NA2SO4
Sodium sulfate is the sodium salt of sulfuric acid. When anhydrous, it is a white crystalline solid of formula Na2SO4 known as the mineral thenardite; thedecahydrate Na2SO4·10H2O is found naturally as the mineral mirabilite, and in processed form has been known as Glauber's salt or, historically, salt mirabilis since the 17th century. With an annual production of 6 million tones, it is a majorcommodity chemical product.
Use in Soaps and Detergents
A large
amount of sodium sulfate has been used in powdered detergents as filler.
However, sodium sulfate use has begun declining as well; the need for
filler has gone down, due to the trend toward using concentrated liquid
detergents instead of bulkier powder formulas. It is still used in
carpet powders and window defrosting applications.
Textiles
Approximately
100,000 tons of sodium sulfate is utilized annually for dyeing
textiles. It does not corrode the stainless steel vessels as sodium
chloride (which can also be used in this manner) does. Sodium sulfate is
a leveling agent, reducing negative chargers on the fibers, which
allows the dyes to penetrate evenly. Sodium sulfate is a by-product of
rayon production.
Wood Pulp
One
notable use for sodium sulfate compound is in the Kraft process, also
known as the sulfate process, of wood pulp manufacturing which is widely
used to make paper products and building supplies .The technology
involves impregnating wood chips with sodium sulfate; the wood is
heated, causing a reduction of the sodium sulfate into sodium sulfide.
This breaks the bond in the cellulose of the wood, making it malleable
and able to be extruded.
Glass
Sodium
sulfate is used in the glass industry as well. Sodium sulfate prevents
scum formation by the molten glass during refining, and also fluxes the
glass. The compound also acts as a fining agent in molten glass,
removing small air bubbles and imperfections during the blowing and
casting processes.
Drying and Thermal Storage
In
the laboratory, sodium sulfate is often used as an inert drying
compound for organic materials. It removes water from compounds reliably
at temperatures below 30° C (86° F). Another main use of sodium sulfate
is in thermal storage. It has been utilized as a solar heat storage
component, because it has a high heat storage capacity and does not
change from a solid to a liquid until 90 ° F (32 ° C). Sodium sulfate is
used to store heat in thermal tiles, and put into cells surrounded by
solar-heated water, as well as in some computer-cooling and insulating
applications.
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