A simple, natural product used in products worldwide, soda ash is the tenth most consumed inorganic compound in the world, which has been used for over 5,000 years.
It is a safe, simple compound and a key component in a variety of industrial processes from the manufacture of glass to dry powder detergents and lithium-ion batteries. It is also an important ingredient in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
How we produce soda ash
Today, soda ash (sodium carbonate) is produced either naturally or synthetically, both of which produce chemically identical soda ash. WE Soda only produces natural soda ash which has a much lower carbon and water footprint than synthetic product.
The natural process involves extracting and then processing trona ore. Trona is a naturally occurring mineral that resulted from the evaporation of lakes tens of millions of years ago.
Commercially exploitable trona deposits only occur geologically in three regions of the world: Wyoming, USA; Türkiye; and China. The deposits in Wyoming are the largest and purest by far and are sufficient to supply the world for hundreds of years.
Production process
The process steps to make soda ash from trona ore are quite simple.
Dissolve trona
Whether we recover the trona ore as rock or in brine the first step in the process is to dissolve the trona ore and create a brine solution.
Concentration
Trona ore rock is calcined and solution mined brine is filtered, stripped and evaporated to ensure the liquid is the right concentration.
Caustic soda
We add caustic soda to remove the naturally occurring bicarbonate and ensure the liquid is ready to be crystalised.
Crystallisation
The concentrated liquid feeds our monohydrate crystalliser which creates the sodium carbonate crystals.
Separation
The crystals in the sodium carbonate slurry that is created are separated using a centrifuge.
Drying
Once separated the crystals are dried to create a soda ash powder.
Mining methods
At WE Soda, we use three methods to recover the trona ore, conventional mining and two forms of solution mining.
In our conventional mine in Wyoming, our colleagues go underground to recover solid trona and it is sent to the surface for processing. In Türkiye we use primary solution mining which involves drilling dozens of wells, pumping water into the trona beds and then recovering the dissolved trona brine. Secondary solution mining is similar; however, instead of drilling wells we flood old conventional mines that have reached the end of their lives.
Conventional dry ore mining
2.5 million mtpa (27%)
Commenced operation in 1948
Longwall underground mining, with underground operatives
2,500km tunnels (in 77 years), ~550m below surface
Used only at Westvaco (Sesqui and Mono plants)
Monohydrate and Sesqui surface processing
Secondary solution mining
1.8 million mtpa (19%)
End of mine life flooding of conventional mine workings
No underground operatives
Allows ~60% resource recovery
Used at Westvaco (ELDM) and Granger
Monohydrate surface processing (similar to Turkish operations)
Primary solution mining
5.1 million mtpa (54%)
Pioneered by WE Soda
Lowest cost production
Lowest CO2e, water and waste
No underground operatives
Used at Eti and Kazan
Monohydrate surface processing
The future of US greenfield development
Hear from three of our senior engineers about how we produce soda ash
Frequently asked questions
The ancient Egyptians recovered soda ash from dry desert lake beds or produced it by burning marine plants with high sodium content to produce ashes, which gave the commonly used name of "soda ash".
They used it to reduce the melting point of silica sand to produce glass vessels and ornaments – the same basic production technique used in glass manufacturing today. The Romans also used its related compound, sodium bicarbonate, for medicinal purposes and to make bread.
Successive generations produced soda ash in this way until the mid-1800s, when synthetic production techniques were first developed, to supply the increasing demand from an industrialising world.
Natural soda ash has been found in lake brines or naturally occurring mineral deposits. Trona (a mix of water, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate and sometimes sodium chloride or salt) is the most common and richest source of naturally occurring soda ash.
While trona occurs naturally in a few locations worldwide, the largest and purest deposits are found in Wyoming, USA, and near Ankara, Türkiye. To date, these and another location in Inner Mongolia are the only large scale commercially exploitable deposits in the world.
We are proud to supply the world with high quality, natural soda ash, manufactured in an environmentally sustainable way, which has earned us green product certification.
When processed, soda ash can vary in density, size and shape. This flexibility allows it to be used in a variety of everyday products. From office building windows to detergents, food manufacturing to internet cables, some common examples are listed on our soda ash product page.
Today, soda ash (sodium carbonate) is produced by two main methods, both of which produce chemically identical soda ash.
Global soda ash demand is expected to continue growing by around 2 million metric tonnes every year, reaching over 80 million mtpa by 2030.
1. Natural soda ash production
Natural soda ash is produced by extracting naturally occurring trona ore and then processing this via a simple process of filtering, concentration, crystallisation and drying into soda ash which can be sold. Today, this accounts for around 30% of global production.
Commercially exploitable trona deposits only occur geologically in three regions of the world: enormous deposits in Wyoming, USA, large deposits in Türkiye, and much smaller and chemically less pure deposits in China.
2. Synthetic soda ash production
Synthetic soda ash is produced using a chemical production process using either the so-called Solvay or Hou method, in which salt (sodium chloride) is reacted with limestone (calcium carbonate) and coking coal in the presence of ammonia to produce synthetic soda ash.
Synthetic soda ash accounts for about 70% of global production, and is a more costly and a far more energy and water-intensive production process than natural production methods.
WE Soda only produces soda ash from naturally occurring trona.
WE Soda uses three methods to extract the trona ore which is processed into soda ash. They are conventional mining, primary solution mining and secondary solution mining.
Conventional mining involves transporting dry ore to the surface before processing it. Primary solution mining injects heated water into the underground ore body, which then dissolves the trona forming brine solution. The brine is then brought to the surface, and processed. Secondary solution mining involves a similar process but instead of drilling new wells we flood previously exploited conventional mines.
We are the only company outside China to use primary solution extraction technology on a commercial scale. We use this at both our Eti and Kazan facilities.
Natural soda ash production uses significantly less energy than synthetic production. It also uses less CO2 and water.
Our solution extraction method operates a closed loop and has minimal impact on the surface. We are committed to always producing at scale the products with the lowest carbon and water footprint in the world.