Most consumers do not have storage facilities for soda ash and rely on the producers to supply them on a timely basis.
· 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians used soda ash for glass ornaments and vessels. They found the sodium bearing mineral in dry lake bed deposits, or burned seaweed that produced ashes that contained soda ash (thus the name ash).
· In the 1st century, the Romans used soda ash for bread, glass, and medicine.
·
Glass - glass container manufacturers are using cullet glass, thereby reducing
their soda ash consumption. In the past, 50 percent of the soda ash produced
was used for glass. There are four main areas of glass that use soda ash: containers,
flat, specialty, and fiberglass.· Of the raw materials put into glass, soda ash makes up 15 percent of the weight.
· Typical glass composition · 72% silica · 15% soda · 10% lime and magnesia · 2% alumina · 1% miscellaneous oxides
· Baking soda and baking powder- all baking soda comes from soda ash, so most Americans have a product of Wyoming Trona right in their own kitchen! Baking soda and baking powder are important ingredients for making bread, cookies, cakes, and many other baked foods. Just imagine, you eat this rock everytime you eat a sandwich, peanut butter cookie, or chocolate cake! Yuuuummmy!
· Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is made by adding CO2 to soda ash (sodium carbonate).
·
Soaps, detergents, and cleaning compounds- soda ash is used as a builder to
emulsify oil stains, to decrease the redeposition of dirt during washing and
rinsing, to provide alkalinity for cleaning, and to soften laundry water. Liquid
detergents do not contain soda ash.· Chemicals - soda ash is used to manufacture many sodium-based inorganic chemicals: sodium bicarbonate, sodium chromates, sodium phosphates, sodium silicates, and sodium cyanide. The chemical caustic soda is also produced for use in downstream applications.
· In areas of Africa, Trona (called kanwa) is an important domestic culinary additive, used for softening, tenderizing, and flavoring foods in addition to being a food preservative.
· Water treatment - soda ash can be added to adjust the pH of the water and reduce the acidity. It can also be used as a precipitant with lime or alum to reduce various contaminants from the water.
·Paper
manufacturing - soda ash is used to make paper.· Flue gas desulfurization, cattle feed, swimming pool products, medicines, paper, textiles, and toothpaste all use soda ash.
