Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
c69e34af-ba79-472e-b4b8-5d267f78a8b7
Materials
Associated ID
c14f2f61-edbb-496a-89ba-690a66e44bf4
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
Hydrochloric acid is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride and is one of the important raw materials in the chemical industry, widely used in chemical, metallurgical, pharmaceutical, and other industries. This dataset models hydrochloric acid as a pure substance, including major raw and auxiliary materials, energy inputs, atmospheric emissions, and waste outputs from the production process. Infrastructure such as production equipment manufacturing and plant construction is not included within the system boundary. In the Mannheim process, hydrochloric acid is a by-product of potassium sulfate production; the main raw materials, sulfuric acid and potassium chloride, are allocated using an elemental allocation method, while electricity and all other inputs and outputs are allocated by mass to all co-products. The life cycle inventory is compiled from data obtained from multiple sources, with water consumption and emissions estimated through mass balance calculations. Obtained; the production activities of by-product hydrochloric acid from the Mannheim process include feeding, heating in the gas generator, reaction in the Mannheim furnace, waste gas absorption, and loading, among others.
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
Hydrochloric acid, with the chemical formula HCl and CAS number 7647-01-0, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride available in varying concentrations. It is a strong inorganic acid with high corrosivity and irritancy. Hydrochloric acid can chemically react with many metals, metal oxides, bases, and most salts; it neutralizes with alkaline substances, but shows no reactivity with nonmetals such as phosphorus and sulfur. As an important inorganic chemical raw material, hydrochloric acid is widely used in industries such as pharmaceuticals and dyes, and also serves as an extractant and cleaning agent for metal surfaces.
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