General Chemical Corporation

General Chemical Industrial Products, Inc.

Stephen T Gaddis

Victor Eugene Braman

Marco Antonio Cortes

James M Shepard

Kenneth Douglas Boyle

Todd M Lessard

Thomas B Barker

Falcon A Price

Derral W Smith

Mark Alan Lee

A process is described for recovering sodium carbonate or other sodium-based chemicals from sodium-bearing streams, including in particular mine water, evaporative pond water and sodium carbonate decahydrate deposits, recycle and purge streams, and other waste streams. In the process sodium bicarbonate-bearing streams are decarbonized to reduce the sodium bicarbonate concentration in a combination with other sodium-bearing streams, resulting in a liquor suitable as feed to a sodium carbonate decahydrate or sodium carbonate monohydrate process. The sodium bicarbonate stream is combined in a mix tank with other sodium carbonate bearing streams where the concentration is adjusted to form a liquor suitable to feed a sodium decahydrate or sodium carbonate monohydrate evaporation/crystallization step. In the process the combination of the various sodium-bearing streams is decarbonized to below 3.5% sodium bicarbonate when fed to a sodium decahydrate process and to below 1% sodium bicarbonate when fed to a sodium carbonate monohydrate process. The feed streams are adjusted in sodium carbonate concentration by higher concentrated sodium carbonate-bearing streams or by addition of sodium carbonate decahydrate produced from said streams or recovered form evaporation pond deposits, are then processed to produce sodium carbonate decahydrate or sodium carbonate monohydrate or further processed to form other sodium carbonate salts.

Sodium carbonate recovery from waste streams and impounded sodium carbonate decahydrate deposits

n the manufacture of sodium carbonate having increased CO uptakes the carbonation reaction to form sodium bicarbonate is enhanced by the addition of particular amounts of a cationic quaternary amine, selected from the family of dialkylethoxylated quaternary salts, benzylalkyl quaternary salts, or a combination of quaternary salts from these families, to treat the 25-30% by weight sodium carbonate liquor prior to filtration. The manufactured product yields a modified sodium carbonate liquor product that, when crystallized and converted to any anhydrous product, is more readily carbonated with CO in the production of sodium bicarbonate. The cationic additive reacts with organic materials in the sodium carbonate liquor to form solid polymeric by-products. Thus the treatment with a cationic compound is made prior to filtering the liquor. After filtering to remove the polymeric by-products and other solid materials, the liquor is evaporated or crystallized to produce a purified and modified sodium carbonate. During evaporation, additional antifoam agent may be added to control foaming and insure the ability to re-use the generated condensate.

Method for producing enhanced sodium carbonate crystals for making sodium bicarbonate

An apparatus and method for accurately weighing a rail car coupled to other rail cars without uncoupling the rail car to be weighed includes a hydraulically operated positioning device assembly with opposed pushers that can be elevated to hold the axle of a rail car uptrack of the car to be weighed, a scale mounted downtrack of the rail car positioning device, and a car stop mounted downtrack of the scale that can be elevated to block the wheels of a car downtrack of the car being weighed. The rail car positioning device engages the car uptrack of the car to be weighed, moves the car to be weighed over the scale, and, by reversibly moving the car, centers the car over the scale. The car stop then engages the downtrack car to maintain it and other cars coupled to it downtrack in a fixed position during weighing and filling of the car on the scale. The carriage assembly then releases the car on the scale and moves uptrack where it acquires a hold on the next empty car. With the downtrack cars from the car to be weighed on the scale immobilized by the car stop, and the uptrack cars held by the reversible rail car positioning device, the uptrack cars can be moved back and forth to relieve all coupling stresses from the car to be weighed. This back and forth movement can be repeated at any time during the loading cycle to assure that coupling stresses do not influence the accuracy of the final measured cargo weight.

Method of weighing railroad cars without uncoupling them

A tube dryer system is used to remove moisture from solid commercial products. The present apparatus includes a condensate vessel that separates condensed steam from excess steam. The excess steam is passed through a thermocompressor and combined with incoming fresh steam to produce a combined steam feed stream having a higher flow rate at only slightly reduced pressure and reduced superheat content, resulting in increased dryer capacity and reduced steam losses with no increase in energy costs.

Water removal from solid products and apparatus therefor

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Green River, WY, United States of America

Stephen T Gaddis