Sulphuric acid Spain

Pyrites occurs in rocks of all ages, both eruptive and sedimentary. In some cases it is evidently an original mineral, whilst in others it has been formed as a secondary product. Large quantities are found in Spain and are used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, ferrous sulphate, and ferric oxide. 

Up to World War 1 most industrial countries experienced a rapid increase in the production of sulphuric acid. This was a basic input product for the manufacture of traditional industries (such as textiles, iron and steel), as well as the newer heavy chemicals (oil refining, artificial fertilisers, and explosives) and the emerging fine chemicals (such as synthetic dyes). The strongest reasons for the early rise of this industry in Spain are the abundance of raw materials (sea salt and pyrites) and the existence of a consumer industry (textiles). The development of the acid industry was, however, difficult and slow in the previous century. The story of the pioneer enterprise, Cros, founded by a native of southern France in the surroundings of Barcelona in the... 

Until the beginning of the nineteenth century the soda required for the manufacture of hard soap was obtained either from kelp (seaweed ash) or barilla, a plant ash mostly imported from Spain or the South of France. The alkali content of barilla was very variable. Parkes found that the best Spanish kinds contained from 10 to 20 p.c. of Na20 (one, exceptionally, 30 p.c.) kelp contained only i to 8 p.c. Stahl knew that the base of common salt was soda (see Vol. II, p. 681), and during the eighteenth century many attempts were made to obtain soda from common salt. The most promising approach was to convert the salt into sodium sulphate by heating with sulphuric acid. 

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