Plastics manufacturing, chemicals used sodium hydroxide

The products of the chlor-alkali process are all useful. Sodium hydroxide is used to make soaps and detergents. It is widely used as a base in many other industrial chemical reactions, as well. The hydrogen produced by the chlor-alkali process is used as a fuel. Chlorine has many uses besides water treatment. For example, chlorine is used as a bleach in the pulp and paper industry. Chlorine is also used in the manufacture of chlorinated organic compounds, such as the common plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC). 

Production of chlorine and sodium hydroxide by electrolysis of aqueous sodium chloride is the basis of the chlor-alkali industry, a business that generates annual sales of approximately 4 billion in the United States alone. Both chlorine and sodium hydroxide rank among the top 10 chemicals in terms of production Annual output of each in the United States is 11-12 million tons. Chlorine is used in water and sewage treatment and in the manufacture of plastics such as poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). Sodium hydroxide is employed in making paper, textiles, soaps, and detergents. 

Chlorine and sodium hydroxide (or caustic soda) are among the top 10 chemicals produced in the world, and are involved in the manufacturing of a myriad of products that are used in day-to-day life. These products include pharmaceuticals, detergents, deodorants, disinfectants, herbicides, pesticides, and plastics. 

Followed by Na + mercury = amalgam. This amalgam is mixed with water and enters a second cell where the amalgam reacts with water to form hydrogen and sodium hydroxide solution. The mercury is reused. This process was formerly used for the production of sodium hydroxide, used in the chemical industry, but is now more important for the production of chlorine, which is widely used in the manufacture of plastics. 

Acids and bases have many uses in the chemical industry. Sulfuric acid, H2SO4, is the world s most widely produced chemical. It is used to produce fertilizers and plastics, to manufacture detergents, and to conduct electricity in lead-acid storage batteries for automobiles. The base sodium hydroxide, NaOH, is used in the production of pulp and paper, in the manufacture of soaps, in the textile industries, and in the manufacture of glass. 

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