Description

Not everyone knows what soda ash is. But without it, the manufacturing of necessary materials such as glass, paper and detergents would not be possible. You will even find this versatile compound in your kitchen – in the form of baking soda, used in delicious baked goods.

Today, soda ash consistently ranks as one of the top ten inorganic chemicals produced in the world and is an essential raw material to a variety of industries.

• Light Ash.
• Dense Ash.
• Refined Sodium Bicarbonate.

Soda Ash is used as a builder or filler in the formulation of soaps, detergents, and other cleaning compounds. In the glass industry it is used to bring down the melting temperature of silica sand (the main raw material of glass). In the paper industry, soda ash is used in the preparation of the sodium sulphite buffer liquid used in the pulp manufacturing process. Soda ash even finds an application in the water treatment segment, by adjusting the pH of water when it is acidic.

Uses
Light soda ash
Light soda ash is an important basic industrial chemical, widely used in fixed alkali manufacturing of products such as glass, sodium salts, soap, sodium silicates, detergents, bicarbonates, pulp and paper, iron and steel, aluminum, cleaning compounds, water softening chemicals, and textile dyes.

Dense soda ash
Dense soda ash is an important industrial chemical used in the glass, silicate, detergent, and other industries.

Refined sodium bicarbonate
Refined sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda, is used in the manufacture of specialty bakery items, textiles, chemicals, oral care products, deodorizers and personal care products. It is also used for vegetable cleaning applications and in the blasting of metals.

Properties and Manufacturing
Soda ash Light
Light ash is produced using the ammonia-soda process, popularly known as the Solvay process. Common salt and limestone are the key raw materials processed and converted into soda ash and calcium chloride. Light soda ash is a white, odorless, uniform product which has a tendency to absorb moisture from the atmosphere.
• Chemical Formula: Na2CO3
• Common Names: Sodium Carbonate, Calcined Soda, Disodium Carbonate

Dense Soda Ash
Dense soda ash is mainly sodium carbonate with two water molecules and is produced by densification and crystallisation of light ash. Its density is almost double that of light ash. Dense soda ash dissolves readily in hard and soft water
• Chemical Formula: Na2CO3 .nH2O
• Common Names: Sodium carbonate, calcined soda, disodium carbonate

Refined sodium bicarbonate
Refined sodium bicarbonate is formed when wet crude bicarbonate is calcined and is dissolved to form slurry. Slurry is then filtered and polished in the filtering equipment. The clear solution is then carbonated in a carbonation tower to form sodium bicarbonate crystals which are centrifuged, washed, dried and packed.
• Chemical Formula: NaHCO3
• Common Names: Baking Soda, Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, Sodium Acid Carbonate