Alkali Acts

Smoke and ash abatement in Great Britain was considered to be a health agency responsibility and was so confirmed by the first Public Health Act of 1848 and the later ones of 1866 and 1875. Air pollution from the emerging chemical industry was considered a separate matter and was made the responsibility of the Alkali Inspectorate created by the Alkali Act of 1863. 

Alkali Act (UK) prohibited atmospheric pollution and enforced the condensation of by-product HCl firom the Leblanc process... 

Section 11 of the 1968 Act states that Sections 1-10 of the 1956 Act and Sections 1-16 of the 1968 Act shall not apply to works subjected to the Alkalis Act (those premises now listed in the Health and Safety (Emission into Atmosphere Regulations)). These premises are therefore subject to enforcement by HMIP. However, sub-Section 3 of Section 11 does contain a proviso for the local authority, upon application to the Minister, to ask for an Order applying the Acts to the whole or part of the schedule works. If an Order is made, best practical means is applied to all (alkali) works whether or not provided for in the two Clean Air Acts. 

The introduction of the Alkali Act in 1863 to curb the adverse health effects produced from emissions of HCl from the Leblanc sodium carbonate process was discussed in Chapter 2. This act stated the particular steps companies had to take to reduce emissions. Whilst this approach, if used wisely, could ensure the adoption of the latest best practice it tends to stifle innovative solutions to problems. Also whilst helping to ensure an even playing field it may not be necessary or even appropriate to adopt the same technical solution to different processes in different locations. 

In 1863, the British Parliament passed the Alkali Act, which forced the LeBlanc factories to reclaim 95 percent of the hydrochloric acid gas that they produced. Angus Smith, the Alkali Inspector assigned to enforce the law, demonstrated that industrial towns suffered from higher sulfate levels than did the countryside. When Angus Smith also coined the term acid rain, air pollution became a public issue. By the 1870s, Leblanc factories emitted less than 0.1 percent of the hydrochloric acid gas they produced the rest was reclaimed and sold. 

Surprisingly, Britain s hard-fought reforms cost factory owners little. The summer after an industrialist spent 300 to install the towers required by the Alkali Act, nearby fruit trees that had not blossomed in years bloomed and roses grew. Unfortunately, reformers could not convince the government to ban the release of hydrogen sulfide too new technology could control the release of hydrochloric acid gas, but not hydrogen sulfide gas. 

The Alkali Act of 1863 required that 95 per cent of the emissions of hydrogen chloride be abated and a national inspectorate was set up to enforce the legislation (NSCA, 1998). Later acts charged the inspectorate with the regulation of other types of industrial pollution, but it retained its name of The Alkali Inspectorate until 1983, when it became Her Majesty s Industrial Air Pollution Inspectorate (NSCA, 1998, p5). The approach of the Alkali Act, of allowing industry to cause pollution, but setting constraints and limits over how much pollution it can emit, has become the standard UK approach to pollution control. 

Aqueous solutions of the caustic alkalis act only slowly with the oxysulphide to form thiolcarbonates, which, however, soon decompose into carbonate and hydrosulphide ... 

In all these reactions water is the hydrolysing agent, the acid or alkali acting merely as catalyst. 

The proposed intermediate, 2-0-(/3-D-glucopyranosyl)-D-erythrose (XC), hydrolyzes, supposedly via the enediol, to D-glucose and D-erythrose (XCI). This D-glucose, under the action of alkali, then produces lactic acid. The other products shown above (formaldehyde, glycolaldehyde) are known to be formed by alkaline fragmentation of the carbon chain, and are ordinarily present when alkali acts on a reducing sugar.68... 

The Environmental Protection Act (EPA), 1991, which subsumes previous acts such as the alkali act (1906), and the clean air act (1956/68). The act covers air pollution, noise, and other matters causing a statutory nuisance. 

Other acids and alkalies act similarly draw a general conclusion from this experiment. Is the aluminium examined in Exp. 167 tar-... 

The alkalies do not sequester heavy-metal ions and have little soil-suspending effect. They are effective in maintaining a high pH and saponify the acidic constituents of soil and thus promote cleaning. In the cleaning of ceramics, glass, and metal surfaces, however, the alkalies act as primary detergents even in the absence of surfactants in these systems. 

Sulphuryl chloride is slowly decomposed by cold water, but hot water or alkalies act rapidly and vigorously, sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid being formed. When sulphuryl chloride vapour is passed through a tube heated to dull redness, decomposition takes place with formation of sulphur dioxide and chlorine. 

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