How to Counteract Sulfuric Acid

In January, 2011, the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas encountered a sulfuric acid spill when a delivery truck had a pipe leak and approximately 200 gallons spilled out onto the pavement. The Vegas strip was closed down for about two and a half hours, to let the poisonous vapors clear, and the landscaping in the area had to be removed due to soil contamination. Street crews used soda ash to clean up the acid and eliminate its caustic properties.

Instructions

• 1

  Figure out which alkaline substance you will use to counteract the sulfuric acid. The purpose of the counteraction is to bring the pH levels closer to a neutral level. Sulfuric acid has a low pH; alkaline substances will bring the levels into an acceptable pH. Soda ash and baking soda are reasonably priced choices that are effective.

• 2

  Calculate how much of the actual sulfuric concentrate is involved in the spill. You'll have to find out how many gallons were spilled, the concentration, the weight of the spilled solution -- a gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds -- and the acid's specific gravity (1.84 for sulfuric acid).

  If 100 gallons were spilled, that number by the other three numbers. 100*1.84*834*.98 yields roughly 1,504 pounds of sulfuric compound.

• 3

  Determine how much alkaline substance you need. This calculation will vary depending on the particular substance. You'll multiply the answer from Step 2 by this constant. For soda ash, the constant is 1.06, so you would need 1,594 pounds of soda ash. For baking soda, the constant is 25.6 pounds per gallon spilled, so a 100-gallon spill of sulfuric acid would require 2,560 pounds of baking soda.

• 4

  Apply the alkaline powder to the acid. If you are trying to clean up acid that has spilled down a drain, you may need to combine water with the alkaline powder and pour the solution down that drain to keep the acid from going further into the water system.