The US operation TG Soda Ash, a subsidiary of France“s Elf Aquitaine, has given details of its solution-mining process for the production of natural soda ash.
The new process involves the steam-str…
The US operation TG Soda Ash, a subsidiary of France“s Elf Aquitaine, has given details of its solution-mining process for the production of natural soda ash. The new process involves the steam-stripping of feedstock from an underground mine lake. Via the steam-stripping process, some of the sodium bicarbonate is converted to sodium carbonate before the crystallisation of sodium carbonate decahydrate crystals from the dilute solution of sodium carbonate. The new technology eliminates the need for caustic or other chemical agents in reducing sodium bicarbonate prior to crystallisation. The new technology will be employed in a plant to be built in Wyoming, US. Introduction of the process would allow TG to increase output at its current mines by up to 50%. Another US firm, FMC, which had earlier announced commercialisation of solution-mining technology, estimates that solution mining of soda ash is 30-40% less expensive than conventional methods.