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• Occurrence

  Sodium sulfate occurs in nature as the minerals mirabilite and thenardite. While thenardite is the anhydrous form of Na2SO4, mirabilite is a naturallyoccurring decahydrate, Na2SO4•10H2O.
  Sodium sulfate is one of the most important sodium salts. The decahydrate,commonly known as the Glauber’s salt, was first prepared by Johann Glauber in the seventeenth century as a by-product in making hydrochloric acid from sulfuric acid and sodium chloride. ;

• Physical Properties

  Anhydrous sodium sulfate is a white crystalline powder; orthorhombic or hexagonal structure; hygroscopic; refractive index 1.468; hardness 2.8 Mohs; density 2.664 g/cm3; melts at 884°C; soluble in water, insoluble in ethanol.
  The decahydrate consists of colorless monoclinic crystals; refractive index 1.394; hardness 1.8 Mohs; density 1.4 6g/cm3; decomposes at 32°C; soluble in water; insoluble in ethanol. ;

• Production

  Sodium sulfate is mined from its natural mineral deposits and subjected to purification. Sodium sulfate is synthesized by the Mannheim process or Hargreaves process. Manheim’s process is based on Glauber’s reaction between sulfuric acid and sodium chloride:
  2NaCl + H2SO4 → Na2SO4 + 2HCl↑
  The process was devised by Johann Glauber to produce hydrochloric acid. Sodium sulfate is isolated from the solution by fractional crystallization. Hargreaves’ process also was developed to produce hydrochloric acid. It is a variation of Mannheim’s method. In this method, sulfur dioxide is used instead of sulfuric acid. The reaction is as follows:
  4NaCl + 2SO2 + O2 + 2H2O → 2Na2SO4 + 4HCl↑
  Sodium sulfate also is obtained as a byproduct of manufacturing phenol by caustic fusion. ;

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