Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
ec24050f-ec30-4f0c-bc12-82fb252d054e
Materials
Associated ID
c14f2f61-edbb-496a-89ba-690a66e44bf4
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
Potassium sulfate is characterized by its chemical stability and safe usage, and is widely applied in industries such as glass manufacturing, dye production, and pharmaceutical intermediates. This dataset includes major raw and auxiliary materials, energy consumption, atmospheric emissions, and waste generated during the production process. Infrastructure such as production equipment manufacturing and plant construction is excluded from the system boundary. In the Mannheim process, hydrochloric acid is a by-product of potassium sulfate production. The primary raw materials, sulfuric acid and potassium chloride, are allocated to products based on elemental allocation, while electricity and all other inputs and outputs are allocated by mass. The life cycle inventory is compiled from data from multiple sources, with water consumption and emissions calculated through mass balance. Mannheim The production activities of by-product hydrochloric acid include feeding, heating in gasifier, reaction in Mannheim furnace, exhaust gas absorption, and loading processes.
Activity Description
Potassium chloride and concentrated sulfuric acid are metered and fed into the reaction furnace through the feed inlet of the Mannheim furnace. The reaction furnace is heated by gas produced from a gas generator, generating solid potassium sulfate and hydrogen chloride gas as products. After cooling, the potassium sulfate is sieved, crushed, and neutralized using lime to produce the final potassium sulfate product. The hydrogen chloride off-gas from the Mannheim furnace is absorbed in water to produce hydrochloric acid.
Process Description
Potassium sulfate, with the chemical formula K₂SO₄ and CAS number 7778-80-5, is a white crystalline inorganic salt compound that is readily soluble in water, forming a neutral aqueous solution. As a high-quality chloride-free potassium fertilizer, potassium sulfate contains more than 50% potassium oxide and 18% sulfur, making it particularly suitable for cultivating chloride-sensitive crops such as tobacco, fruits, and vegetables. In industrial applications, potassium sulfate is widely used in industries including glass manufacturing, dye production, and pharmaceutical intermediates. With characteristics of chemical stability and safe usage, potassium sulfate is an important raw material in modern agriculture and industrial production.
Time period
2018
2026
Geography
China
Macroeconomic value
Business-as-Usual
Data validation
Yes
Technology
Current Technology
Technology comment
The Mannheim process is a type of externally heated industrial furnace, equipped with a combustion chamber, reaction furnace, and product cooler. The combustion chamber consists of a fuel inlet and flue gas outlet. The reaction furnace contains a raw material feed inlet, a rotating bottom rake, a product discharge outlet, and a reaction off-gas outlet. The chemical reaction equations for producing potassium sulfate and hydrochloric acid via the Mannheim process are: 2 KCl + H2SO4 -> K2SO4 + 2 HCl