Soda Ash

Manufacturing of Soda ash
(sodium carbonate)
Prepared By
Mohammed Ahmed Abbas, PhD

Soda Ash
 Soda ash is the commercial name of the technical grade sodium

carbonate (Na2CO3) which is a white crystalline hygroscopic
powder. It is the third largest chemical manufactured chemical in
the world next to sulfuric acid and ammonia.
 Comparatively, baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate), a byproduct of
the soda ash industry also enjoys good market demand. While soda
ash is commercially used for the production of glass, inorganic
chemicals, soaps, synthetic detergents and processed food, baking
soda is primarily used as a leavening agent and in medicines.
Types of soda ash
 Soda ash is manufactured in four types: light, medium, granular

and dense soda ash according to the shape, size of the particles and
bulk density to suit various industrial requirements. The main
manufacturing types that are used are the dense and light.
Dense soda ash has a bulk density varying from 0.95 t/ m3 to 1.1t/ m3,
and it is preferred in the glass industry because of its particle size that
has the same size as the silica sand and these results in a homogeneous
mixing of raw materials and produce a high quality product
 Light soda ash has a bulk density ranging from 0.52t/m3 to
0.60t/m3, and it is mostly preferred for chemical, soaps and
detergents applications. The advantage of using light soda ash in
detergents and chemicals is that its smaller size of the particle
provides a free flowing natureand it increases the reactivity.
Uses of soda ash

1. Glass industry – About 48% of soda ash is used in the glass
manufacturing, including flat glass and mirrors.
2. Chemical industry - about 26 % of soda ash is used in the chemical
industry processing.
3. Soda ash is used in producing chemicals that are used in several
applications, including sodium phosphates, sodium silicates, sodium
hydroxide, and sodium bicarbonate.
Uses of soda ash- cont.
4. Soaps and detergents - Soda ash acts as a builder or water softener
in the formulation of soaps, detergents and other cleaning products.
Soda ash also acts as a source of alkalinity for adjusting the pH.
5. Steel industry - Soda ash is used in steel industry as a flux,

desulfurizer, dephosphorizer and denitrider.
6. Non-ferrous metallurgy.
7. Other applications – production of various chemical fertilizers,

production of synthetic detergents, production of artificial sodium
bentonites, organic and inorganic colouring industry, petroleum
industry and natural gas refining, enamelling industry and fats, glue
and gelatin industry, etc
26
chemicals
distributors
gas
48 pulp and paper
water treatment
other
flue gas desulfurization
11
5
4 22
The world production of soda ash
 The world production capacity of soda ash and baking soda is

estimated to be 42 million tons in 2005 and 1 million tons in 2001
respectively. The production of soda ash for the period from 2010 to
2018 illustrated in table (1) and fig. 1.
Table 1: The production of soda ash for the period from 2010
to 2018
year Synthetic soda ash Natural soda ash
2010 34700 12800
2011 38300 13000
2012 39000 13900
2013 36900 14400
2014 36900 14400
2015 39200 14200
2016 39200 14400
2017 39500 14500
2018 40000 15000
Fig. 1: The production of soda ash for the period from 2010 to 2018
45000
40000
39500 40000
39000 39200 39200
38300
36900 36900
35000
34700
30000
25000
Synthetic
20000 Natural
15000
14500 15000
13900 14400 14400 14200 14400
12800 13000
10000
5000
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Technology processes of Manufacturing of soda ash
1.Synthetic processes of soda ash (ammonia soda process)
A- Solvay process
 The basic raw materials that are used:

 salt, limestone and coke or natural gas and also ammonia as a
cyclic reagent.
 more than 90 % of soda ash and baking soda are manufactured
using Solvay’s process.
A- Solvay process – cont,
 In this process the ammonia reacts with carbon dioxide and water to
form ammonium bicarbonate. The ammonium bicarbonate is then
reacted with salt to form sodium bicarbonate, which is calcinated to
form sodium carbonate. Chloride is formed as a byproduct and is
neutralized with lime to produce calcium chloride. Almost all the
ammonia used in the reactions is recovered and recycled. The Solvay
process can be summarized by the following theoretical chemical
reaction:
2NaCl + CaCO3 Na2CO3 + CaCl2

A- Solvay process – cont,
 Practically the above reaction cannot directly apply, so the Solvay

process needs the use of other substances and also many different
process steps before getting to the final product which is soda ash.
The Solvay process includes the following stages:
1. Production of a saturated salt solution {NaCl + H2O}
2. Burning of limestone and the CO2 recovered which is used in stage 4

while CaO is used in stage 7.
CaCO3 CaO + CO2
3. Saturation of the salt solution with ammonia

NaCl + H2O + NH3 + CO2
A- Solvay process – cont.
4. Precipitation of bicarbonate by adding carbon dioxide (from

stage 2 and 6)
NaCl + H2O + NH3 + CO2 NH4Cl + NaHCO3
5. Filtration and washing of sodium bicarbonate
6. Thermal decomposition of sodium bicarbonate to sodium
carbonate (the carbon dioxide that is given off is recycled to
stage 4)
2NaHCO3 Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2
7. Production of milk of lime
CaO + H2O Ca(OH)2
B. DUAL (Modified Solvay process)
 DUAL process uses mainly salt (sodium chloride), carbon dioxide

and ammonia as raw materials. This process does not require
limestone, an important raw material that is used in the Solvay
process.
 This synthetic process combines the production of soda ash with the
production of ammonium chloride. The ammonium chloride
produced is crystallized by cooling and through the addition of solid
sodium chloride unlike in the Solvay process.
 The ammonium chloride is formed through the following chemical
reaction:
 NaCl + NH3 + CO2 + H2O NaHCO3 + NH4Cl

Process description
1. Ammonia absorption
NH3 + H2O NH4OH
2NH4OH + CO2 (NH4)2CO3 + H2O
2. Carbonation of the ammonia brine and production of sodium

bicarbonate and ammonium chloride
(NH4)2CO3 + CO2 + H2O 2NH4HCO3
(NH4)HCO3 + NaCl NaHCO3 + NH4Cl
3. Filtration of sodium bicarbonate
4. Crystallization and separation of ammonium chloride

5. Decomposition of bicarbonate into soda ash and recovery of carbon
dioxide
2NaHCO + Heat Na CO + H O + CO
Natural processes
 Soda ash can also be produced from natural soda reserves. Natural
soda ash-containing brines and deposits. trona is a relatively rare,
non-metallic mineral. The pure trona material contains 70.39% of
sodium carbonate.
 Because trona is an impure sodium sesquicarbonate mineral
(Na2CO3.NaHCO3.2H2O), it has to be processed by calcinations of the
excess carbon dioxide and removing water to produce soda ash.
 Trona purification processes
 The raw trona can be processed by the use of different methods:

sesquicarbonate process, monohydrate process, alkali extraction
process and carbonation process.
 The two processes (monohydrate process and sesquicarbonate process)
are mainly used to produce refined soda ash (sodium carbonate
(Na2CO3) from trona. Both processes entail the same unit operations
only in different sequences.
 Monohydrate Process
This process involves crushing and screening of trona ore. Trona ore
contains sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and sodium bicarbonate
(NaHCO3) and also some impurities such as silicates and organic

matter. After the screening of the trona ore, it is calcined (heated) at the
temperature between 150oC and 300oC using rotary gas-fired and coal
grate-fired calciners to convert sodium bicarbonate to sodium
carbonate.
 The crude soda ash is then dissolved in hot, clear recycled liquor
which is then clarified and filtered to separate the solution from the
insoluble solids. Sometimes the liquor is sent through activated
carbon beds before crystallization to remove dissolved organic
matter which may affect the crystallizer performance by foaming
and colour problems in the final product.
 Sodium carbonate monohydrate is precipitated by evaporative
crystallization. The monohydrate slurry is centrifuged and the
monohydrate crystals are then sent to dryers to produce soda ash.
Sesquicarbonate process
 In this process trona ore is dissolved in hot liquor, clarified, filtered

to remove insolubles and then sent to be crystallized by cooling to
form sodium sesquicarbonate, Na2CO3.NaHCO3.2H2O. The
sesquicarbonate crystals are then separated from the mother liquor
centrifuged and calcined to produce soda ash (anhydrous sodium
carbonate).
Availability of trona
 In Sudan, trona deposits were found in many locations at Atrun
oasis and other small basins around Atrun area. The deposit in
all basins was found in many forms as hard bedsat the middle
and bottoms of the old lakes or disseminated through the sand
in the upper part. The total estimated reserve is about
38,460,000 tons. The average quantity of sodium carbonate in
the crude stocks is about 60%; the net expected sodium
carbonate is 23,076,000 tons.
Project justification
Sudan is import considerable quantities of soda ash for various

industries such as textile, paper, soap and detergent, carbonated
beverages, leather industry and water purification; therefore, there is a
reasonable market for soda ash in Sudan. The manufacturing of soda
ash in Sudan from domestic materials is of economical value through
replacement of imports and providing hard currencies to the state
treasury.
Project Objective
To produce a technical grades of soda ash and baking soda by using

existing local resource in order to achieve self sufficiency in meeting the
local demand for existing and planned industries for soda ash.
Project justification
 Sudan is import considerable quantities of soda ash for various

industries such as textile, paper, soap and detergent,
carbonated beverages, leather industry and water purification;
therefore, there is a reasonable market for soda ash in Sudan.
The manufacturing of soda ash in Sudan from domestic
materials is of economical value through replacement of
imports and providing hard currencies to the state treasury.

Soda Ash

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Soda Ash

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Soda Ash

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Manufacturing of Soda ash

Mohammed Ahmed Abbas, PhD

 Soda ash is the commercial name of the technical grade sodium

 Soda ash is manufactured in four types: light, medium, granular

Uses of soda ash

5. Steel industry - Soda ash is used in steel industry as a flux,

7. Other applications – production of various chemical fertilizers,

 The world production capacity of soda ash and baking soda is

1.Synthetic processes of soda ash (ammonia soda process)

 The basic raw materials that are used:

2NaCl + CaCO3 Na2CO3 + CaCl2

 Practically the above reaction cannot directly apply, so the Solvay

2. Burning of limestone and the CO2 recovered which is used in stage 4

3. Saturation of the salt solution with ammonia

4. Precipitation of bicarbonate by adding carbon dioxide (from

 DUAL process uses mainly salt (sodium chloride), carbon dioxide

 NaCl + NH3 + CO2 + H2O NaHCO3 + NH4Cl

2NH4OH + CO2 (NH4)2CO3 + H2O

2. Carbonation of the ammonia brine and production of sodium

(NH4)HCO3 + NaCl NaHCO3 + NH4Cl

3. Filtration of sodium bicarbonate

4. Crystallization and separation of ammonium chloride

 The raw trona can be processed by the use of different methods:

only in different sequences.

(NaHCO3) and also some impurities such as silicates and organic

 In this process trona ore is dissolved in hot liquor, clarified, filtered

Sudan is import considerable quantities of soda ash for various

To produce a technical grades of soda ash and baking soda by using

 Sudan is import considerable quantities of soda ash for various

You might also like