Caustic Soda applications in Different Industries

Caustic Soda Application
October 4, 2022
5 minutes

Caustic soda or Sodium hydroxide uses are seen in different industries and generally, it plays a vital role in processes such as, making drugs and bauxite purification to food related industries and oil refining. 

In the following, you can find out more details about applications of caustic soda.

Food Processing

Caustic soda is used in several food processing applications, such as olive treatment. It also helps to brown pretzels to give them crunchy characteristics. This component is used to remove the skin from tomatoes, potatoes, and other fruits and vegetables for canning. 

It also acts as an ingredient in food preservation that helps prevent mold and bacteria from growing in food.

Read the article Caustic Soda Application in Food Industry for more details.

Wood and Paper Products

In many paper-making processes, wood is treated with a solution containing sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide. This implication results in the pure cellulose which is the basis of manufacturing paper sheets.  

Most of the impurities such as lignin, oleoresin and waxes are separated from the raw wood by using the caustic soda in the pulp and paper industry

In the paper recycling process, sodium hydroxide is used to separate the ink from the paper fibers allowing them to be reused.

Water Treatment

Caustic soda uses in water treatment can divided in 3 cases: 

  • Hard Water

Hard water refers to a state of water which has impurities such as Magnesium and Calcium. This is a problem and it can easily be solved by adding caustic soda to hard water. This can convert hard water into soft water by sticking to impurities and making heavy compounds. Heavy compounds cannot be floated and settle down in the water tank, resulting in soft water which is referred to as water without impurities. 

Using hard water creates some issues. These issues include our daily life routine such as drinking water, washing hands and washing clothes. It is not only limited to that, but in fact, it also affects water-based industrial processes such as corrupting metal pipes and providing clean water factories. The use of caustic soda can turn hard water into soft water, which helps to overcome the problems of using hard water.

  • Dangerous Materials

Lead and copper may not be expensive, but are valuable metals for sure. However, when they are dissolved in water, they are counted as the most harmful materials, so they need to be removed, for consumers to be safe. 

Caustic soda reacts with their soluble state and turns them into insoluble matter. This helps them to settle and be removed easily.

  • Corrosion

Caustic soda acts as corrosion inhibitors. 

The Precipitation of calcium carbonate inside the pipe wall would disrupt water flow. It increases the pressure drop along the pipe, demanding more power for the liquid to be pumped.

Clothing

In today’s textile engineering technology, caustic soda is used in two important applications:

  • Scouring

Caustic soda is used to separate impurities from fibers. The textile is boiled in an alkaline solution which is made of caustic soda. As a result, the oily components such as natural wax would dissolve and form a soupy cover on top of the solution. This particular level is called saponification and the whole process is called scouring.

  • pH level controller

In most textile engineering processes, caustic soda is added to the solutions to give strength to the fibers.

Cleaning and Disinfectant Products

Caustic soda is widely used in soap making and detergent industries.. Most of these chemicals are used in homes and commercial applications such as oven cleaners and chlorine bleach. Chlorine bleach is produced by combining chlorine and sodium hydroxide. 

Drain cleaners based on sodium hydroxide turn fat and oily components, which are often insoluble in water, into soluble solutions. Insoluble solutions cause the pipes to get stuck. By using drain cleaners, however, water could flow easily through the pipe.

Pharmaceuticals and Medicines

Caustic soda is used to help manufacture a variety of medicines. From common drugs such as aspirin, to cholesterol-reducing medications. It is also useful in manufacturing anticoagulants (drugs to prevent blood from clotting).

Energy

In energy sectors, caustic soda is used in fuel cell manufacturing.

Fuel cells work like batteries to cleanly and efficiently produce electricity for a range of applications. They are created with two pieces of electrodes and an electrolyte solution. Caustic soda is a vital component of this solution and has a duty to speed up the electricity generation. 

These applications usually include transportation such as electric vehicles and Renewable energy technologies such as  electrochemistry, portable and emergency backup power. 

It is good to know that epoxy resins, manufactured with sodium hydroxide, are used in wind turbines.

Petroleum Engineering

Caustic soda can be used in two important fields of petroleum engineering:

  • Drilling Mud

Caustic soda is an excellent neutralizer for sulfuric acid. When drilling formations using drilling mud, H2S components in some layers may dissolve in the drilling mud and form sulfuric acid.

This liquid is not suitable for mechanical parts of the bit, so mud engineers add some caustic soda to the solution to minimize the serious effects of the acid.

  • Refineries

Another role for caustic soda is in petroleum refineries. Some impurities such as H2S and CO2 decrease the financial value of crude oil.

One of the most routine methods to bring their concentration down to zero is to use caustic soda. In this way, it is possible to remove those impurities which lead engineers to high quality crude oil.

Aluminum Ore Processing

Sodium hydroxide is used to extract alumina from the bauxite. Alumina is used to make aluminum and a variety of products including foil, cans and airplane parts. In building and construction, aluminum is used in materials that decorate building facades and window frames.

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Kiumars Yasini

October 4, 2022
5 minutes
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