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Dirt, pH balance and chemical cleaning

by Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up, 3.6 Good to know, 4.9 Useful to know, More Information Tagged

In this post you cad read about

    • Soils (Dirt)
    • Alkaline
    • Acid
    • Cleaning

Dirt, stains and even rusts  are all known  as soils in the cleaning world.  That is as  in soiled rather than the brown stuff worms eat. Cleaning is the removal soil. Again forget about spades!

Soils fall into 2 categories, organic and inorganic
Organic soils such as  fat, grease, protein like blood, and carbohydrate. I dont know what carbohydrate soil is – any one else? Mold, yeast and bacteria, motor oil, axle grease, cutting oils and other petroleum soils.

Inorganic soils such rust, scale, hard water deposits and minerals such as sand, silt and clay.

They require different cleaning solutions

    • Organic soils are usually best moved using alkaline cleaners.
    • Inorganic soils prefer an acid cleaner.
    • Minerals are often cleaned with general purpose cleaners.

Alkaline & Acid Solutions

Wether a solution is acid or alkaline is down to how much how much hydrogen is in a solution.

Acidity is measured in  pH or the power of hydrogen.
It is shown in number form on the pH scale of 1 to 14.
Confusingly the lower the number the higher the hydrogen. The higher the hydrogen the more acidic the solution.
pH 1 = lots of hydrogen (H+) ions in solution
pH 14 = hydroxyl ions (OH–) in solution

PH scale featured

The image is from precision Labs

So the strength of an acid is based on the concentration of H+ ions in the solution. 

pH1 is very acidic
pH 7 is neutral. Pure water is neutral.
pH7 and above is called  basic but often  referred to as alkaline).

Soils & Cleaning 

Organic soils are usually best moved using alkaline cleaners.

Inorganic soils prefer and acid cleaner.

Generally, you use an acidic cleaner on alkaline (also known as alkalie) dirt, and an alkaline cleaner on acidic dirt.

If you know the nature of your soil you know how to clean it.

Alkaline cleaners 
Alkaline cleaners work well because they emulsify grease.  Fatty acids are normally insoluble which is why they cannot be cleaned using water alone. The alkaline breaks down fat making them dispersable in water.
They also coat the dirt with negatively charged hydroxide ions which means the dirt particles repel each other. So rather than massing together in a big greasy clump they remain suspended in solution so again can be rinsed off.
“Tthe alkali will break down the fats making the residue soluble or dispersible in water. It’s called saponification: alkalis turn fats into soap which is why a greasy floor gets as slippery as a bag of arseholes when you put an alkali on it. While we rely on thermal disinfection in dish washers the fact is the alkali in a proper machine wash turns microbial cell walls into soap.”

Examples of alkaline cleaners are

Acidic Cleaners
Do not cut through grease. Vinegar the acid much touted as a cleaning fluid will be no good on your greasy stains because Vinegar is polar, while oils are nonpolar, so they don’t interact well together. (You have seen how oil and vinegar in salad dressing separate from each other — this is because of their opposite polarity.)

Inorganic soils include grit, salt, rust and limescale.
They are best cleaned using acids

    • Hard water/mineral deposit removers
    • Toilet bowl cleaners
    • Rust stain removers
    • Tub and tile cleaners
    • Mold removers

Acidic cleaners attack and dissolve these types of stains, breaking them down and making them easier to remove.

The acid dissolves these types of materials – many are carbonates so you see the carbon dioxide (CO2) gas fizzing off. Or at least you will with a decent product. Examples are toilet cleaners and kettle or boiler descalers.

Examples of acidic cleaners are

Make Or Buy

See how to make your own chemical cleaning products and where to buy ready made.

 

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Isopropyl Alcohol

by Posted in 3.6 Good to know, 4.9 Useful to know, More Information

Isopropyl alcohol, or isopropanol (also known as rubbing alchohol or surgical spirit) is made from propene derived from fossil fuels and water.

Ethanol or ethyl alcohol is the stuff that makes you drunk and is made by fermenting

Isopropyl alcohol, or isopropanol

In 1920, Standard Oil Company (later Exxon) scientists in Linden, New Jersey, were trying to invent useful products from gasoline by-products. They produced isopropyl alcohol, or rubbing alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol was the first commercial petrochemical (chemicals made from oil) ever made and became the new ExxonMobil Chemical Company’ first product.

It is also known as rubbing alchohol and surgical spirit

Isopropyl alcohol is made from propene (which is derived from fossil fuels) and water. They are combined using a process called hydration.

During hydration, the component substances of water, which are hydrogen and oxygen (H20), react with those that compose propene—carbon and hydrogen (C3H6). The reactions form new chemical bonds and create isopropyl alcohol (C3H7OH). Read more here.

It has a wide range of uses

  • in disinfecting pads,
  • When used properly, it kills a significant number of bacteria and other potential contaminants, which is why it’s also used as a hand sanitizer in labs and hospitals.
  • as an antiseptic for cuts and scrapes.
  • to clean dirt from computer and electronic equipment. ” Since it evaporates almost immediately, there is little risk of shock or damage to electrical components, and it can even be used to clean the lasers in CD and DVD drives.”
  • removes  glue residue and dried ink,
  • remove stains from most natural fibers, including cotton, silk, and wool.
  • can be used as a de-icer.
  • to clean the glass.
  • removes wax or polish residue.

All the above was taken from Wise Geek. You can read more here.

It is a very useful multitasking product and you might want to consider keeping a bottle handy. You can buy it on line. I have never done so cannot tell you what the bottle is made from.

Or you may wish to explore the alternatives which are not petroleum based.

 

 

 

 

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Manufacturing Sodiums

by Posted in 3.6 Good to know, 4.9 Useful to know, More Information

In this post you can read about

  • Salt – (sodium chloride)NaCl
  • Glauber’s salt– (sodium sulphate). Synthesised from salt but also occurs naturally. A good laxative. Discovered by  Johann Glauber. Chemical formula Na2SO4.
  • Soda Ash/Washing soda – sodium carbonate. Synthesised from sodium sulphate but can also be obtained from the ashes of plants and natural deposits. Chemical formula Na2CO3.  
  • Bicarbonate of soda (sodium bicarbonate) Synthesised from sodium sulphate but also occurs naturally. Chemical formula NaHCO3.
  • Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide)NaOH

Uses of sodium carbonate today

Overall, about 50% of the total production of sodium carbonate is used to make glass, 18% to make other chemicals and 10% in soaps and detergents.

Annual production of sodium carbonate

World 50 million tonnes
Europe 10 million tonnes
US 11 million tonnes
Russia 0.71 million tonnes1

Data from:
1.   Federal State Statistics Service: Russian Federation 2011

Manufacture of sodium carbonate

There are two main sources of sodium carbonate:
a) from salt and calcium carbonate (via the ammonia soda (Solvay) process)
b) from sodium carbonate and hydrogencarbonate ores (trona and nahcolite)

History 

Soda Ash

Plants

 Soda ash was called so because it was originally extracted from the ashes  of plants growing in sodium-rich soils, such as vegetation from the Middle East, kelp from Scotland and seaweed from Spain.

Soda ash or washing soda was originally made from the ash of of plants. The land plants (typically glassworts or saltworts) or the seaweed (typically Fucusspecies) were harvested, dried, and burned. The ashes were then “lixiviated” (washed with water) to form an alkali solution. This solution was boiled dry to create the final product, which was termed “soda ash;” this very old name refers to the archetypal plant source for soda ash, which was the small annual shrub Salsola soda (“barilla plant”).

The ashes of these plants were noticeably different from ashes of timber (used to create potash)

The plants  were harvested, dried, and burned. The ashes were then washed with water and boiled dry.

The final product the soda ash could be anything from 2 to 30% sodium carbonate.

It is obvious that extracting soda ash from plants was a limited and uncertain process.

Sodium carbonate (soda ash) and its derivatives were needed for the  manufacture of glass, textiles, paper, soap, and other products.

So the search began for a better source and a way of synthesising soda ash.

From Salt 

Le Blanc Method

In 1775 the French Royal Academy offered a prize to anyone who could develop a process for transforming common salt (sodium chloride) into soda ash (sodium carbonate).

Le Blanc won

The Leblanc process worked as follows

He reacted sea salt  (sodium chloride) with sulfuric acid in a reverberator furnace to form sodium sulfate.

Roasting the sodium sulphate with crushed limestone and coal  produced calcium sulfide. This could be further treated  to make 

  • Washing soda (sodium carbonate) used in the manufacture of glass.
  • Bicarbonate of soda (also known as sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, or sodium acid carbonate) used for many things

Sodium carbonate could then be treated to make caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) or lye which could be used to make soap.

Solvay Process

Was invented by the Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay (1838–1922) and patented by him 1861.

By 1913 the process was producing a large part of the world’s sodium carbonate.”

Uses limestone, salt and ammonia..

Very basically, ammonia is added to a salt – like table salt. Carbon dioxide is bubbled through the solution producing sodium bicarbonate.

Sodium bicarbonate. is then heated and transformed into washing soda (sodium carbonate)

Hou’s Process

Long story short, Hou’s process is an upgradation of the Solvay process. The first few steps remaining the same, carbon dioxide and ammonia are pumped into the solution instead of limestone. Further, sodium chloride is added and this solution is left to saturate at 40ºC. It is then cooled to 10ºC and recycled to produce sodium carbonate. Ammonium chloride also precipitates in this process.

A refined version of the Solvay Process is still used today.

From Trona featured trona

Trona ore that is mined, then heated until it turns into soda ash also known as washing soda. Bicarbonate of soda is obtained through the same process

Large natural deposits found in 1938, such as the one near Green River, Wyoming, have made mining more economical than industrial production of washing soda in North America at least.

The USD 400m plant uses solution mining to extract the Trona-brine, a new process with high efficiency and large capacity for production.

Trona dates back 50 million years, to when the land surrounding Green River, Wyoming, was covered by a 600-square-mile (1,554-square-kilometer) lake. As it evaporated over time, this lake left a 200-billion-ton deposit of pure trona between layers of sandstone and shale. The deposit at the Green River Basin is large enough to meet the entire world’s needs for soda ash and sodium bicarbonate for thousands of years… Trona is mined at 1,500 feet (457.2 meters) below the surface. FMC’s mine shafts contain nearly 2,500 (4,022.5 kilometers) miles of tunnels and cover 24 square miles (62 square kilometers). Fifteen feet (4.57 meters) wide and nine feet (2.74 meters) tall, these tunnels allow the necessary equipment and vehicles to travel through them.” Read more: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Baking-Soda.html#ixzz400Q1aQot

It is also mined out of certain alkaline lakes such as Lake Magadi in Kenya by using a basic dredging process and it is also self-regenerating so will never run out in its natural source.

And Turkey.

Eti Soda Inc. started production in 2009 at its new facility based in between Anakara and Istanbul in the Beypazari Trona Bed, the second largest known reserves of Trona in the world.

The Solvay method was the main way of obtaining of washing soda before the Wyoming trona deposits were discovered.  Now it is cheaper to mine Trona ore. In the U.S at least. The Solvay method is still used to manufacture tons of product.

There are claims that the Solvay method is less environmentally safe than mining and could cause serious waste management problems. On the other hand the mining process is accused of being heavily polluting.

Other Sources

Bicarbonate of Soda can be mined directly from the ground  as Nahcolite.

Caustic Soda The Leblanc and Solvay processes were eclipsed by new electrolytic methods for making chlorine and caustic soda.

More

You can find lots more uses, details of where to buy and information about the product listed here.

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How to find out if it’s toxic….

by Posted in 3.6 Good to know, 4.9 Useful to know, More Information 2 Comments

Polyethylene terephthalat PET or PETE plastic code 1  is made from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, just like paper.

It is claimed that, just like paper, it can be safely burnt and will only produce carbon dioxide and water leaving no toxic residue.

I came across this nuggets out there in google land and as you know panning  in tham thar rivers often finds you only fools gold.

So lets see if I am richer than Midas or talking through my arsk no questions.

Google MSDS followed by the product name ie MSDS Polyethylene terephthalat

This pulls up the Material Safety Data Sheet for PET

Solid pellets with slight or no odor. Spilled pellets create slipping hazard. Can burn in a fire creating dense toxic smoke. Molten plastic can cause severe thermal burns. Fumes produced during melt processing may cause eye, skin and respiratory tract irritation.
Secondary operations, such as grinding, sanding or sawing, can produce dust which may present a respiratory hazard. Product in pellet form is unlikely to cause irritation
A useful guide for crafters on burning and melting plastic can be found here.

 

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Paper versus plastic versus reusables

by Posted in 3.6 Good to know, 4 About The Alternatives, 4.0 Us, the boycott & the blog, 4.9 Useful to know Tagged , , 2 Comments

So if I don’t want to use plastic bags then would I suggest using paper as an alternative? Well actually no I wouldn’t.

Cutting down trees to make disposable paper products is very bad for the environment

Converting hard wood into paper bags is difficult work and results in more pollution than making a plastic bag.

Heres are some statistics are quoted on Wikipedia 

  •  Pulp mills contribute to air, water and landpollution. Discarded paper is a major component of many landfill sites, accounting for about 35 percent by weight of municipal solid waste (before recycling).[1] Even paper recyclingcan be a source of pollution due to the sludge produced during de-inking.[2]
  • Pulp and paper is the third largest industrial polluter to air, water, and land in both Canada and the United States, and releases well over 100 million kg of toxic pollution each year.[5]
  • Worldwide, the pulp and paper industry is the fifth largest consumer of energy, accounting for four percent of all the world’s energy use. The pulp and paper industry uses more water to produce a ton of product than any other industry.[6]

That’s not to say that plastic is a clean product but most sources agree it takes less resources to produce a plastic bag than a paper bag.

It also takes less resources to transport them. Paper is much heavier than plastic, more bulky and more expensive to move.

It is often argued that plastic bags are more likely to be reused usually as bin liners or as dog poop bags. If recycled bags were not available, users would have to buy plastic bin liners and poop bags new.  Which means f course that plastic bags are still being used but in a  less sustainable way.

But not all plastic bags are reused as bin liners and not everyone has a dog. Many bags are used once and then discarded.If all plastic bags were recycled say their advocates they would beat paper bags hands down. But  they are not. Most end up in landfill some end up as litter. Not all paper bags are recyled either but if they are dropped as litter they quickly biodegrade. Plastic bags do not and accumulate in the environment with serious consequences.


Indicator of Environmental Impact

Plastic bag
HDPE lightweight*


Paper bag 
 Consumption of nonrenewable primary energy

 1.0

 1.1
 Consumption of water

 1.0

 4.0
 Climate change (emission of greenhouse gases)

 1.0

 3.3
 Acid rain (atmospheric acidification)

 1.0

 1.9
 Air quality (ground level ozone formation)

 1.0

 1.3
 Eutrophication of water bodies *

 1.0

 14.0
 Solid waste production

 1.0

 2.7
 Risk of litter

 1.0

 0.2

The Scottish Report (2005) http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/57346/0016899.pdf

But while paper is more environmentally damaging, plastic pollution is reaching unacceptable levels and has to be tackled.

We have to stop using plastic to make disposable bags. We have to find sustainable alternatives.

Reusables Rather Than Disposables

For all the above I would be cautious about suggesting paper disposables as an alternative to plastic disposables.

My solution would be  to replace all disposables with reusables whenever possible.

Where disposables are offered they should be biodegradable and certified compostable so if they do end up as litter they will cause no damage to environment. I believe the current end problems of plastic pollution are greater than the initial problems of paper production pollution.

I would suggest

Bag Tax

However it is a very close call and the problems of paper pollution are big and not to be ignored. Nor would I like to see compostable plastic used to excess.

I would see all disposable packaging reduced as much as possible. Products should be sold loose and all onward packaging should have a clean up tax  attached i.e. All bags and packaging have to be paid for.

People bringing their own bags and packaging would obviously not have to pay

Reusable versus plastic bag case study….

The Environment Agency a UK government body has done a Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags Report SC030148 Read the report your self right here. It claims you would have use a cotton bag 393 times before its environmental impact equalled that of plastic bags.

Here are their maths….

It takes less resources to make one plastic bag then it does to make a reusable cotton bag.
pollution featured featured

Therefore a cotton bag has to be used 131 times before it equals a plastic bag.

If the plastic bags are then reused twice (so they are used 3 times in total) the cotton bag has to be used 393 times before it equals the environmental impact of the 131 polythene bags used 3 times each.

If the plastic bag is reused as a bin liner ( which is what most people do with them) then it is 327 times.

Do your cotton bags fall apart after 393 uses? Fall apart so badly they cannot be repaired? Mine don’t.

I have fair-trade organic string bags which I bought back in 2006 when I started my boycott. I am still using them and the cotton produce bags I bought at the same time 6 years later  ( and still now in 2015 come to that) .

Here are my maths….

Say I use one string bag 3 times a week. That would be for the weekly supermarket shop, the trips to the local butchers and green grocers, town on a Saturday to get library books and bits and bobs, carrying cabbages from the allotment, carrying cushions and all the other gubbins you use a bag for.

So say I use one string bag a very conservative 3 times a week over 52 weeks, (and the bag does go away with us and has been all round the world ),  I will use that bag at least 156 times a year in total

Over 6 years  I will have used that bag 936 times. My cotton bag is already 3 times greener than the plastic alternative and is good for many years yet. Actually it is even greener. You can get so much more in a string bag then a plastic bag. My string bag is worth at least 1 1/2  plastic bags for capacity.

When my bag does fall apart I will reuse it as a net to grow beans up then eventually compost it in my own compost bin.

Conclusions

If I didn’t have a reusable bag I would have to have used 312 plastic bags 3 times each in that time.

That’s 312 bags in the trash to be disposed of. They will most likely be landfilled or incinerated. Some of them might have blown off the truck during transportation. Wind blown refuse is a documented cause of litter.

Because we spend a lot of time abroad, some of them would have gone into bins in isolated villages in remote parts of the world – places that lack a waste collection service. Those bins would have been emptied into the river.

Produce bags…

As for produce bags; does any one reuse a produce bag 3 times – I don’t think so. Once as a dog poop bag maybe. But even if you do my cotton bags still win hands down.

Some Alternatives 

 

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Silicone

by Posted in 1.3 Plastic Types - Fact Sheets, 4 About The Alternatives, 4.9 Useful to know Tagged , , 18 Comments

Plastic? Rubber? Just plain weird? Used for everything  from ice-cube trays to adult toys to cake tins it certainly gets around. So what is silicone??

Silicon is a natural chemical element. Silicone polymers are derived from silicon and so silicone is a  man-made product derived from silicon a natural element.
Silicon the natural chemical element, is generally found in solid crystalline form like sand.
Silicone, the product, may be a liquid lubricant, a semi-solid adhesive or a rubber-like plastic polymer

Uses
Liquid silicone is often used as a lubricant.
An example of a thicker form of rubberized silicone  would waterproof sealant used in bathrooms and window fitting.
Solid silicone rubber – is used for everything from cake baking cases to internal sanitary protection.

Silicone Rubber
Silicone rubber a manmade product  derived from natural products – silicon and rubber. It is made by curing or vulcanizing natural rubber. Silicon is injected into the long hydrocarbon chains of natural rubber under high heat and pressure. The result is silicone rubber.
Silicone rubber is a  silicon polymer with rubberized qualities.
It was  first produced under the chemical name of polydimethlysiloxane.
Silicone rubber is heat resistant so can be used to make cookware including oven mitts, tongs, pot holders and pan handles.
Silicone rubber also possesses non-stick qualities, so it can be formed into flexible cookware such as muffin and cake pans.

Silicone Generally
All silicone is inert, it does not react with other elements or compounds.
There are (as yet) no known health hazards of silicone.
Silicone is not biodegradable,  but it can be recycled easily – where facilities exist.
Silicone comes in two grades, food and medical grade silicone.

Do I boycott silicone?

Silicone, is  a man-made polymer which does not biodegrade, and so has to specially disposed of. Like other plastics  I try to avoid using it. Like other plastics, there are some silicone products I use,  because they help me reduce the amount of plastic, throw-away trash I would otherwise create.
silicone products I use or at least think might be useful

silicone products I use or at least think might be useful 

unbreakable reusable cups
I am not a paper cup – a pottery cup with reusable silicone lid.
plastic free menstruation silicone mooncups

Check out other synthetic polymers and plastics right here

 

Washing Soda, Bicarbonate Of Soda & Borax

by Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up, 3.6 Good to know, 4.9 Useful to know Tagged , 3 Comments

When I first went plasticfree I read up on alternative ways to clean online. Lots of people reccomended Bicarbonate of soda, Washing Soda and Borax.
So I went out and stocked up.
Then I began to make increasingly complex recipes to clean my tiles and wash my clothes. To be honest I found ECover refill washing up liquid, bicarb and soap met all of my needs. Adding borax or washing soda made very little difference. But because they are stronger than bicarb, you are meant to wear gloves when you use them. So now I have to source plastic free gloves. Way too much hassle So I have stopped using them. And I don’t miss them.

What Are They

The trinity of green cleaning – washing soda, bicarbonate and borax. Often mentioned rarely explained!

Let’s take washing soda and bicarbonate of soda first. Why because they are related.

They are both biodegradable
Washing soda has many industrial uses and as such is produced on an industrial scale. Bicarbonate of soda is a byproduct of that process.

Washing Soda or Sodium carbonate (also known as soda ash and soda crystals) has a chemical formula of Na2CO3.
Bicarbonate of soda Chemical formula NaHCO3.
One sodium atom difference between the two

Making Bicarbonate and Washing Soda

Bicarbonate of soda can be produced as a by product of washing soda via one of these heavily industrialised processes:
The Solvay Process  Uses limestone, salt and ammonia to transform salt (sodium chloride). 
Mining –  Trona ore  is mined, then heated until it turns into soda ash also known as washing soda. Bicarbonate of soda is obtained along the way. Read more.

Baking Soda V Washing Soda
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Both are alkaline so good at removing organic soils (but not inorganic).
Washing soda has a pH of 11
borax is 9.3 pH
Fairy liquid has a pHof 9.2
Ivory bar soap from Proctor and Gambol 9.5
Soapy water has pH of 9
Bicarbonate of Soda has pH of 9

Baking Soda’s PH is not as alkaline as washing soda. That one sodium atom (Na) makes a difference.
Washing soda is stronger than bicarb
Washing Soda can soften water bicarbonate of soda cannot.
N.B. You can turn bicarb back into washing soda by baking it so that breaks back down into water steam, carbon dioxide and washing soda. I have never done this but by all accounts need to cook your bicarb in the oven for half an hour at 400 F (or 200 C).

Borax
Borax falls somewhere in between .It is gentler than Soda Crystals yet stronger than Bicarbonate of Soda.
There are concerns that borax is toxic. So much so that you cannot buy it in the U.K. anymore. but there is little in the way of firm conclusions leading many to pooh pooh this ban.

Read More

Uses Of Bicarbonate and buy
Uses Of Washing Soda and where to buy
Uses of Borax and where to buy HERE

Technical Data

Technical grade

What do I use

NB if I ever did need some washing soda I would cook up some bicarb.

BUT I live in a soft water area.

Use & Buy

Uses Of Bicarbonate and buy
Uses Of Washing Soda and where to buy

Uses of Borax and where to buy

Borax occurs naturally in evaporite deposits produced by the repeated evaporation of seasonal lakes. The most commercially important deposits are found in Turkey; Boron, California; and Searles Lake, California. Also, borax has been found at many other locations in the Southwestern United States, the Atacama desert in Chile, newly discovered deposits in Bolivia, and in Tibet and Romania. Borax can also be produced synthetically from other boron compounds.
WIkkipedia

Proper borax is No longer sold on the shelves in the UK. You have to make do with a borax substitute from Dripak.

“Borax Substitute is sodium sesquicarbonate – a mineral compound, with similar pH to borax, making it ideal for cleaning and laundry. It is gentler than Soda Crystals yet stronger than Bicarbonate of Soda.

Using Borax Substitute around the house
Uses Borax Substitute as a:

Multi-purpose cleaner – Mix it with some water to form a paste. This makes it an excellent scouring agent that offers more cleaning power than Bicarbonate of Soda.
A water softener to help keep your washing machine clear of limescale.
To make your own bath salts, simply add some perfume or essential oils and a drop of food colouring to some Borax Substitute.”

That said you can still buy borax from Ebay

Uses

Some uses for borax here

More

Borax, washing soda, bicarbonate or all three. What should you use for your cleaning needs? A comparison HERE
See all out #plasticfree cleaning aids HERE

Technical Data

Technical grade

Sodium carbonate, also known as soda ash, is a white, anhydrous and hygroscopic powder with a purity. There are two forms of sodium carbonate available, light soda and dense soda (granular). Sodium carbonate has a melting point of 851C, it decomposes when heated and therefore a boiling point can not be determined. Sodium carbonate is an inorganic salt and therefore the vapour pressure can be considered negligible. It is soluble in water and solubility increases with temperature. The average particle size diameter (d50) of light sodium carbonate is in the range of 90 to 150 µm and of dense sodium carbonate is in the range of 250 to 500 µm. Sodium carbonate is a strong alkaline compound. The pKa of CO3 2- is 10.33, which means that at a pH of 10.33 both carbonate and bicarbonate are present in equal amounts.

Click here to view MSDS