SULPHUR

Sulphur is one of the most important agricultural and industrial raw materials and is considered a strategic product. Sulphur is an odourless, tasteless and polyvalent nonmetal which is mostly in the form of yellow crystals and is obtained from sulphide and sulphate.

Sulphur occurs naturally in the environment and is the thirteenth most abundant element in the earth’s crust. It can be mined in its elemental form, although this method has declined over the last decade to less than 2% of world production. Today most elemental sulphur is obtained as a co-product recovered from oil and gas production in the sweetening process.

Sulphur is the primary source of the production of sulphuric acid, the world’s most widely used chemical. Sulphuric acid is an essential intermediate in many processes in the chemical and manufacturing industries. Sulphuric acid is also used by the fertilizer industry to manufacture primarily phosphate, nitrogen, potassium, and sulphate fertilizers.

Sulphur reacts directly with methane to give carbon disulfide, used to manufacture cellophane and rayon. One of the direct uses of sulfur is in vulcanization of rubber, where polysulfide chains crosslink organic polymers. Large quantities of sulfites are used to bleach paper and to preserve dried fruit. Many surfactants and detergents (e.g. sodium lauryl sulfate) are sulfate derivatives.

Calcium sulfate, gypsum, is mined on the scale of 100 million tonnes each year for use in Portland cement and fertilizers. Sulphur is increasingly used as a component of fertilizers. Sulfur can be used in agriculture and various industries, such as plastics and many synthetic products, paper, paint, etc.ph