Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate) Crusher and Processing plant
About Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate, commonly referred to as soda ash, is one of the largest-volume mineral products in the U. S., with 1991 production of over 9 million megagrams (Mg) (10.2 million tons). Soda ash is used mostly in the production of glass, chemicals, soaps, and detergents, and by consumers. Demand depends to great extent upon the price of, and environmental issues surrounding, caustic soda, which is interchangeable with soda ash in many uses and is widely coproduced with chlorine.
Sodium carbonate (Soda Ash)Processing
Soda ash may be manufactured synthetically or from naturally occurring raw materials such as ore. Only 1 U. S. facility recovers small quantities of Na2CO3 synthetically as a byproduct of cresylic acid production. Other synthetic processes include the Solvay process, which involves saturation of brine with ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2) gas, and the Japanese ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) coproduction process. Both of these synthetic processes generate ammonia emissions. Natural processes include the calcination of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), or nahcolite, a naturally occurring ore found in vast quantities in Colorado.
The 2 processes currently used to produce natural soda ash differ only in the recovery stage in primary treatment of the raw material used. The raw material for Wyoming soda ash is mined trona ore, while California soda ash comes from sodium carbonate rich brine extracted from Searles Lake.
There are 4 distinct methods used to mine the Wyoming trona ore: (1) solution mining, (2) room-and-pillar, (3) longwall, and (4) shortwall. In solution mining, dilute sodium hydroxide (NaOH), commonly called caustic soda, is injected into the trona to dissolve it. This solution is treated with CO2 gas in carbonation towers to convert the Na2CO3 in solution to NaHCO3, which precipitates and is filtered out. The crystals are again dissolved in water, precipitated with carbon dioxide, and filtered. The product is calcined to produce dense soda ash. Brine extracted from below Searles Lake in California is treated similarly.
Blasting is used in the room-and-pillar, longwall, and shortwall methods. The conventional blasting agent is prilled ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) and fuel oil, or ANFO. Beneficiation is accomplished with either of 2 methods, called the sesquicarbonate and the monohydrate processes. In the sesquicarbonate process, shown schematically in Figure 8.12-1, trona ore is first dissolved in water (H2O) and then treated as brine. This liquid is filtered to remove insoluble impurities before the sodium sesquicarbonate (Na2CO3 NaHCO32H2O) is precipitated out using vacuum crystallizers. The result is centrifuged to remove remaining water, and can either be sold as a finished product or further calcined to yield soda ash of light to intermediate density. In the monohydrate process, shown schematically in Figure 8.12-2, crushed trona is calcined in a rotary kiln, yielding dense soda ash and carbon dioxide and water as byproducts. The calcined material is combined with water to allow settling out or filtering of impurities such as shale, and is then concentrated by triple-effect evaporators and/or mechanical vapor recompression crystallizers to precipitate sodium carbonate monohydrate (Na2CO3H2O). Impurities such as sodium chloride (NaCl) and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) remain in solution. The crystals and liquor are centrifuged, and the recovered crystals are calcined again to remove remaining water. The product must then be cooled, screened, and possibly bagged, before shipping.


Specific process configuration requires the actual situation according to the site specific analysis. For more details, you can chat online or leaving a message through click here.
 Soda Ash Ore Crusher stone crusher