All about soda ash

The use of soda ash dates back to about 3,500 B.C., when ancient Egyptians used natural materials found along evaporated lakes to make glass ornaments and to preserve the Pharaohs.

Today, soda ash is the trade name for sodium bicarbonate, a chemical refined from the mineral trona or from sodium-carbonate bearing brines, both of which are referred to as natural soda ash.

Soda ash can also be manufactured from one of several chemical processes, producing what is referred to as synthetic soda ash.

Soda ash is an essential raw material in the manufacturing of glass, chemicals, baking soda, detergents and other important industrial products. Soda ash is primarily used in flat glass for automobile manufacturing and building construction, important sectors of the domestic U.S economy.

Trona was first found in Sweetwater County in southwest Wyoming during oil and gas explorations in the region some 70 years ago. In 1946, the first trona shaft was excavated and in 1948, crude soda ash commercial production began.

Four of the country's five soda ash producers are located above the Green River Basin region's vast trona reserves.

The four Wyoming producers - FMC Corp., General Chemical, OCI Chemical Corp. and Solvay Chemicals - account for 92 percent of the U.S industry and about a third of the world's production.

The five top total soda ash-producing nations are China, the U.S., Russia, Germany and India. The five countries accounted for 74 percent of world production in 2008.