A Brief Guide To The Weldon Process

The Weldon Process was discovered or is a process matured by Walter Weldon in the year 1866. It was formulated from the chemical compounds of Manganese dioxide so that it can be reused in Chlorine production. The complete procedure is defined or described in the book “The Alkaline Industry,” written by J.R Partington, D.Sc. Walter Wildon was a very famous/ popular chemist and the president of the society of chemists in the 18th century.

Year of birth and death, respectively, (1832-1885). He is well known for his discovery or Recycle of manganese dioxide for the manufacture of Chlorine at Cheaper rates.

Weldon Process

The Weldon process was discovered nearly the year 1870 for recovering MnO2 or manganese Dioxide for reuse in the manufacture of chlorine gas.

Chlorine gas is formulated when manganese dioxide reacts with hydrochloric acid (HCl). After the reaction of HCl with that of the other manganese dioxide, the waste is formed of manganese(II) chloride. After all this, the waste is treated with an acidic solution of Lime, steam, and oxygen that produces calcium magnite. The chemical formula for this is:

2MnCl2 +3Ca(OH)2+O2 → CaO⋅2MnO2+ 3H2O+ 2CaCl2

Next to the above is the calcium magnite that is reacted with HCl to give the byproduct.

CaO⋅2Mn02 + 10HCl ⟶ CaCl2 + 2MnCl2 +2Cl2+ 5H2O

MnCl2 is the recycle product, and the other product is CaCl2, that’s the waste residue.

Chemical Formula

Back then, the most ordinary and cheaper way to extract Chlorine was to react to Manganese dioxide with hydrochloric acid. The reaction of these two chemical compounds gives chlorine at a very cheaper value. Here is the chemical formulation of the same.

MnO2 + 4 HCl  ➡ MNCl2 + Cl2 + 2H2O

Weldon’s most important development was to recycle manganese and convert it into something useful.

Manganese Dioxide

Manganese Dioxide is a chemical compound that has two elements, manganese, and oxygen. Manganese oxide is an inanimate chemical compound with the formula of MnO2. 

Manganese Dioxide ( MnO2) has a blackish-brown color, mostly black. Pyrolusite, which is found in nature, is the most abundant and fulfilling of all the manganese compounds found in nature. 

Normal manganese has a bit different color than that of Manganese Dioxide. Manganese is kind of gray-white in color. Manganese dioxide is formed after the oxidation of the chemical element manganese. 

When manganese reacts with oxygen in the environment, it is called manganese dioxide. And the color of the same changes from Gray-white to blackish-brown.

Use of Manganese Dioxide

The use of manganese dioxide is very vital as it is used in many day-to-day essentials. The most common use of Manganese dioxide is in cell batteries. It is used in the dry battery cells, the alkaline battery cells, and the  Zinc- carbon based batteries or cells, which are also known as Leclanche cells. For the manufacture and use of cell batteries, around 500,000 tons of manganese dioxide are used. Which is a lot in number, that’s not good for our environment, as the cell batteries have a thin covering of plastic on them, which will take years to dispose of in the environment. It is also used in the making of glass which a lot of industries use as a primary pigment. Also, in the manufacturing of ceramic, it is used widely.

Chlorine

Chlorine is one of the most important chemical elements that are present in nature and also chemically formed. The chemical symbol of Chlorine is Cl. It is the second lightest element of the halogens in the periodic table. The atomic number of this element is 17 in the periodic table and also in atomic value. The color of this element is a kind of pale-yellowish green visual. 

Uses of Chlorine

It has a vast number of uses. It is mostly used in sewage and municipality work. It is used for the sanitization of disinfected water, which is harmful to people as a whole. As if the water is not purified and sanitized well, it will have a bad effect on the health of the people. It is also used as a purifier in the sewage of the big marvelous industries to sanitize their disinfected water and chemical-filled waters.

Chlorine can be called the bleaching agent for the manufacturing of the products. In the production of clothes and paper also, it is used as a bleaching agent to clear out any dirt present.

In all of the cleaning products, there is chlorine as it is a bleaching agent in the household, and the cleaning products like dishwashing gel, dishwashing bar, floor cleaning gel, and others.

Conclusion

Weldon basically reacted manganese dioxide(MnO2) with hydrochloric acid (HCl) to get chlorine (Cl).  It was used to recycle manganese dioxide and make it come to good use. This experiment made it easy for people to get chlorine. It became handy and affordable to the scientists of that time. In simple words, the experiment or development of chlorine by reacting manganese dioxide with hydrochloric acid made it cheaper in the real sense. This was a brief introduction to the Weldon process, its chemical formulas, and the different compounds related to the process.