Oleum supplier Manufacturer in Kolkata India

Oleum (Latin oleum, meaning oil), or fuming sulfuric acid, is a solution of various compositions of sulfur trioxide in sulfuric acid, or sometimes more specifically to disulfuric acid (also known as pyrosulfuric acid).

Applications

Sulfuric acid production

Oleum is an important intermediate in the manufacture of sulfuric acid due to its high enthalpy of hydration. When SO3 is added to water, rather than dissolving, it tends to form a fine mist of sulfuric acid, which is difficult to manage. However, SO3 added to concentrated sulfuric acid readily dissolves, forming oleum which can then be diluted with water to produce additional concentrated sulfuric acid.

As an intermediate for transportation

Oleum is a useful form for transporting sulfuric acid compounds, typically in rail tank cars, between oil refineries (which produce various sulfur compounds as a byproduct of refining) and industrial consumers.

Certain compositions of oleum are solid at room temperature, and thus are safer to ship than as a liquid. Solid oleum can be converted into liquid at the destination by steam heating or dilution or concentration. This requires care to prevent overheating and evaporation of sulfur trioxide. To extract it from a tank car requires careful heating using steam conduits inside the tank car. Great care must be taken to avoid overheating, as this can increase the pressure in the tank car beyond the tank's safety valve limit.

In addition, oleum is less corrosive to metals than sulfuric acid, because there is no free water to attack surfaces. Because of that, sulfuric acid is sometimes concentrated to oleum for in-plant pipelines and then diluted back to acid for use in industrial reactions.

In Richmond, California in 1993 a significant release occurred due to overheating, causing a release of sulfur trioxide that absorbed moisture from the atmosphere, creating a mist of micrometre-sized sulfuric acid particles that formed an inhalation health hazard. This mist produced adverse health effects on residents and workers over a wide area.