Sodium bicarbonate turns into sodium carbonate

Is there a simpler way than heating?

If sodium bicarbonate is left to weather outdoors, it can also turn into sodium carbonate over time. Your request is too vague.

There are two methods for producing soda ash: one involves calcining sodium bicarbonate using steam to cause its decomposition, and the other uses evaporation and crystallization, also known as wet decomposition. I have heard of it, but I have never seen it in action. So I would like to ask an expert to explain it.

I’ve only heard of wet decomposition; I’ve never seen it.

This post was last edited by shiqin778 on 2017-2-13 at 16:28. Thank you to all the experts

This post was last edited by mkp369 on 2017-10-9 at 13:50. Personally, I think there are three methods for the industrial production of soda ash, right? ——Soda ash, double-alkali process, and trona are used for the production of soda ash; most of this production takes place in the United States. In China, only Inner Mongolia and Henan use the trona method for soda ash production, mainly due to resource limitations. Turkey also uses this method to some extent. The conversion of sodium bicarbonate to sodium carbonate can take place in the liquid phase or by heating the solid. Converting sodium bicarbonate to sodium carbonate in the liquid phase is an important process in the production of soda ash. This can be achieved by heating the solution or through stripping; generally, evaporation is used for this purpose – the sodium bicarbonate solution is heated to above 80 degrees Celsius, causing the dissolved sodium bicarbonate to decompose and release carbon dioxide gas. However, this process is relatively slow and requires considerable time. In the processing of soda ash, a mixed solution of sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate is typically subjected to multi-effect evaporation devices to facilitate the decomposition during evaporation and concentration. The crystals obtained after heating, evaporation, and concentration are not pure sodium carbonate either; they are a mixture of sesquicarbonate and monohydrate soda. Calcination is required to produce pure soda ash, which has a bulk density that is slightly lower than that of gray ash but slightly higher than that of light ash. Another method is wet decomposition, which is essentially a stripping process. A stripping tower is used; the natural alkali solution is distributed into the tower from the top, while steam is used at the bottom to remove carbon dioxide. Of course, there is some knowledge involved in building this tower; it’s not something that ordinary people can do. After removing carbon dioxide from the solution, evaporation and crystallization are carried out; this time, the substance that crystallizes out is monohydrate alkali. Soda ash obtained after calcination is heavy ash.

Wet decomposition doesn’t seem to have been used much in China. It is generally calcined.