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Sodium hydroxide is industrially produced, first as a 32% solution, and then evaporated to a 50% solution by variations of the electrolytic chloralkali process. [26] Chlorine gas is also produced in this process. [26] Solid sodium hydroxide is obtained from this solution by the evaporation of water.
The process has a high energy consumption, for example around 2,500 kWh (9,000 MJ) of electricity per tonne of sodium hydroxide produced. Because the process yields equivalent amounts of chlorine and sodium hydroxide (two moles of sodium hydroxide per mole of chlorine), it is necessary to find a use for these products in the same proportion ...
Historically, sodium hydroxide was produced by treating sodium carbonate (usually from seaweed ash or "glasswort"-plant ash) with calcium hydroxide (aka lime) in a metathesis reaction. (Sodium hydroxide is soluble while calcium carbonate is not.) This process was called causticizing. [1]
The reaction between sodium hydroxide and some metals is also hazardous. Aluminium, magnesium, zinc, tin, chromium, brass and bronze all react with lye to produce hydrogen gas. Since hydrogen is flammable, mixing a large quantity of lye with aluminium could result in an explosion. Both the potassium and sodium forms are able to dissolve copper.
Red mud is the waste product that is produced in the digestion of bauxite with sodium hydroxide. It has high calcium and sodium hydroxide content with a complex chemical composition, and accordingly is very caustic and a potential source of pollution. The amount of red mud produced is considerable, and this has led scientists and refiners to ...
The temperature is cooler at the bottom and hotter at the top so that the sodium hydroxide is solid in the neck (B) and liquid in the body of the vessel. Sodium metal forms at the cathode but is less dense than the fused sodium hydroxide electrolyte. Wire gauze (G) confines the sodium metal to accumulating at the top of the collection device (P ...
Typically aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions are used. [1] [2] It is an important type of alkaline hydrolysis. When the carboxylate is long chain, its salt is called a soap. The saponification of ethyl acetate gives sodium acetate and ethanol: C 2 H 5 O 2 CCH 3 + NaOH → C 2 H 5 OH + NaO 2 CCH 3
Though metallic sodium has some important uses, the major applications for sodium use compounds; millions of tons of sodium chloride, hydroxide, and carbonate are produced annually. Sodium chloride is extensively used for anti-icing and de-icing and as a preservative; examples of the uses of sodium bicarbonate include baking, as a raising agent ...