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)
This is your first chemical product and a pretty simple one in the sense that no complicated chemical reactions go into the process. The only chemical reaction would be the carbon dioxide reacting with the saturated sodium solution. It is a typical purification process - purifying the ore trona (trisodium hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate); Na3H(CO3)2·2H2O which is an evaporite mineral.
ReplyDeleteIn my research institution, we do the same thing but with limestone (impure calcium carbonate). The limestone is dissolved and the saturated calcium solution is reacted with carbon dioxide. The product is pure calcium carbonate called precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), which has many industrial and commercial applications.
CEO