Detailed Project Report on Soda Ash Plant

SODA ASH PLANT
[CODE NO. 3473]  

Next to sulfuric acid and ammonia, soda ash (sodium carbonate) is the third largest manufactured chemical in the world. Comparatively, baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate), a byproduct of the soda ash industry also enjoys good market demand. While soda ash is commercially used for the production of glass, inorganic chemicals, soaps, synthetic detergents and processed food, baking soda is primarily used as a leavening agent and in medicines. The world production capacity of soda ash and baking soda is estimated to be 42 million tons in 2005 (Web 1) and 1 million tons in 2001 respectively. Today, more than 90% of soda ash and baking soda are manufactured using Solvay’s process.

Despite being cost effective for the manufacture of both soda ash and baking soda, Solvay’s process is disadvantageous from the pollution abatement perspective. Solvay’s process produces huge quantities of CaCl2 which does not have much market value. Other waste streams produced in the process contain lower quantities of CaCO3 and other impurities of limestone. In addition, magnesium and calciumions in the brine solution are removed as carbonates which are also regarded as additional waste products. An alternative for the Solvay’s process is the Dual and Hou’s process in which ammonia is not recovered, but is transformed into ammonium chloride product, which can be sold as a fertilizer component. In addition, it is important to note that apart from enhanced utility usage, the Dual process requires purer brine solution and does not eliminate the generation of waste carbonate products in the brine purification step.

Existing trends in chemical process industries indicate a strong bias towards integrated processing, co-generation, and minimization of waste product generation. Process intensification coupled with techno-economic analysis enables the selection of most potential physical and chemical transformation routes that maximize process efficiency and minimize waste generation and energy consumption. Considering the necessity to address theoretical and experimental investigations for the alternative route, this work presents a preliminary techno-economic analysis of soda ash and baking soda production from sodium sulfate. Amongst several alternate routes for soda ash and baking soda production, a critical review of the industrial processes for soda ash indicates a partial utilization of the modified Leblanc process to initially produce Na2SO4 and HCl from NaCl and H2SO4.

Eventually, Na2SO4 can be used as the source for the production of baking soda (and soda ash) and (NH4)2SO4 (Bichel et al., 2008). Compared to the Solvay’s process, the alternate process has certain advantages. Firstly, pure chemicals are used as raw materials and therefore, further purification steps are eliminated, and waste generation is reduced. Secondly, all products namely HCl, baking soda, soda ash and ammonium sulfate have good market value compared to their raw-materials. Thirdly, the process allows the simultaneous removal of SOx and NOx from flue gases using regenerated sodium bicarbonate/carbonate solutions along with the production of fertilizers.


COST ESTIMATION

Plant  Capacity                                                   :    100.00 MT/day                          
land & Building  (28000 Sq.Mtr)                      :    Rs. 21.20 Cr
Plant & Machinery                                              :    Rs. 20.00 Cr
Working Capital for 2 Months                          :    Rs. 10.45 Cr
Total Capital Investment                                   :    Rs. 52.45 Cr
Rate of Return                                                     :    27%
Break Even Point         :    58%


INTRODUCTION    
SALT    
GRADES, SPECIFICATIONS & PROPERTIES    
TABLE: MARKET SPECIFICATION OF DENSE SODA ASH    
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND HYDRATES OF SODIUM CARBONATE    
TABLE: SOLUBILITY OF THE HYDRATES OF SODIUM CARBONATE    
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SODIUM CARBONATE    
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BRINES    
USES & APPLICATION    
FIGURE: USES OF BOTH HEAVY AND LIGHT SODIUM CARBONATE    
USES OF SODA ASH    
GLASS INDUSTRY    
DETERGENT INDUSTRY    
STEEL INDUSTRY    
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY    
A) SODIUM BICARBONATE    
B) SODIUM SESQUICARBONATE    
C) CHEMICALLY PURE SODIUM CARBONATE    
D) SODIUM PERCARBONATE    
E) OTHER APPLICATIONS    
MARKET POTENTIAL OF SODA ASH    
CONSUMPTION OF SODA ASH IN US    
OVERVIEW OF SODA ASH INDUSTRY    
WORLD REVIEW    
WORLD RESOURCES:    
CINER OF TURKEY TO INVEST $1.35 BILLION IN SODA ASH PLANT, POWER    
TURKISH-CHINESE COOPERATION AIMS FOR THE TOP
IN SODA ASH PRODUCTION    
SOLVAY TO REINFORCE ITS GLOBAL LEADERSHIP IN SODA ASH    
OUTLOOK    
MANUFACTURERS/SUPPLIERS OF SODA ASH    
CHEMISTRY OF SOLVAY PROCESS    
SOLAR EVAPORATION PONDS    
SEQUENCES IN MANUFACURE OF SODA ASH    
BRINE PURIFICATION    
AMMONIATION OF BRINE    
REACTION IN KILN    
REACTION IN SOLVAY TOWER    
FORMATION OF SODIUM CARBONATE    
RECOVERY OF AMMONIA    
REACTION:    
OVER ALL REACTION    
PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM    
PROCESS IN DETAILS    
BLOCK DIAGRAM OF SODA ASH PRODUCTION BY SOLVAY METHOD:    
ALTERNATE SODA ASH PRODUCTION PROCESS    
ONSITE GENERATION OF NA2SO4    
PROCESS BLOCK DIAGRAMS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF (A) SODA ASH
 FROM SODIUM SULFATE AND (B) SODIUM SULFATE FROM NACL & H2SO4    
TECHNOLOGY OF SODA ASH    
A) BICARBONATE PRECIPITATION:    
B) BICARBONATE THICKENING:    
C) BICARBONATE FILTRATION:    
D) CALCINING:    
E) COMPACTION:    
UTILITIES    
STEAM    
THE STEAM PROCESS CONSUMPTIONS LIE IN THE RANGE OF:    
PROCESS WATER    
COOLING WATERS    
ELECTRICITY    
GASEOUS, LIQUID & SOLID EFFLUENTS    
GASEOUS EFFLUENTS    
PARTICULATE DUST    
CARBON DIOXIDE AND MONOXIDE    
NITROGEN OXIDES    
SULFUR OXIDES    
AMMONIA    
THE EMISSIONS FLUCTUATE AND CAN BE EXPLAINED BY:    
HYDROGEN SULFIDE    
LIQUID EFFLUENTS    
WASTEWATER FROM BRINE PURIFICATION    
ELECTRICITY AND POWER PLANTS    
FLUIDIZED BED POWER PLANTS    
FIG: FLOW DIAGRAM FOR A POWER-FLUID CIRCULATING FLUIDIZED
BED BOILER    
FLUIDIZED BED BOILERS HAVE SEVERAL IMPORTANT ADVANTAGES:    
BY PRODUCTS AND WASTE    
SUPPLIERS OF RAW MATERIALS    
SUPPLIERS OF PLANT AND MACHINERY    
CONDENSER    
WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT    

        
APPENDIX – A:

 1.      COST OF PLANT ECONOMICS      
 2.      LAND & BUILDING                                      
 3.      PLANT AND MACHINERY                                  
 4.      FIXED CAPITAL INVESTMENT                             
 5.      RAW MATERIAL                                         
 6.      SALARY AND WAGES                                     
 7.      UTILITIES AND OVERHEADS                              
 8.      TOTAL WORKING CAPITAL                                
 9.      COST OF PRODUCTION                                   
10.      PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS                               
11.      BREAK EVEN POINT                                     
12.      RESOURCES OF FINANCE                           
13.      INTEREST CHART                                       
14.      DEPRECIATION CHART                                   
15.      CASH FLOW STATEMENT                                   
16.      PROJECTED BALANCE SHEET