[f1r31c3r]

Hey all strange behavior i came across while cleaning my beer equipment. Need some of your intelligent minds expertise.

I was cleaning my beer apparatus with sodium metabisulfite and i had some hydrogen peroxide that i also use for sterilization.

I spilt some hydrogen peroxide on a surface that had some residue of sodium metabisulfite and woof i had a violent chemical reaction.

I looked on the hydrogen peroxide bottle and it listed hydrogen peroxide 6% then it stated also contains phosphoric acid phenacetin and purified water.

It seamed to have cleaned my counter where reaction took place but left a stain around the edges of the reaction. what is going on here.

Oh yea it heated up the surface too. Is this some kind of reaction to the phosphoric acid.


Anyone tell me what is going on here.

[Borek]

Hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidizer, bisulfite is a stron reducing agent. Reaction is inevitable.

[Grundalizer]

I'm actually working with Fenton's reagents right now.

I had some sodium metabisulfite laying around from  stump cleaner, and thought I had heard something about it's use in some modified waste water treatment.

So I dissolved a small spatula full in a test tube with water, no bubbles, no heat, no reaction.  pH neutral.

THen I added a small amount of 3% hydrogen peroxide, immediate heat release and bubbles, pH shows 1 on my wide range pH paper.

I think what's happening, as Borek said, is that the hydrogen peroxide is oxidizing the sulfite group, which is then hydrated by water and it's turning into sulfuric acid.  I didn't think it would be that easy to make sulfuric acid?

I thought it made Sulfurous acid...but I guess in the present of oxygen/hydrogen peroxide it can get oxidized again to sulfuric acid.

Any thoughts?  Is this right?