Causticization of sodium carbonate

Additional operations essential to commercial bauxite processing are steam and power generation, heat recovery to minimise energy consumption, process liquor evaporation to maintain a water balance, impurity removal from process liquor streams, classification and washing of ttihydrate, lime caustication of sodium carbonate [497-19-8] to sodium hydroxide [1310-73-2] repair and maintenance of equipment, rehabiUtation of mine and residue disposal sites, and quaUty and process control. Each operation in the process can be carried out in a variety of ways depending upon bauxite properties and optimum economic tradeoffs. 

Chlorine and sodium hydroxide production by the electrolysis of brine solutions necessarily locks the ratio of the two products to the theoretical ratio of the process [45, 46]. When the market for sodium hydroxide exceeds the market for chlorine, the causticization of sodium carbonate to sodium hydroxide (Section 7.3) may be used by some suppliers and consumers to supplement the available sodium hydroxide without producing large amounts of excess chlorine. Another expedient for large-scale chloralkali producers faced with this situation is to stimulate the chlorinated solvent or hydrochloric acid markets in an attempt to increase the consumption of chlorine to restore the balance. These measures are not usually rapid enough to respond over the short term unless the solvent plant is also operated by the chloralkali producer. 

Other processes not linked to chlorine production are the old causticization of sodium carbonate ... 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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