Frasch process

Frasch process
/frahsh/
a method of mining sulfur by pumping superheated water down into the deposit, thereby melting it so that it can be pumped to the surface.
[after Hermann Frasch, German-born U.S. chemical engineer, who developed it]

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▪ mining
      method of mining deep-lying sulfur invented by the German-born American chemist Herman Frasch (Frasch, Herman). The process involves superheating water to about 170 °C (340 °F) and forcing it into the deposit in order to melt the sulfur (melting point of about 115 °C, or 240 °F), which is lifted to the surface by means of compressed air. The mixture of sulfur and water is then discharged into bins, where the 99 percent pure sulfur is allowed to solidify.

      Frasch first successfully mined sulfur by this process at the Sulfur Mine in Louisiana in 1894. In 1895 the Union Sulphur Company was organized with his help to produce Frasch-process sulfur. Other companies soon began production from deposits located near the Gulf of Mexico in Texas and Louisiana.

      Frasch-process sulfur produced at the Gulf Coast salt domes constituted the major source of U.S. sulfur production and dominated the world market until approximately 1970. At that time sulfur recovered as a by-product of oil refining and natural gas production became significant.

William Andrew Hustrulid
 

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • frasch process — ˈfräsh noun or frasch method Usage: usually capitalized F Etymology: after Herman Frasch died 1914 American chemist born in Germany, its inventor : a method of mining deep lying sulfur by forcing into the deposit very hot water and pumping out… …   Useful english dictionary

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  • Frasch, Herman — ▪ American chemist born Dec. 25, 1851, Gaildorf, Württemberg died May 1, 1914, Paris       U.S. chemist who devised the sulfur mining process named in his honour. The Frasch process, patented in 1891, was first used successfully in Louisiana and… …   Universalium

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