + 3MgCl2. The solution after the reaction is filtered, evaporated and crystallized to obtain boric acid products. The advantage of
hydrochloric acid method is that the waste residue of magnesium chloride produced is easy to handle and will not cause pollution to the environment. However, the disadvantage of this method is that the price of raw material hydrochloric acid is high and the production cost is high.
3. Carbonic acid method
Carbonic acid method is to react magnesium borate ore powder with sodium carbonate to produce boric acid and magnesium carbonate. The reaction equation is: Mg2B2O5 + 2Na2CO3 + 5H2O = 2B(OH)3 + 2Na2Mg(CO3)2. The solution after the reaction is filtered, washed, dried and other processes, to get boric acid products. The advantage of the
carbonate method is that the waste residue of magnesium carbonate produced can be utilized as a building material and will not cause pollution to the environment. However, the disadvantage of this method is that the price of raw material sodium carbonate is high, and the production cost is high.
Whichever method is used to manufacture boric acid, factors such as environmental protection, cost and product quality need to be considered. At the same time, the scope of application of different methods is different, and needs to be selected according to the specific situation.
In the process of manufacturing boric acid, it is also necessary to pay attention to safe production and labor protection to avoid hazards to the health of the operators. In addition, the waste residue and waste water produced need to be properly treated to avoid pollution of the environment. In conclusion, the manufacturing method of boric acid needs to be selected according to the specific situation, and it is necessary to comprehensively consider environmental protection, cost, product quality and other factors. At the same time, in the production process need to strengthen the safety of production and labor protection, to ensure the health of the operators.
