Disposal of Battery Acid

How much of it?

Baking soda + sulphuric acid → sodium sulphate, carbon dioxide↑ and water.

How do you dispose of calcium sulphate then?

Many ways. Calcium Sulphate is the main component in sheet rock. It is also used as a descicant, food additive, soil conditioner among many uses.

If you neutralize sulphuric with calcium hydroxide to a pH of 7.0 then turn the resultant material over with your soil. It works great to break up high clay content soil. At the big stores it goes for around $5-8 per 40lbs bag and is sold as soil conditioner.

Good Luck, Old Salt

<...calcium sulphate...> is "gypsum". It is a solid and can be disposed of in the same way as any unwanted mineral, as landfill - subject to the jurisdiction of the local authority, of course.

Near Dodman's Lane there are two civic recycling centres that will accept it - for a fee, of course.

I'd dilute, then neutralize as you have suggested.

Always pour acid into water, and do it slowly. Any time you mix acid and water an exothermic reaction occurs, and pouring water into acid can be dangerous.

The acid is to be neutralised and disposed after diluting in the ratio of 1:10.

rajeswari

Here in Pennsylvania, it's considered hazardous waste and must be recycled. Several of the auto battery shops in my area will take them. No charge and no payment either.

I typically just dump mine in the driveway.

My mother used to spray diesel on weeds to kill them. Didn't matter to her that her well water came from somewhere about 50 feet under where she was spraying.

She's 95 now.

Calcium sulphate, sodium sulphate? Which is it?

Different disposal methods?

<...sodium sulphate...> is highly soluble in water, and can be flushed to sewer in small quantities.

With Lime treatment, you get Calcium sulfate. You will get a sludge after the solubility limit is over. Dried Calcium sulfate can be used in various ways. Cement plants can take it. Gypsum board makers also. But if it is very small , you can use it as soil conditioner, as posted by others.

For Soda ash treatment , you donot get sludge and all the salt is dissolved in water. Solubility limit is very high. So the water has high dissolved solids content. Disposal in this condition is difficult.If you can evaporate the water , then you can get Sodium Sulfate crystals and that is used for soap making. Commercially salable.

The battery acid may contain some lead and other heavy metals. If this is filtered through cation resin, you can remove these. If you can then raise its gravity by mixing with higher gravity acid , then it can be used for charging batteries with either green or charged plates.

If it can not be used for charging,then neutralization as above is recommended, unless you get a buyer who uses it for pickling or treating an alkaline effluent.

It all depends on quantity of acid and kind of facility.

Diluting Sulfuric acid to with alkaline neutralize it is a better way. Baking soda will work as you may know CO2 gas is produced and this makes a messy foam. The most direct method would be to neutralize the sulfuric acid with DILUTE sodium hydroxide, which you can probably obtain from a hardware store or industrial chemical supplier under the common name, "caustic soda". This should be diluted carefully with water because the heat of dilution is substantial. Add the diluted sodium hydroxide slowly to the dilute acid until the endpoint is reached using litmus paper. The reaction product is aqueous sodium sulfate, which can be safely discarded into the sewer/septic system.