Sodium Carbonate History

Sodium carbonate, also known as soda ash, is produced from briny water and mined trona. The sodium carbonate industry is known as the alkali industry. Sodium carbonate is used in glass-making, and as a food additive and water treatment.

Geology

Natural sodium deposits form from rock erosion and chemical reactions. Water carries it down to basins, where it reacts with carbon dioxide and becomes sodium carbonate.

Plants

Until the late 1700s, sodium carbonate was extracted from plants--potash (wood ashes), barilla, a Mediterranean sea plant and kelp.

Leblanc

Louis XVI required the French Academy of Sciences to offer a prize for a better sodium carbonate process. In 1791, Nicolas Leblanc found the answer, but never received his prize.

Industrial Revolution

The Leblanc process played a large part in the Industrial Revolution. After lifting salt import duties in 1824, Britain became the leading producer of calcium carbonate.

Solvay

In 1861, Ernest Solvay was the first to come up with a viable process using brine and ammonia. The Solvay process initially coexisted with the Leblanc process before ultimately ousting it.

Trona

In 1938, huge trona deposits were discovered in Wyoming, so in North America, chemical processes are currently not needed. The last American Solvay plant closed in 1986. All soda ash in North America is now supplied from Wyoming trona. Elsewhere, Solvay plants still exist.

References

• American Chemical Society: Leblanc Process
• American Chemical Society: Solvay Process
• Mineral Institute: Trona