Ferric chloride from crude copperas

Abstract

Ferrous sulfate, commercially known as copperas, is a by-product of many industries such as the steel industry where steel is “pickled” in sulfuric acid previous to galvanizing, and in ore refining where sulfuric acid is used to remove undesirable impurities consisting chiefly of iron materials.

One of the chief uses of copperas is as a coagulant in water treatment.

Crude copperas, as produced, does not meet these specifications and must be refined and reworked before it is suitable for use. Consequently, in many instances no attempt is made to make further use of the copperas and it is dumped aside as refuse. It is the purpose of this investigation to use this crude copperas to produce an iron salt suitable for use as a coagulant.

Crude copperas can be used to make a solution of ferric chloride by reacting it with calcium chloride, filtering off the precipitate of calcium sulfate, and oxidizing the ferrous iron to ferric iron with chlorine gas. The calcium content of the ferric chloride solution is low enough so that the hardness of water treated with i it will not be appreciably increased.