Ferric Hydroxide Market Market Demand, Growth Factors, Supply

Posted by Pradnya on March 18th, 2020

Ferric Hydroxide is commonly known as Iron (III) hydroxide, is mainly used in granular, slurry or powder form. Ferric Hydroxide finds its application in water treatment, typically in the removal of heavy metals like arsenic, selenium, fluoride and cadmium which are usually found in tube wells and domestic wells in large quantities. Ferric Hydroxide is also used in pharmaceutical industry for preparation of medications for hematinic patients. The market for Ferric hydroxide is dominated by the U.S, followed by China, Europe and other Asia-pacific countries mostly due to increased use in water treatment applications.

Ferric Hydroxide is usually prepared from a chemical reaction between ferric chloride and sodium hydroxide or it can also be obtained from oxidation of ferrous iron to ferric iron which further reacts with water to form iron hydroxide as a precipitate. Heavy metal like arsenic is naturally found in ground wells and tube wells which are mostly used as the source of water in rural areas. Being odorless and tasteless, its presence is usually unnoticed causing several health disorders including skin problems or even cancer due to prolonged consumption. Also, arsenic is primarily discharged from chemical industries into the water causing an increase in the level of it even further. Ferric hydroxide in its granular or slurry form acts as the adsorbent medium for removal of arsenic from natural water sources and it helps in the chemical treatment of water as well. The ferric hydroxide medium gets filled with arsenic and needs to be cleaned (if possible) or replaced with other bed. This is essentially done in large aquariums or in reef tanks wherein large quantities of water is required. Ferric hydroxide is used along with dextran is used for the preparation of medications usually for anemic patients. However, the prime application of water treatment dominates the ferric hydroxide market.

As the worldwide consumption of clean water is increasing at a rapid pace, the requirement for water treatment grows to a large extent. The market for ferric hydroxide is predominantly dictated by the U.S in water treatment application. The ferric hydroxide beds are also widely used in countries like Germany and Great Britain for geogenic wells containing arsenic as the main toxicant. Also Asia pacific countries with their ever increasing population find enormous requirement of clean water. Along with population growth, this need is supported by massive industrial expansion especially in electronic industries and chemical plants which require chemically treated water for their applications. As it is estimated that the global consumption of water would double its volume with every decade or so, the requirement of ferric hydroxide medium will escalate even further.

Today most of the water treatment companies discourage chemical treatment of water the ferric hydroxide medium finds a continuous growth in water treatment industry. The hospitality industry is another industry apart from chemical industry which consumes large quantities of water. With an increase in norms regarding wastage of water in developed countries like the U.S, Europe, Canada the trend of reuse of the water has increased causing further growth for eco-friendly water cleaning systems.  However, the system of water treatment using ferric hydroxide can be hampered to certain extent owing to its incomplete removal of these heavy metals causing more expensive filters to be added alongside ferric hydroxide medium. Ferric hydroxide in pharmaceutical industry finds its application in the preparation of intramuscular medications for patients suffering from iron deficiency.

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Pradnya
Joined: February 3rd, 2017
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