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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
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for Metal Finishing since 1989
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How do we label/manifest dried sulfuric acid?
We have a container of sulfuric acid that has dries out (powder) and we want to turn over to a waste disposal company. How would you designate sulfuric acid that is no longer a liquid? What are the constituents?
Rich CahoonEmployee - Seattle, Washington, USA
2007
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Any reputable disposal firm will analyze the sample for you and provide all the documentation you need from the profile they create. Kurt Sammons- Inman, South Carolina There is no such thing as sulfuric acid powder. It probably contains sulphate anions and cations of whatever it reacted with. Analysis for hazardous components such as heavy metals and nasty anions (chromate, fluoride, etc.) is necessary. First, compile a history of all usages of the acid in order to minimize analytical costs. An EPA-licensed disposal firm should be able to analyze it (or recommend a state-licensed laboratory) and then supply properly filled out Uniform Hazardous Waste manifest forms. Ken Vlach [deceased]- Goleta, California 
Finishing.com honored Ken for his countless carefully researched responses. He passed away May 14, 2015.Rest in peace, Ken. Thank you for your hard work which the finishing world, and we at finishing.com, continue to benefit from. Rather than give information that may be superceded by specific state and local regulations, I would suggest speaking to the waste treaters/haulers. They generally test and categorize waste before accepting. They would certainly be a primary source of information. Gene Packmanprocess supplier - Great Neck, New York |
Ken is right - sulfuric acid does not dry out to a powder. It is a mixture of sulfur trioxide (a gas) dissolved in water (a liquid), so in the worst event of it breaking down, it will only form a gas and steam. (In reality it will form sulfuric acid vapour under most conditions!). It seems to me that you have some very impure "sulfuric acid" or sulfuric acid that has reacted with cations (almost certainly metals) to form sulphates. You need to have the powder analysed to finds out what it is.
Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
2007
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