Does a facility have to use sulfuric acid or other concentrated acid to perform the emulsion breaking step?
No. It is not necessary to use a specific acid to perform emulsion breaking, as long as the selected acid lowers the pH to the desired level. In general, any strong acid (e.g., sulfuric, hydrochloric, or nitric acid) could be used. During EPA treatability studies on PFPR wastewater, sulfuric acid was used to lower the pH of wastewaters for emulsion breaking and neutralization after hydrolysis at high pH. However, facilities should be aware that the addition of acid to PFPR wastewater may generate toxic or hazardous components, so an acid should be chosen that will minimize the potential adverse health and safety risks and the generation of toxic and hazardous compounds. For chemicals that react to form hazardous or toxic byproducts under acidic conditions, regardless of the acid used, it may be advisable to use a different treatment technology that does not lower the pH of the wastewater, or to use P2 practices or off-site disposal instead of treating the wastewater.
