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The Frasch process is a method to extract sulfur
Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
 from underground deposits. Most of the world's sulfur is obtained this way.

Holes are drilled down through the overlying rock into the sulfur deposits. A special series of pipes are then inserted into the drill hole. The pipes are arranged in a circular pattern. The outer pipes will contain superheated steam
Superheated steam

Superheated steam is steam at a temperature higher than its boiling point. If saturated steam is heated at constant pressure, its temperature will rise, producing superheated steam....
 (usually about 160 °C
Celsius

Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....
) which is pumped down into the deposit.

Since the melting point of sulfur is so low (115.21 °C
Celsius

Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....
, just a little over the boiling point of water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
), it readily liquefies.






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The Frasch process is a method to extract sulfur
Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
 from underground deposits. Most of the world's sulfur is obtained this way.

Holes are drilled down through the overlying rock into the sulfur deposits. A special series of pipes are then inserted into the drill hole. The pipes are arranged in a circular pattern. The outer pipes will contain superheated steam
Superheated steam

Superheated steam is steam at a temperature higher than its boiling point. If saturated steam is heated at constant pressure, its temperature will rise, producing superheated steam....
 (usually about 160 °C
Celsius

Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....
) which is pumped down into the deposit.

Since the melting point of sulfur is so low (115.21 °C
Celsius

Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....
, just a little over the boiling point of water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
), it readily liquefies. As the sulfur becomes molten, it is removed by pumping air down the central pipe. When the molten sulfur reaches the surface, it is pumped onto wooden blocks where the sulfur again solidifies.

The Frasch process is able to produce sulfur of very high purity, often above 99%.

History

In 1867, miners discovered sulfur
Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
 in the caprock of a salt dome
Salt dome

A salt dome is a type of Dome formed when a thick bed of evaporite minerals found at depth intrudes vertically into surrounding rock Stratum, forming a diapir....
 in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

Calcasieu Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Lake Charles, Louisiana. As of 2000, the population was 183,577....
, but it was beneath quicksand
Quicksand

Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter , clay, and brine. In the name, as in that of Mercury , "quick" does not mean "fast," but "living" ....
, which prevented mining. In 1894 the German-born American chemist, Herman Frasch
Herman Frasch

Herman Frasch, Hermann Frasch was a mining engineer and inventor. In October 20, 1890, he took out three patents for the Frasch Process....
, devised his Frasch method of sulfur removal using pipes to bypass the quicksand. The process proved successful, on December 24, 1894, when the first molten sulfur was brought to the surface. However, the high cost of fuel needed to heat the water made the process uneconomic until the 1901 discovery of the Spindletop
Spindletop

Spindletop is a salt dome oil field located in south Beaumont, Texas, Texas in the United States. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindletop struck oil ....
 oil field in Texas provided cheap fuel oil to the region. The Frasch process began economic production at Sulfur Mine, Louisiana in 1903.

When Frasch's patent expired, the process was widely applied to similar salt-dome sulfur deposits along the US Gulf Coast. The second Frasch-process mine opened in 1912 in Brazoria County, Texas
Brazoria County, Texas

Brazoria County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas located on the Gulf Coast of the United States within the Greater Houston metropolitan area....
. The US Gulf Coast came to dominate world sulfur production in the early and middle 20th century. However, starting in the 1970s, byproduct sulfur recovery from oil and natural gas lowered the price of sulfur and drove many Frasch-process mines out of business. The last US Frasch sulfur mine closed in 2000.

The process is still used all over the world.

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