Sulfuric acid can be neutralized by combining it with a basic material or slowly mixing it with water. Diluted sulfuric acid can be neutralized with baking soda. It is important to handle sulfuric acid with care due to its risks. Common compounds used to neutralize sulfuric acid include calcium carbonate and ammonia compounds.
There are several approaches to neutralizing sulfuric acid — H2SO4 — depending on how precisely the process needs to be controlled and how the end product needs to be handled. Concentrated sulfuric acid, like any type of acid, can most easily be neutralized by combining it with a material that has a basic nature on the pH scale with calcium carbonate, CaCO3, and calcium hydroxide, CaOH2, being two of the compounds most frequently used . Another common and effective way to neutralize sulfuric acid is to slowly mix it in equal or greater amounts of water, as pure water falls squarely in the middle of the pH scale with a score of 7.
All neutralization refers to the process of bringing an acid or base compound to a neutral or medium level on the pH scale, with an exact neutral reading of 7. When an acid with a pH below 7 is raised to a neutral level, it this is often referred to as acid neutralizing capacity or ANC. When a base solution is lowered from a pH above 7 to a neutral level, this is referred to as lowering its alkalinity or positive ANC.
Because the risks of sulfuric acid include severe burns of the skin or mucous membranes and rapid chemical reactions with metals in contact, it is important that even dilute sulfuric acid is handled with care. Sulfuric acid solution is usually sold in a 98% concentration. To neutralize the sulfuric acid with water so it can be safely disposed of, the recommendation is to slowly add the acid to a volume of cold water ten times the volume of the acid. The acid can then be raised beyond a neutral pH of 7 by adding compounds such as sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide which can raise its base level to a pH of 9 if necessary.
Diluted sulfuric acid with a concentration of 50% or less can be handled more easily. One recommended method for neutralizing weak sulfuric acid concentrations involves adding small amounts of baking soda, more commonly known as sodium bicarbonate, to the liquid and observing the results. The acid will foam when it reacts with the baking soda, and by the time this foaming process is no longer observed, the solution has reached a neutral-base pH level of between 6 and 9.
While many compounds can be used to neutralize sulfuric acid, many common ones are often used. Some of these are better suited to laboratory settings as they are dangerous on their own, such as caustic soda, NaOH. Ammonia compounds are also a common neutralizer that is basic in nature, such as ammonium hydroxide, NH4OH. Chemicals that are plentiful and easy to find include calcium carbonate which is more often referred to as lime or limestone and calcium hydroxide.
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