Liquid Caustic Soda

Product Overview

AVB Liquid Caustic soda is an essential ingredient in many industrial and commercial applications. It is a strong, colorless alkali. Caustic soda is manufactured through the electrolysis of sodium chloride (salt brine).

Uses

Caustic soda has a wide variety of applications based primarily on its ability as a strong alkali to react with many substances. It is a stronger base and faster reactant than other alkalis. It is much more stable in water and can be economically stored and transported in liquid form. It also does not form undesirable by-products such as carbon dioxide or other insoluble carbonates. The largest uses for caustic soda are pulp and paper manufacturing, alumina production, de-inking of waste paper, water treatment, and general chemistry. Caustic soda is a basic feedstock in the manufacture of a wide range of chemicals. It is used as an intermediate and a reactant in processes that produce solvents, plastics, synthetic fibers, bleach, adhesives, coatings, herbicides, dyes, inks, and pharmaceuticals such as aspirin. It is also used in soap and detergent, oil and gas, and textile industries as well as to neutralize acidic waste streams and the scrubbing of acidic components from off-gases. With all downstream applications, appropriate registrations and/or approvals may be required.

Possible uses are described below:

• Chemical Production – The chemical industry consumes nearly 40% of the caustic soda produced as a basic reagent for a multitude of general industrial applications.
• Pulp and Paper – Both sulfate and sulfite pulps are purified by removing lignin compounds in the caustic extraction stages of multistage bleach plants. In some kraft mills, caustic soda is used as a makeup chemical. It is also used as the initial treatment in de-inking secondary fibers.
• Rayon and Cellophane – Fiber production by the viscose process requires caustic soda at two main stages. Cellulose is treated with caustic soda solution to mercerize it and form alkali cellulose, which is then dissolved in dilute caustic soda solution to form viscose prior to extruding rayon fibers and cellophane films.
• Alumina Extraction – Caustic soda is used to digest bauxite ore, precipitating alumina (aluminum oxide). It is also used as an etchant in the finishing and chemical milling of aluminum products. Soapmaking – Caustic soda saponifies fats into water soluble sodium soaps.  Textiles – Used in scouring, bleaching, desizing, lustering and mercerizing.
• Petroleum Production and Refining – Caustic soda is used as an absorbent for carbon dioxide in light petroleum fractions; as an absorbent for sulfides in the purification of various fractions; and with chlorine for hypochlorite sweetening, a treatment step in the removal of various sulfur compounds.
• Soda Ash Replacement – Caustic soda can be used interchangeably for many applications in glass, paper, pulp, phosphates and silicates industries.
• Renewable Fuels – Caustic soda is used for pH adjustment and formation of in situ sodium methylate in bioethanol and biodiesel processing.