Acids

Nitric Acid

Explosive and corrosive, yet widely used.
Polishes if controlled, dissolves if unleashed.
Causes burns on skin contact.
US manufactures ~100,000,000 tons annually.
Used in plastics, films, textiles, and fertilizers.
US produces 8,000,000 tons of nitric acid per year.
Primary catalyst in 3,000,000 tons of explosives detonated annually in North America.
Used in ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO).
Nitric acid is a powerful oxidizing acid.
Nitric acid reacts with substances like glycerin to form nitroglycerin.
During detonation, nitrate molecules steal electrons, causing rapid decomposition.
ANFO is used in civil construction.
RDX is utilized for military explosives; it has over twice the explosive velocity of ANFO.
Holston Army Ammunition Plant is the largest supplier of high-performance explosives.
Concentrated nitric acid is 98% nitric acid with a small amount of water.
Nitric acid is mixed with hexamine and other chemicals to synthesize RDX.
Mixed at 150°F and 140 RPM.
The chemical cocktail crystallizes into RDX in 40 minutes.
Mixing RDX with molten TNT produces Composition B-4 for minefield detonation.
Exits pellet pot at 226°F and travels through cold water to solidify.
Holston also produces C-4, a general-purpose explosive.
Demonstration: 70 grams of C-4 on a 1/4" steel plate leaves an imprint.
US makes 2,500,000 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer annually.
Ammonium nitrate can be used as an oxidizer for explosives when mixed with fuel.
Texas City Disaster (1947): A freighter packed with ammonium nitrate exploded, killing 581 and injuring 5,000.

Sulfuric Acid

Roughly 40,000,000 tons produced annually, making it the leading chemical manufactured in the US.
A country's productivity is measured by the tons of sulfuric acid produced each year.
Classified as a strong acid due to the high concentration of hydrogen ions.
The pH scale measures acid strength: water is 7 (neutral), >7 is a base, and <7 is an acid.
Each number less than neutral contains 10 times the hydrogen ions of the next greater number.
Concentrated sulfuric acid has a pH of 1.
Saliva has a pH of 6.
Concentrated sulfuric acid is 100,000 times more acidic than saliva.
Adding water to acid generates heat.
Sulfuric acid is highly corrosive to metals, including aluminum.
Sulfuric acid is a powerful dehydrator.
It draws moisture out of substances, such as sugar, leaving only carbon.
Mosaic Company produces 35,000 tons of sulfuric acid a day.
Sulfur is heated to ~270°F.
Sprayed through a sulfur gun into a furnace.
At 2,055°F, sulfur combusts with oxygen to form sulfur dioxide gas.
Sulfur dioxide travels to a converter and combined with oxygen; it passes through a catalyst and converts to sulfur trioxide.
Sulfur trioxide combined with water in an absorption tower creates additional sulfuric acid.
40,000 gallons of cold water are circulated per minute to cool the tower.
Operators discharge sulfuric acid into trucks to make fertilizer.
At 98.5% concentration, sulfuric acid is powerless against stainless steel.
Onions emit a gas that reacts with moisture in the eyes, forming sulfuric acid.

Acid and Dissolving Bodies

Experiment with 37% hydrochloric acid, hotdog, and chicken bone.
After 6 hours, the bone is floppy and the hot dog has fallen to pieces.
After 9 hours, the hot dog is gone and the bone is in bad shape.
After 9 hours in hydrochloric acid, your body is completely disintegrated.

Gelatin Production

Eastman Gelatin Corporation has been making gelatin for nearly a century.
Bones are the starting material.
Each railcar contains ~200,000 pounds of bone.
Each bin holds ~500,000 pounds of bone, leftovers from ~41,000 head of cattle.
Vats are filled with 33,000 pounds of bone chips.
Hydrochloric acid removes minerals from the bone, leaving protein (collagen).
A stick test determines bone readiness.
Bone is transferred to a lime bath to break down collagen proteins.
The bone is then washed and pumped into an extraction bag for gelatin removal.
Gelatin extracted in hot water and pumped through an extruder looking like wet spaghetti.
Then cooked until bone dry, cut into granules, boxed, and shipped.
Used in film emulsions, pharmaceuticals, golf balls, and foods.

Acids in Food

Oranges (citric acid): pH ~3.8
Ginger Ale (citric acid): pH ~3
Cola (phosphoric acid): pH ~2.6
Red Wine Vinegar: most acidic.
Americans consume > 6,000,000 tons of vinegar a year.

Vinegar Production

Heinz plant in Holland, Michigan.
Grain-source alcohol (95%) shipped in 30,000-gallon railcars.
Alcohol is added to water in 18,000-gallon mash tanks to produce a 13.5% concentration.
Nutrients are added to the mash to promote Acetobacter growth.
Acetobacter oxidizes alcohol to acetic acid.
The mash solution is pumped to an acetator, where oxygen is added.
Propeller spins at 3,600 RPMs to disperse oxygen.
After 18-22 hours, the 13.5% alcohol is converted into 13.5% acetic acid.
Diluted to 5% acetic acid for household vinegar.
Vinegar is a prized food preservative.

Acids' Destructive Applications

Romans mixed acetic acid in lead pots (sugar of lead) causing lead poisoning.
Electropolishing uses strong acid and electricity to take stains out of steel.
Passivation - removing impurities making stainless steel clean.

Electropolishing

Dustin Kalina owns Albright Electropolishing.
Electropolishing gives an essential tool for any industry that demands sterilization, even the tattoo industry.
Ninja tree for racking tattoo tips.
Diox cleaner tank removes organics from the part, oils, grease, weld discoloration.
Electropolishing baths with a mixture of sulfuric and phosphoric acid.
Two copper bars are immersed at opposite ends of the acid tank.
A 20-volt DC current passes through the acid.
An ionic charge etches the metal, exposing chromium, forming chromium oxide.
Albright recycles acid using Profix to separate metal salts.

Recycling Precious Metals

Heraeus metal processing uses acid to recycle gold, silver, and platinum.
The plant produces >1,000,000 troy ounces per year.
Platinum is used in the manufacturing of gasoline and jet fuel.
Catalyst contains 0.3 weight percent of platinum content.
Drum holds ~400 pounds of catalyst with $24,000 worth of platinum.
Sulfuric acid dissolves the alumina substrate. The platinum remains solid.
Aqua regia (mixture of strong acids) dissolves precious metals.
Aqua regia is made by mixing hydrochloric acid and nitric acid.
During separation, the pure platinum looks like cheese sauce, worth $3,000,000.
Platinum emerges in the form of a sponge.
Acid helps recycle >62,000 pounds of precious metal a year.

Miscellaneous facts about acids

Acid rain: combination of nitric and sulfuric acid, pH similar to tomato juice.
Since 1983, American pennies are made out of zinc with copper plating.
Nitric acid dissolves the entire penny.
Hydrochloric acid only absorbs the zinc.

Metal Etching

AutoFab uses ferric chloride acid to etch metal.
Photoresist is applied at 35 PSI at ~220°F.
UV light exposes the film onto the metal sheet.
Bare metal is exposed for etching.
Acid is sprayed at 60 PSI.
Fotofab spikes ferric chloride acid with hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid).

Acid on the battle field

World War I: Mustard gas and phosgene gas turn into hydrochloric acid in the lungs.
Gases were combatted by diluting with fluid, causing soldier to drown in fluids.

Yellowstone National Park

Acid pools lie above a magma chamber where volcanic deposits mix with water.
Pools like thermophiles are very hot and acidic (pH ~2.7).
Cyanidium uniquely adapts to high-temperature areas.
Thermoacidophiles generate special enzymes that protect cells from decay in hot, acidic water.
Enzymes may have application in industrial processes.
Hyperthermophiles produce an enzyme that produces ethanol fuel from corn at high temps and low pH.
Enzymes raise questions about life in extreme environments, here and throughout the solar system.
Enzymes can be used in starch liquefaction is high temperature and low pH.