Ferrous sulfate price fluctuations, new field applications may boost its industry development

Ferrous sulfate is also known as green vitriol and iron vitriol. Its CAS number is 7720-78-7, its molecular formula is FeO₄S, and its molecular weight is 151.91. It is odorless and tasteless, and is sky blue or green in its physical state. Monoclinic crystal, soluble in water and glycerin, slightly soluble in alcohol, easily oxidized to yellow or rust color in humid air, easily weathered in dry air, and its surface turns into white powder.

Ferrous sulfate is an iron salt, a reducing agent, and is widely used. Generally speaking, ferrous sulfate is mainly used in industry, medicine, food, agriculture, etc. In the industrial field, ferrous sulfate is mainly used as a sewage treatment agent, in the production of manganese sulfate and various iron salts; in the pharmaceutical field, ferrous sulfate is mainly used as an iron and blood supplement, etc., used to treat anemia. Products include Ferrous sulfate oral liquid, ferrous sulfate blood-enhancing granules, etc.; in the food field, ferrous sulfate is mainly used as an antioxidant and used in food packaging to play a preservative and preservation role; in agriculture, ferrous sulfate is mainly used as fertilizer, Pesticides, herbicides, iron supplements, etc. Among them, iron supplements are the main use in agriculture. They are used to supplement iron in plants, promote the production of chlorophyll in plants, and prevent plants from yellowing and falling leaves due to lack of iron. symptom. Overall, ferrous sulfate is most widely used in agricultural production, followed by industry.

There are three main production processes for ferrous sulfate, namely titanium dioxide production method, sulfuric acid method, and metal solution method. The titanium dioxide method is mainly a by-product of decomposing ilmenite with sulfuric acid to produce titanium dioxide; the sulfuric acid method mainly dissolves iron filings. In the mixed solution of dilute sulfuric acid and mother liquor, after the reaction, the impurities are removed, cooled, and separated to obtain light green ferrous sulfate; the metal solution rule is that metallic iron is dissolved in dilute sulfuric acid to obtain ferrous sulfate. Since ferrous sulfate products are relatively cheap, most of the ferrous sulfate products currently on the market are by-products of the production of other products, such as ferrous sulfate as a by-product of titanium dioxide in the sulfuric acid process, ferrous sulfate as a by-product of sulfuric acid pickling of steel, etc. However, ferrous sulfate obtained as an industrial by-product is mainly used in industrial production and water treatment, and is not suitable for medicine and food.

At this stage, the main ferrous sulfate production enterprises in my country include Langfang Yatai Longxing Chemical Co., Ltd., Shandong Zhongkong Water Purification Materials Co., Ltd., Jinan Linsheng Chemical Co., Ltd., Jinan Linsheng Chemical Co., Ltd., Zibo Jiecheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Zibo Hongjie Chemical Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Kelunduo Food Ingredients Co., Ltd., Sanfeng Environmental Group Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou Sencheng Kaimei Technology Co., Ltd., etc. According to the “In-depth Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions Report on Ferrous Sulfate Industry 2021-2027” released by the Industrial Research Center, my country Ferrous sulfate is mostly a by-product of titanium dioxide in the sulfuric acid process. For every ton of titanium dioxide produced, 3.5-4 tons of ferrous sulfate heptahydrate are produced as a by-product. In 2021, my country’s ferrous sulfate output will be 12.6 million tons.

Industrial analysts said that ferrous sulfate is a by-product of titanium dioxide. Recently, the price of sulfuric acid, the raw material of titanium dioxide, has fluctuated. , the price of ferrous sulfate fluctuates accordingly. In terms of downstream applications, ferrous sulfate can react with phosphoric acid to produce iron phosphate, and then produce industrial-grade lithium iron phosphate cathode materials. This process saves most of the cost by using cheap ferrous sulfate and has good development prospects. In the context of the sustainable development of the lithium battery industry, ferrous sulfate production companies can focus on this application, actively produce products that meet this demand, and promote corporate profit growth.