Soda Ash

Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals, and in the monohydrate form as crystal carbonate), Na2CO3, is the water-soluble sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline decahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Pure sodium carbonate is a white, odorless powder that is hygroscopic (absorbs moisture from the air). It has a strongly alkaline taste, and forms a moderately basic solution in water. Sodium carbonate is well known domestically for its everyday use as a water softener. When companies process and produce soda ash, a number of other sodium compounds are made as co-products, including sodium bicarbonate (also known as baking soda), sodium sulfite, sodium tripolyphosphate, and chemical caustic soda. Soda ash has a number of diversified uses that touch our lives every day. Glass manufacturing is the largest application for soda ash whether it is in the production of containers, fiberglass insulation, or flat glass for the housing, commercial building, and automotive industries.

The grades of soda ash that are supplied by Nuroil are:

Soda Ash Dense

an anhydrous substance for industrial chemical

Soda Ash Light

pH regulator/buffering agent in industries.

Difference between Soda Ash Light Vs Dense

Soda Ash Light and Soda Ash Dense are both chemically identical compounds, with the only difference being their densities and size. Soda Ash has a finer density of 0.7 g/cc, while Soda Ash Dense is about 0.9g/cc. Meanwhile, they also have different applications in different industries. Light soda ash easily absorbs moisture in the air, causing moisture deterioration, and its solubility is higher than that of dense type. Dense soda ash has good stability and is not easy to absorb moisture, generate heat and change color.

Chemical properties are different. Light sodium carbonate is not as chemically stable as dense sodium carbonate because it contains a certain amount of potassium hydroxide. This is one of the main reasons why light type is lighter in color. Dense type has potassium hydroxide removed during the preparation process, making it chemically more stable than light soda ash. Therefore, soda ash dense is used in a wider range of industrial applications than soda ash light.

There are also differences in production processes. The production methods of light soda ash powder mainly include ammonia-alkali method and chlor-alkali method, while the production method of dense soda ash is mainly produced by trona method. The manufacturing process of light soda ash is mainly made by reacting ammonium chloride and then drying. On the contrary, dense soda ash is mainly produced by concentrating, crystallizing and drying the soda ash liquid produced by the electrolysis reaction of sodium chloride under high temperature and pressure.

Application fields are different. Light soda ash is mainly used in our daily lives, such as domestic washing, chemical solvents and food processing industries. Dense soda ash is mainly used in the glass industry, which is also the main consumer sector of soda ash.

How Soda Ash Produced?

Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate) is produced by two main methods, both of which produce chemically identical Soda Ash.

1. Natural Soda Ash production: Natural Soda Ash is produced by extraction naturally occurring Trona ore and then processing this via a simple process of filtering, concentration, crystallisation and drying into Soda Ash which can be sold. Today, this accounts for around 33% of global production. Commercially exploitable Trona deposits only occur geologically in three regions of the world: Enormous deposits in Wyoming, USA, large deposits in Turkey and much smaller and chemically less pure deposits in China. Today, natural Soda Ash is only produced in Wyoming, USA and Turkey.
2. Synthetic Soda Ash production: By synthetic production methods using either the so-called Solvay or Hou processes, in which salt (sodium chloride) is reacted with either limestone or ammonia to produce synthetic Soda Ash. This accounts for about 67% of global production.

Uses of Soda Ash

Soda Ash is an essential, natural raw material used in

• Manufacture of glass, where it reduces the melting temperature of the sand used in glass formation and helps in the 'workability' or shaping of glass articles such as tableware and float glass,
• Making soaps and detergents, where it is employed as a builder, or filler, to give a smoother surface.
• Production of chemicals such as sodium silicate, sodium bicarbonate and percarbonate, and sodium chromate and dichromate
• Pulp and paper manufacture, water treatment, effluent treatment, metallurgy and drugs.

Soda ash plays a key role in numerous industrial sectors such as glass and chemicals, as well as consumer products such as detergents, and also a key raw material to produce lithium carbonate, photovoltaic glass, and glass fibers, all of which play an important role in the energy conversion towards net-zero carbon. The average volume consumption of Soda Ash is as follows:

• Glass – 52%
• Chemical – 28%
• Soap & Detergents – 12%
• Miscellaneous uses – 4%
• Blue Gas Desulfurization – 2%
• Pulp and Paper – 1%
• Water Treatment – 1%