How Mercury is Made

How Mercury is Made

Ancient Hindus had the knowledge of mercury before 2000BC. Mercury has been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to 1500 BC. In about 350 BC, Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle described how cinnabar was heated to extract mercury.

The process for making mercury hasn't changed much since Aristotle first described it over 2300 years ago.

Cinnabar ore is first brought out of the mine using drilling or with the help of explosives. It is broken into smaller pieces with the help of cone crushers. The crushed ore is ground even smaller by a series of mill. Once the ore is finely powdered, it is then fed into a furnace or kiln to be heated. The heated cinnabar reacts with Oxygen in the air to produce Sulphur Dioxide(SO2), allowing the mercury to rise as vapor.

The mercury vapor rises through the exhaust along with Sulphur Dioxide and water vapor. The mixture of gases passes through a water-cooled condenser. Mercury which has a boiling point of 357 degree Celsius, is the first to condense into liquid, leaving the other gases to be vented out.

The impurities are removed by filtration; leaving a liquid mercury that is 99.9% pure. Higher purity can be obtained by several refining methods. The most common refining method is "triple distillation". The ultrapure mercury commands a premium price.

Mercury is stored in steel flasks or glass containers.

Mercury being the only liquid metal, possesses many unique characteristics like good electrical conductivity, a very high specific gravity, high surface tension and a very high coefficient of thermal expansion.

It finds applications in gold and silver extraction, electrical and electronic switches, thermometers, fluorescent lamps and dental amalgam fillings.

But unfortunately, mercury is highly toxic to humans. Due to which, its use has severely declined over past 30 years. Mercury is still an important component in many products and processes. Although its use continues to decline, improved handling and recycling is expected to significantly reduce its release to environment and reduce its health hazard.

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Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

You can also watch our Video on "Osmium: The densest Metal on Earth" with the following link.
https://youtu.be/e5cKETJi6S0

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