MANUFACTURE

OF
SODA ASH

1
Scope of presentation

 Tata Chemicals Introduction

Soda Ash - Introduction
Soda Ash - Technology

2
TATA CHEMICALS LIMITED
* Leading manufacturer of inorganic chemicals and
fertilizers in India
* Part of the US$ 11 billion Tata Group
* Operates the largest inorganic chemicals complex
in India and a state-of-the-art fertiliser plant.
* The largest producer of soda ash and vacuum
evaporated iodized salt in India
* Soda ash, salt, marine based chemicals as also
cement manufactured at the Mithapur chemicals
complex.
* Fertilizer Division in Babrala, UP 2250 TPD, A
Modern urea plant benchmarked for energy and
environmental performance.
3
Tata Chemicals Ltd, Chemicals Division - Mithapur

 Located on the West Coast of Gujarat of India

 Promoted by Tata Sons in 1939 for manufacture of Soda Ash
Mithapur – City of salt
 Ideal conditions for salt works
Sea coast with Gulf having higher salinity
Low rainfall with good sunshine
Open, flat expanse of land
High wind velocities
 Chemical Grade Limestone mines nearby.
 Mithapur is the hub of the Company’s inorganic chemical
business

4
 TATA CHEM Soda Ash

 Tata Chemicals is the biggest producer of Soda Ash in

India and South Asia.
 Salt and limestone, the two main raw materials of soda
ash come from own resources
 Installed capacity of 8,75,000 Tonnes / annum
 Has always contributed to 40 % or more of the Soda
Ash capacity in the country
 Manufactures multiple variants of soda ash to cater to
customised requirements
5
THE PROCESS

6
 THE PROCESS
The process can be represented by the following simplified equation :

2NaCl + CaCO3 ===> Na2CO3 + CaCl2

The process includes the following stages :

1. Production of a saturated salt solution

NaCl + H2O

2. Burning of Limestone (the CO2 liberated is used in stage 4)

CaCO3 ===> CaO + CO2

3 Saturation of the salt solution with ammonia

NaCl + H2O + NH3

4. Precipitation of bicarbonate by the introduction of carbon dioxide

(from stage 2 & 6)
NaCl + H2O + NH3 + CO2 ===> NH4Cl + NaHCO3

5. Filtering and washing of precipitated bicarbonate

7
 THE PROCESS

6. Thermal decomposition of the bicarbonate to sodium carbonate (the CO 2

evolved in recycled to stage 4
2NaHCO3 ===> Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O

7. Production of milk of lime

CaO + H2O ===> Ca(OH)2

8. Recovery of ammonia by distillation of the mother liquor from stage 4

(bicarbonate precipitation) with milk of lime (the ammonia liberated is
recycled to stage 3)
2NH4Cl + Ca(OH)2 ===> 2NH3 + CaCl2 + 2H2O

8
THE TECHNOLOGY

9
 THE TECHNOLOGY
 The solvay ammonia soda process is shown schematically in the attached block
diagram.

 The main operational stages are shown in the numbered bold rectangles.

10
 Soda Ash Process Flow Diagram

SALT
(NaCl)
BRINE AMMONIA
SALT AMMONIA
PREPARATION
WATER DISSOLVERS ABSORBER
& PURIFICATION

LIMESTONE

COKE CO2 CARBONATING

LIME KILNS FILTERS
TOWERS

LIME CO2 FILTER LIQUOR

WATER MOL AMMONIA

STEAM TUBE
PREPARATION DRYERS STILLS

MILK OF LIME
PRODUCT SODA ASH (Na2CO3) EFFLUENT CONTAINING CaCl2
Stage 1: Brine preparation and purification.
This section is subdivided in to,

1. De-maging of sea water. (preparation of weak brine)

2. Dissolving solar salt in weak brine.
3. Purification of brine.

1. De-Maging of Sea Water

Removal of Mg from the sea water is called Demaging

MgCl2 + Ca(OH)2 ===> Mg(OH)2 + CaCl2

MgSO4 + Ca(OH)2 ===> Mg(OH)2 + CaSO4

2. Dissolving Solar salt in Weak Brine

Weak brine is pumped through static salt bed to produce saturated brine

13
3. Purification of Brine
Purification of brine, which should be as near saturation as possible to achieve optimum
Na+ utilization, is carried out by the lime - soda process. Magnesium ions are precipitated as
hydroxide, and calcium ions as carbonate.

Mg++ + Ca(OH)2 ===> Mg(OH)2 + Ca++

Ca++ + Na2CO3 ===> CaCO3  + 2Na++

Purified brine is stored for further processing.

Pure brine requirement - approx.. 5.5 kl/ton Soda ash.

14
Stage 2: Limestone burning and Lime slaking.
Limestone must be of high purity.
SiO2 : less than 3%
Fe2O3 + Al2O3 : less than 1.5&
Desired size : 50 mm to 100 mm

Both CO2 for carbonation stage and calcium oxide for the distillative recovery of ammonia are
produced by calcination of limestone with coke.

Coke required for calcination shall have this following specs.

Fixed Carbon : 85 to 88 %
Ash : 8 to 10 %
Calorific Value : 6800 cal / gm
Size : 25 mm to 50 mm

In the system CaCO3 ===> CaO + CO2, the equilibrium pressure of CO2, (Partial pressure of
CO2) varies logarithmically with absolute temperature.

The best calcination temperature lies between 1050 and 1100 º C

15
Stage 3: Ammonia absorption
Gases from the distillation stage contains NH3 and CO2 and is saturated with water vapor. In
the absorption stage this gas is absorbed by purified brine..

NH3 + H2O ===> NH4OH

2NH4OH + CO2 ===> (NH4)2CO3 + H2O

The required amount of Sulphide gas is dozed in the ammoniated brine to give a proper
sulphide coating to all the succeeding equipment to impair white colour to the product.

16
Stage 4: Precipitation of Bicarbonate
The precipitation of Sodium bicarbonate is an exothermic process in which ammoniacal
brine from the absorption tower is reacted with carbon dioxide from the lime kiln (Stage 2) and
from the calcination stage (Stage 6). Cast iron columns are used for this reaction.

The suspension of bicarbonate in mother liquor leaves the carbonation stage at 30 º C.

NaCl + H2O + NH3 + CO2 ===> NH4Cl + NaHCO3

17
Stage 5: Filtration of Bicarbonate
Bicarbonate is separated from the mother liquor in continuous rotary vacuum filters.
Mother liquor adhering to the bicarbonate crystals is washed off with water.

The quantity of washing water required depends on the particle size of the precipitated
Bicarbonate.

18
Stage 6: Calcination of Bicarbonate
Thermal decomposition of crude bicarbonate to carbonate liberates carbon dioxide,
ammonia and water vapor.

The main reaction is, 2NaHCO3 ===> Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O

Side reactions are, NH4HCO3 ===> NH3 + CO2 + H2O

NaHCO3 + NH4Cl ===> NH3 + CO2 + H2O + NaCl

The heat requirement for calcination in Steam tube dryer is 3.7 GJ/ton of Soda ash and is
supplied by 28 Kg/cm² steam.

19
Stage 7: Recovery of Ammonia
Ammonia present in the filtrate as ammonium carbonate, hydrogen carbonate, sulphate and
chloride is recovered by distillation followed by absorption.

2NH4Cl + Ca(OH)2 ===> 2NH3 + 2H2O + CaCl2

(NH4)2SO4 + Ca(OH)2 ===> 2NH3 + 2H2O + CaSO4

Free ammonia is displaced from solution with low-pressure steam(1 kg/cm²).

Distillation gas, which contains, NH3 and CO2, is cooled to approx.. 65 ºC, In still condenser and
still pre heater

20
Waste Disposal in Soda Ash Plant
Solids originated mainly from impurities in the limestone and coke, and include uncalcined
or dead-burnt limestone.

The effluent liquor is passed through effluent treatment plant and finally at cement plant where
solids are used as a raw material to produce clinker, and pumped in to large settling ponds. The
clear liquor is diluted using sea water and discharged directly in to sea.

21
Quality Specification
The product obtained by the solvay process is Light Soda ash has a bulk density of 0.6 to 0.7
Kg/l.; Dense Soda ash 1.05 to 1.1 Kg/l.

A typical analysis is given below:

Na2CO3 99.11 Fe2O3 0.004 %

NaCl 0.76 % Water insoluble 0.10 %
Na2SO4 0.02 %

The difference in particle-size distribution between light and dense soda ash is shown by the
following value:

Light ash (%) Dense ash (%)

>2 mm 0.1 0.2
2-1 mm 0.5 5
1-0.5 mm 1 26
0.5 -0.25 mm 10 50
0.25-0.125 mm 30 14
0.125-0.063 mm 38 4
<0.063 mm 20.4 0.8

22
Storage and Transportation
Soda ash is hygroscopic, gradually taking moisture and carbon dioxide during
transportation and storage. This converts the surface of sodium carbonate to the bicarbonate
and leads to a weight increase of up to 1.5 % with in 30 minutes at 96 % R.H. Due to this reason
we have 100% of our packing done in HDPE bags.

23
 MANUFACTURING
OF
SODIUM BICARBONATE

24
Manufacturing of Sodium Bicarbonate

Precipitate of Sodium Bicarbonate is obtained by reacting Soda solution with CO2 gas in the
tower.

Precipitate of NaHCO3 is separated and washed off in semi batch type centrifuge and dried by
fluidization with hot air.

Reaction: NaHCO3 + H2O + CO2 ===> 2NaHCO3

25
26
Manufacture of Dense Soda ash

27
Manufacturing of Dense Soda Ash
Dense ash is mainly used in manufacturing of glass.

Chemical composition of Dense ash is same as of Light Soda ash. The difference is in bulk
density and particle size.

Operating stages:

Mechanical Process Chemical Process

1. Compacting 1. Hydration
2. Crushing 2. Drying
3. Screening 3. Screening

Plant Capacity:

1. Mono Hydrate plant : 600 TPD

2. New Dense ash plant : 480 TPD

28
New Dense Ash Plant (Mechanical Process)

Compacting:

Light Soda ash is compacted as briquettes by briquetting machine.

Crushing:

Briquettes are crushed by a disintegrator and fed to vibrating screens.

Screening:

Oversize from upper deck of double deck screen is recycled to the disintegrator. Oversize of
the bottom screen is packed as Dense ash in HDPE bags.

29
Mono Hydrate Plant (chemical Process)

Hydration

Light Soda ash is hydrated in hydrator by adding water.

Drying

Drying and calcination takes place by fluidizing with hot air

Screening
Oversize from upper deck of double deck screen is recycled and crushed
mechanically. Oversize of the bottom screen is packed as Dense ash in HDPE
bags.

30
31
THANK YOU

32