Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
d8d0a0da-85c2-4f80-b6a0-25bd44e5ab30
Materials
Associated ID
63fb1030-d0e7-48e8-8547-72af8007e864
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
Sodium nitrate is widely used in fields such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metallurgy, glass, dyes and agricultural fertilisers; Sodium nitrate is modelled as a pure substance; when modelling this substance the user needs to add a solvent of their choice in the model; the dataset contains the main raw and auxiliary materials, energy, waste and atmospheric emissions of the production process, and infrastructure such as the manufacture of production equipment and the construction of plant buildings is not included within the dataset boundary; the data inventory is formed by merging data from multiple sources; the production activities of this product include ammonia oxidation, alkali liquor absorption, evaporation and concentration, cooling crystallisation, and centrifugal drying. Sodium nitrate is a co-product of this process, with mass used as the allocation basis.
Activity Description
The production activities of this product include ammonia oxidation, alkali absorption, evaporation concentration, cooling crystallization, and centrifugal drying to obtain sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate products.
Process Description
The chemical formula of sodium nitrate is NaNO3, with CAS number 7631-99-4. It appears as colorless, transparent or white rhombic crystals with a slight yellow tint. It is non-flammable, has a bitter and salty taste, is easily soluble in water and liquid ammonia, and is slightly soluble in glycerol and ethanol, with a neutral solution. It can support combustion, is oxidizing, and is toxic. Sodium nitrate is an important inorganic chemical raw material, widely used in industries such as chemical, pharmaceutical, metallurgy, glass, and dye, and can also be used as agricultural fertilizer.
Time period
2018
2026
Geography
China
Macroeconomic value
Business-as-Usual
Data validation
Yes
Technology
Current Technology
Technology comment
The nitrogen oxide alkali absorption method is the sole mainstream technology for sodium nitrite production, where sodium nitrite is produced through the absorption reaction between nitrogen oxides in the tail gas and a soda ash solution. This process offers both environmental and resource utilization advantages, and simultaneously co-produces sodium nitrate, accounting for approximately 10% of the domestic powdered sodium nitrate market. This dataset represents the mainstream technology: soda ash is prepared into a qualified fresh alkali solution in the alkali dissolving tank, filtered, pumped into the fresh alkali solution storage tank, and then sent to the alkali absorption tower. Ammonia gas is filtered, passes through a preheater, then enters the ammonia-air mixing filter via a buffer tank, and the mixed gas is catalytically converted in the oxidation furnace to form nitrogen oxide gas. The nitrogen oxide gas enters the alkali absorption tower and reacts with the alkali solution to synthesize sodium nitrite. Part of the sodium nitrite mother liquor, alkali solution, and nitric acid react in the conversion tower to produce sodium nitrate, with the generated conversion gas separated and sent back to the alkali absorption tower. The product is then obtained through evaporation, concentration, crystallization, and centrifugation.