The main uses of sodium hydroxide

Papermaking

Sodium hydroxide plays an important role in the papermaking industry. Due to its alkaline properties, it is used in the process of cooking and bleaching paper sheets.

Food industry

Sodium hydroxide can be widely used in the following production processes: container cleaning process; starch processing; carboxymethyl cellulose preparation; monosodium glutamate production.

Water treatment

Sodium hydroxide is widely used in water treatment. In sewage treatment plants, sodium hydroxide can reduce water hardness through neutralizing reactions. In the industrial sector, it serves as a regenerator for ion exchange resins. Sodium hydroxide is highly alkaline and relatively soluble in water. As caustic soda is in liquid form, it is easy to measure and conveniently used in various fields of water treatment. Sodium hydroxide is used in the following issues in water treatment: elimination of water hardness; adjustment of water pH; neutralizing wastewater; regeneration of ion exchange resins; precipitation removal of heavy metal ions from water.

Artificial fibers and textiles

In the textile industry, sodium hydroxide is used in fiber finishing and dyeing. Its main use is in the silk treatment method for artificial fibers.

Metallurgy

Sodium hydroxide is used to process bauxite, which contains aluminum oxide, where aluminum metal exists within the aluminum oxide. Aluminum is the world's second most widely used metal. Sodium hydroxide is also used to produce zinc alloys and zinc ingots.

Detergents

Sodium hydroxide has been used in traditional household applications including soaps, detergents, and other cleaning products, and even today, the demand for caustic soda in soap making accounts for around 15% of its total use.

Soap: Making soap is an ancient and widespread use of caustic soda, and in the process of making soap, caustic soda is used to neutralize fatty acids.

Detergents: Sodium hydroxide is used to produce various detergents. Even modern laundry detergents are made largely from caustic soda, which is used to neutralize excess fuming sulfuric acid after sulfonation reactions.