Mouthwash

Raw materials

1. Water (a diluent, making up over 50% of the entire formula)

2. Alcohol (a diluent typically used in up to 20% of the formula)

3. Antibacterial agent such as parachlormetacresol (chlorinated phenol) or hexachloraphene (substantive to the mucous membrane which makes it ideal for longer lasting formulas) or quatemary compounds (used because of their non-toxic and non-irritant nature and is also effective against plaque) or thymol (obtained from volatile oils, is used at low concentrations and in conjunction with other ingredients)

4. Colouring (most common colors, blue and green)

5. Flavoring such as peppermint or menthol or methyl salicylate or eugenol

6. Synthetic detergent (gives extra foaming and cleansing action)

Process

1. Water is specially treated to remove various particles and ions which might impact flavor. Water treated as such is called deionized water. The sources of water vary, coming from reserves such as underground wells, lakes, and rivers.

2. Mouthwash is made via a batch process in an area of the manufacturing plant called compounding. Here operators, called compounders, make batches of 2,000-3,000 gal (7,571-11,356 L) of mouthwash following specific formula instructions.

Product

Mouthwash

Used for

Oral hygine

Production facility

Mount Gambier, SA

Export

Port-Novo, Benin

Marbles

Raw materials

1. Sand

2. Soda lime

3. Silica

4. Pigments

Process

1. Sand, soda lime, and crushed cullet are fed into a large, furnace-driven tank. In the tank, the mixture is heated to 1260°C to melt the raw materials. This can take as long as 28 hours.

2. Molten mixture moves out of the tank through an opening into a flow tank where an opening in the tank injects molten colored glass (a green marble has been injected with glass containing iron oxide; blue marble with cobalt;  purple marble with manganese; greenish-yellow marble with uranium oxide). The speed and force of the injection determines the final design of the marble. Multicolored marbles are made by using a grooved feeder device, patented by the Akro Agate Company.

3. The still-molten glass is released from the flow tank as globs of glass. Automatic cutting devices slice the mixture into equal parts.

4. Finally, the globs travel down metal ramps that simultaneously cool them and perfect their spherical shape.

Product

Marbles

Used for

Playing (as a toy)

Production facility

Mount Barker, SA

Export

Islamabad, Pakistan

Magnets

Raw materials

1. Neodymium

2. Iron

3. Boron

Process

1. Neodymium, iron, and boron are heated to melting in a vacuum (vacuum prevents any chemical reaction between air and the melting materials that might contaminate the final metal alloy).

2. Once the metal has cooled and solidified, it is broken up and crushed into small pieces. The small pieces are then ground into a fine powder in a ball mill.

3. The powdered metal is placed in a mold and a magnetic force is applied to the powdered material to line up the powder particles. 

4. The powder is pressed from the top and bottom with mechanical rams.

5. The compressed "slug" of powdered metal is removed from the die and placed in an oven. The process of heating compressed powdered metals to transform them into fused, solid metal pieces is called sintering.

6. The material is cooled down slowly in controlled, step-by-step temperature increments.

7. The sintered material then undergoes a second controlled heating and cooling process known as annealing which removes any residual stresses within the material and strengthens it.

8. The material is then given a protective coating to seal the surfaces.

9. Up to this point, the material is just a piece of compressed and fused metal. Even though it was subjected to a magnetic force during pressing, that force didn't magnetize the material, it simply lined up the loose powder particles. To turn it into a magnet, the piece is placed between the poles of a very powerful electromagnet and oriented in the desired direction of magnetization. The electromagnet is then energized for a period of time. The magnetic force aligns the groups of atoms, or magnetic domains, within the material to make the piece into a strong permanent magnet.

 

Product

Magnet

Used for

Picking up magnetic items (iron nails, staples, tacks, paper clips), hold notes on a refrigerator door

 

Production facility

Rockingham, WA

 

Export

Belmopan, Belize

Light bulbs

Raw materials

1. Tungsten

2. Nickel-iron wire

3. Glass

4. Mixture of argon and nitrogen

5. Aluminium

Process

1. The filament (tungsten) is manufactured through a process known as drawing.

2. The glass bulbs or casings are produced using a ribbon machine.

3. The base of the bulb (aluminum) is constructed using molds. It is made with indentations in the shape of a screw so that it can easily fit into the socket of a light fixture.

4. In assembling the light bulb, the filament is mounted to the stem assembly with its ends clamped to the two lead-in wires, air inside the bulb is evacuated and the casing is filled with an argon and nitrogen mixture (ensures a longer-life for the filament), and finally, the base and the bulb are sealed.

Product

Light bulb

Used for

Lighting

Production facility

Mandurah, WA

Export

Brussels, Belgium

Glue

Raw materials

1. Scraps of hide of animal

2. Lime

3. Zinc oxide

Process

1. Hides are washed to remove dirt and are soaked to soften them. This material is called stock.

2. The stock is passed through a series of water baths in which more and more lime is added to make the hides swell and break them down. The swollen hides are rinsed in a large washing machine to remove the lime. The last traces of lime are eliminated by treating the stock with a weak acid (acetic acid). Finally, the stock is cooked either by boiling it in open tanks or cooking it under pressure in autoclaves.

3. Cooking at the correct temperature and for the right length of time breaks down the collagen and converts it into glue.

4. To remove impurities and make the glue clear, chemicals like alum or acid followed by egg albumin may be added. These chemicals cause the impurities to precipitate.

5. Zinc oxide is added to produce white "school glue."

6. To this point, the glue is a weak, runny liquid. It is made more concentrated in vacuum evaporators and dried.

Product

Glue

Used for

Adhering or bonding items together

 

Production facility

Joondalup, WA

Export

Minsk, Belarus 

Poster glue

Raw materials

1. Cornflour (that contains gluten)

2. Water

3. Sugar

Process

1. 2 tablespoons of water is added to half a packet of cornflour and mixed until it becomes a thick paste.

2. 3 cups of boiling water is mixed into the paste and stirred until mixture is smooth producing poster glue and is left to cool.

Product

Poster glue

Used for

Arts and crafts such as book binding, decoupage, collage and papier-mâché

Production facility

Fremantle, WA

Export

Bridgetown, Barbados

Fertilizer

Raw materials

1. Ammonium nitrate

2. Potassium chloride

3. Ammonium phosphate

Process

1. The different compounds are granulated and blended together by putting the solid materials into a rotating drum which has an inclined axis. As the drum rotates, pieces of the solid fertilizer take on small spherical shapes.

2. A coating of inert dust is applied to the particles, keeping each one discrete and inhibiting moisture retention and the particles is then dried. 

3. The different types of particles are blended together in appropriate proportions to produce a composite fertilizer. The blending is done in a large mixing drum that rotates a specific number of turns to produce the best mixture possible.

Product

Fertilizer

Used for

Supplying plants nutrients essential to the growth of plants

Production facility

Geraldton, WA

Export

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dry Ice

Raw material

1. Carbon dioxide

Process

1. Carbon dioxide is liquefied by compressing and cooling.
2. The liquid carbon dioxide is held under pressure and kept refrigerated so that it remains in liquid state.

3. Liquid carbon dioxide is released into dry ice press. When the liquid moves from a highly-pressurized environment to atmospheric pressure, it expands and evaporates at high speeds causing the liquid to cool to its freezing point which is −78.3°C. A nozzle puts the liquid into the top block of a dry ice press. This press includes a large block at the top that can exert extreme pressure on the product that is brought into it. When the liquid carbon dioxide hits the block of the dry ice press, it immediately solidifies. The carbon dioxide now resembles snow.

4. This snow is compressed into a block of dry ice.

 

Product

Dry ice (also referred to as "Cardice"  or "card ice" - the solid form of carbon dioxide)

Used for/in

Preserving food; flash freezing food, laboratory biological samples, and carbonated beverages; making ice-cream; arresting and preventing insect activity in closed containers of grains and grain products; fog machines; freezing and removing warts; bait to trap mosquitoes, bedbugs, and other insects due to their attraction to carbon dioxide; plumbing (plumbers use an equipment that forces pressurized liquid CO₂ into a jacket around a pipe and the dry ice formed causes the water to freeze, forming an ice plug allowing them to perform repairs without turning off the water mains)

Production facility

Kwinana, WA

Export

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Chewing gum

Raw materials

1. Latex (chicle)

2. Saccharine (artificial sweetener)

3. Spearmint 

4. Butylated hydroxyoluene (preservative)

5. Vegetable oil (softerner)

Process

1. Latex is gridded, mixed and dried.

2. Gum base is cooked at 116 degrees Celsius until it has melted into a thick syrup and is then purified by passing through screens and place it in a high speed centrifuge before refiltering it, this time through finer screens.

3. Additional ingredients (saccharine, spearmint, butylated hydroxyoluene, vegetable oil) are stirred in by large steel blades.

4. Mass of chewing gum is kneaded until properly rubbery and smooth and is then flattened by rollers.

5. Chewing gum is cut to size.

Product

Chewing gum

Used for

Chewing

Production facility

Chicago, Illinois

Export

Canberra, Australia

Bleach

Raw materials

1. Chlorine

2. Caustic soda

3. Water

Process

1. Caustic soda is usually produced (and shipped) as a concentrated 50% solution. The concentrated solution is diluted with water to form a new 25% solution. Heat is created when the water dilutes the strong caustic soda solution. The diluted caustic soda is cooled before it is reacted.

2. Chlorine and the diluted caustic soda solution are reacted to form sodium hypochlorite bleach.

3. The bleach solution is then cooled to help prevent decomposition.

Product

Bleach

Used for

Removing color, whitening, or disinfecting

Production facility

Bunbury, WA

Export

Nassau, Bahamas

Aluminium

Raw materials

1. Bauxite

Process

Aluminum manufacture is accomplished in two phases: 

1. Bayer process of refining the bauxite ore to obtain aluminum oxide

2. Hall-Heroult process of smelting the aluminum oxide to release pure aluminum

Product

Aluminium

Production facility

Pinjarra, WA

Export

Manama, Bahrain

Baking powder

Raw materials

1. Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)

2. Potassium hydrogen tartrate (waste product from wine making)

3. Cornstarch (helps keep the product dry, keeps the acids and bases separated and prevents them from reacting during storage, and adds bulk to the powder to make it easier to measure and standardize)

Process

1. Potassium hydrogen tartrate is purified and converted to calcium tartrate. Using sulfuric acid, the calcium tartrate is hydrolyzed to produce calcium sulfate and tartaric acid. These materials are then separated and the resulting tartaric acid is purified and dried.

2. Sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid, and cornstarch are transferred to a blending area and is then transferred through vacuum tubing to the filling machine.

Product

Baking powder

Used for

Increasing the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods such as muffins, cakes, and scones

Production facility

Albany, WA

Export

Baku, Azerbaijan

Baking soda

Raw material

1. Soda ash (obtained from trona ore)

Process

1. Soda ash is put into a centrifuge, which separates the liquid from the crystals.

2. Crystals is dissolved in a bicarbonate solution (a soda ash solution made by the manufacturer) in a rotary dissolver, thereby becoming a saturated solution. 

3. Solution is filtered to remove any non-soluble materials and is then pumped through a feed tank to the top of a carbonating tower.

4. Purified carbon dioxide is introduced into the bottom of the tower and held under pressure.  As the saturated sodium solution moves through the tower, it cools and reacts with the carbon dioxide to form sodium bicarbonate crystals. 

5. Crystals are collected at the bottom of the tower and transferred to another centrifuge, where excess solution is filtered out. The crystals are then washed in a bicarbonate solution, forming a cake-like substance ready for drying. 

6. The washed filter cake is then dried on a continuous belt conveyer .

7. Finally, dried crystals of sodium bicarbonate are separated into various grades by particle size.

Product

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

Used in

Food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cleaning compounds, oil well drilling fluids, fire extinguishing materials, water treatment

(Note on size: Powdered #1 and fine granular #2 used in foods, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Granular grades #4 and #5 are found in foods, cleaning compounds, pharmaceuticals, and many other products. Industrial grade sodium bicarbonate is used in oil well drilling fluids, fire extinguishing materials, and water treatment.)

Production facility

Lincoln County, Wyoming

Export

Vienna, Austria

Thread

Raw materials

1. Cotton

Process

Cotton is cleaned, combed, and sorted in a process called drawing that generates a narrow band of cotton fiber. Fiber is slightly twisted to form roving and the roving is drawn and twisted again. It is then spun to form a single thread that is wound and twisted with others to form the thread. Cotton thread is singed over an open flame and mercerized by immersion in caustic soda which strengthen the thread and give it a lustrous finish.

Product

Cotton thread

Used for

Sewing

Production facility

Darling Downs, QLD

Export

Jakarta, Indonesia

Chalk

Raw materials

1. Calcium carbonate

2. Pigments

3. Water

Process

1. Chalk pulverized

2. Pulverized chalk mixed with pigments (to give white chalk colour)

3. Water added to mixture to form a thick slurry with the consistency of clay

4. Slurry placed on sheets

5. Sheets placed in an oven and chalk cures for four days at 85 degrees Celsius

Product

Coloured chalk

Used for

Drawing on rough surfaces

Production facility
Canberra, ACT

Export
Yerevan, Armenia

Paper

Raw materials

1. Wood

2. Bleach

3. Chalk (fillers)

4. Starch (sizing makes the paper resistant to water-based ink i.e. inks sit on top of a sheet of paper, rather than sinking in)

Process

Wood to pulp to paper 

Pulp fed into paper-making machines where a paper web is formed on an endless wire screen. The screen passes through presses and over dryers to the calenders and reels.

Product

Paper

Used for

Writing upon, printing upon, drawing upon, packaging

Production facility
Hobart, TAS

Export
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Erasers

Raw materials

1. Natural rubber (from latex produced by the rubber tree, Hevea brasilienesis)

2. Pigments (iron oxide for red)

3. Sulfur (allows rubber to be vulcanized)

4. Vegetable oil (makes rubber softer and easier to shape)

5. Pumice (a volcanic rock which makes rubber more abrasive)

Process

Mixture of natural rubber, pigments, sulfur, vegetable oil, and pumice is heated and allowed to cool into a solid.

Product

Eraser

Used for

Removing pencil marks (from paper)

Production facility
Melbourne, VIC

Export
St. John's, Antigua

Paint

Raw materials

1. Dry pigments (granular solids)
2. Alcohol (solvent that makes paint easier to apply)

3. Linseed oil (resin that helps paint dry)

4. Calcium carbonate (an additive - fillers give the paint body and substance)

Process

Pigment is premixed with resin (a wetting agent that assists in moistening the pigment), solvent, and additive to form a paste. The paste mixture is put into a sand mill (a large cylinder that agitates tiny particles of sand or silica) to grind the pigment particles, making them smaller and dispersing them throughout the mixture. The mixture is then filtered to remove the sand particles. Mixture is thinned by agitating with the proper amount of solvent to produce the final product.

Product

Paint

Used for

Covering a surface (for the purpose of colouring it, protecting it or treating it)

Production facility
Sydney, NSW

Export
Luanda, Angola

Glass

Raw materials

1. Silica

2. Soda ash (sodium carbonate)

3. Lime (calcium oxide added to provide for a better chemical durability)

Process

Mixture of sand, soda ash, and lime are melted together in furnaces at high temperatures until the mixture become a syrupy mass. When this syrup cools, it is glass. When glass is in a melted state, it can be shaped by many methods, but the most common are blowing, pressing, and drawing.

Product

Soda-lime glass

Used for

Flat glass, container glass

Production facility
Brisbane, QLD

Export
Andorra la Vella, Andorra

Candles

Raw materials

1. Paraffin wax (byproduct of petroleum refining)

2. Wick

3. Fragrance oil

4. Dye

Process

Melting of solid fuel by controlled application of heat. The liquid is then poured into a mold and a wick is repeatedly immersed in the liquid to create a dipped tapered candle.

Product

Candle

Used for

Light, heat, aromatherapy

Production facility
Adelaide, SA 

Export
Algers, Algeria

Essential oil

Raw materials

a. Eucalyptus leaves
b. Citrus peels
c. Jasmine flowers

Process

a. Distillation

The eucalyptus leaves are put into an alembic (distillation apparatus) over water. As the water is heated, the steam passes through the plant material, vaporizing the volatile compounds. The vapors flow through a coil, where they condense back to liquid, which is then collected in the receiving vessel.
b. Expression
The citrus peels are expressed mechanically, or cold pressed (similar to olive oil extraction).
c. Solvent extraction
Most flowers contain too little volatile oil to undergo expression and their chemical components are too delicate and easily denatured by the high heat used in steam distillation. Instead, a solvent such as hexane or supercritical carbon dioxide is used to extract the oils.

Product

a. Eucalyptus essential oil
b. Citrus essential oil
c. Jasmine essential oil

Used in
Perfumes, cosmetics, soaps, flavoring food and drink, adding scents to incense and household cleaning products

Production facility
Darwin, NT

Export
Tirane, Albania

Soap

Raw materials
1. Vegetable oil

2. Lye (a corrosive alkaline, commonly sodium hydroxide or also known as caustic soda)
3. Water
4. Essential oil

Process

Saponification 

A chemical reaction that occurs when a vegetable oil (or animal fat) is mixed with a strong alkali, producing soap and glycerine. Water is also present, but does not enter into the chemical reaction.

Product
Soap

Used in
Washing, bathing, cleaning, textile spinning, lubricants

Production facility
Perth, WA

Export
Kabul, Afghanistan