Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
27ef526e-4d23-4947-b910-01dc9fa683ab
Materials
Associated ID
02603a64-b72c-49ed-a93b-1aa08bfd4ea4
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
Sodium hypochlorite is widely used in the public health field, the textile industry and the papermaking industry; this dataset is modelled as the pure substance sodium hypochlorite, and when modelling this substance in solution the user is required to add a solvent of their choice in the model. The dataset includes the main raw and auxiliary materials, energy and atmospheric emissions of the production process, while infrastructure such as the manufacture of production equipment and plant construction is not included within the dataset boundary; the data inventory is formed by merging data from multiple sources; sodium hypochlorite is produced by the liquid-caustic chlorination method, i.e. it is generated by the chemical reaction between the chlorine gas produced in the chlor-alkali process and sodium hydroxide.
Activity Description
Sodium hypochlorite is produced by the liquid alkali chlorination method, which involves the chemical reaction of chlorine gas from the chlor-alkali process with sodium hydroxide.
Process Description
Sodium hypochlorite (CAS No.: 7681-52-9) is a light yellow transparent liquid with a strong chlorine smell. Its chemical formula is NaClO and it is a strong oxidant. Its aqueous solution is alkaline and unstable. It easily decomposes when exposed to light or heat to generate sodium chloride and oxygen. It also releases active chlorine with strong oxidizing properties, so it has excellent bleaching and sterilization properties. As an important chlorine-containing disinfectant, sodium hypochlorite is widely used in public health fields such as tap water disinfection, swimming pool water treatment, and hospital environment disinfection. It is used in the textile industry for bleaching cotton and linen fabrics, and in the papermaking industry as a pulp bleach. In daily life, it is the main active ingredient of 84 disinfectant.
Time period
2017
2026
Geography
China
Macroeconomic value
Business-as-Usual
Data validation
Yes
Technology
Current Technology
Technology comment
The liquid alkali chlorination method is currently the mainstream process for producing sodium hypochlorite in China. The chemical reaction equation is: 2NaOH (sodium hydroxide) + Cl₂ (chlorine) → NaClO (sodium hypochlorite) + NaCl (sodium chloride) + H₂O (water). This is an exothermic disproportionation reaction. Chlorine undergoes its own oxidation and reduction in cold alkali liquid to generate hypochlorite and chloride.