Caustic soda (NaOH), scientific name sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda, fire alkali, is a kind of alkali with strong corrosive properties, easily soluble in water to form an alkaline solution, but also easy to react with water vapor and carbon dioxide in the air deliquescence and metamorphosis reaction. Caustic soda is widely used in alumina, dyes, pulp, chemical fiber, smelting metals, water treatment, cotton fabric finishing, petroleum refining, purification of coal tar products and food processing.
1. Caustic soda industry policy
Caustic soda ash and soda ash are both important basic chemical raw materials of the national economy – one of the two bases in the “three acids and two bases” (that is, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and caustic soda, soda ash). In order to improve the overall competitiveness of the caustic soda industry, reduce energy and raw material consumption, and achieve sustainable development, the state has continuously introduced industrial policies to guide the healthy and stable development of the industry.
China’s caustic soda industry industrial policy
| Serial number | Policy name | Dispatch time | Related |
| 1 | “Implementation Guidelines for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Renovation and Upgrading in Key Areas of Energy-Consuming Industries (2022 Edition)” | February 2022 | By 2025, the proportion of production capacity above the energy efficiency benchmark level in the field of caustic soda will reach 40%, and the production capacity below the energy efficiency benchmark level will be basically cleared. |
| 2 | “14th Five-Year Plan” Industrial Green Development Plan | November 2021 | Strictly control the new production capacity of urea, ammonium phosphate, calcium carbide, caustic soda, yellow phosphorus and other industries, and new projects should implement the same amount of production capacity or reduction replacement: vigorously develop green environmental protection equipment, develop and promote the application of efficient heating, energy-saving power, waste heat residual reduction replacement: vigorously develop green environmental protection equipment, research and development of pressure recycling and other industrial energy-saving equipment. |
| 3 | Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Comprehensively Strengthening the Work of Safe Production of Hazardous Chemicals | February 2020 | Promote industrial restructuring. Improve and promote the implementation of policies and measures for the transformation and upgrading of the chemical industry. Strictly implement the national industrial structure adjustment guidance catalog, timely revise and publish the catalog of backward safety technology and equipment for the elimination, and formulate and revise the catalogue of “prohibition, restriction and control” of hazardous chemicals in combination with the deepening of supply-side structural reform in combination with actual conditions |
| 4 | Catalogue of Industrial Structure Adjustment (2019 Edition) | October 2019 | Encouraged category: zero polar distance, hydrogen anode plasma membrane caustic soda solution tank energy-saving technology, waste hydrochloric acid chlorine and other comprehensive utilization technology: restricted category: new 70,000 tons / year below polypropylene 200,000 tons / year below polyethylene, acetylene method polyarconium ethylene, starting scale of less than 300,000 tons / year of ethylene oxygen chlorination polyvinyl chloride, new soda ash (underground circulation alkali, except natural alkali), caustic soda (waste salt comprehensive utilization of ions. Saponification method cyclohydrogen endogene cattle production plant: phased out: diaphragm caustic soda production plant (can be retained as a waste salt comprehensive utilization), high mercury catalyst (mercury chloride content of more than 6.5%), and acetylene polyvinyl chloride production plant using high mercury catalyst. |
| 5 | Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Adjusting the Structure of Petrochemical Products to Promote Transformation and Efficiency | July 2016 | Strictly control the new production capacity of excess industries such as urea, ammonium phosphate, calcium carbide, caustic soda, polyrealtin ethylene, soda ash, yellow phosphorus and so on: new construction that is not included in the “Petrochemical Industry Planning and Layout Plan” Guiding Opinions Refining and chemical projects shall not be built. |
- The development stage of the caustic soda industry
The development of China’s caustic soda industry is greatly affected by national policies, and has experienced events such as physical reform, production technology innovation and industrial structure adjustment, and the development stage can be divided into exploration stage, preliminary development stage, rapid development stage and stable development stage.
The development process of China’s caustic soda industry
Phase 1 (Exploratory Phase)
In 1929, China’s first compound alkali plant, Shanghai Tianyuan Electrochemical Plant (now Shanghai Tianyuan Chemical Factory), was established. To be led by the government, patriotic industrialists to explore the production of burning, caustic soda domestic enterprises production capacity is not large, in 1949 output of only 15,000 tons. China’s caustic soda enterprises are mainly carried out in a spontaneous form, have not achieved scale effects, and have not been supported by the state. Alkali production technology is imported from European and American countries, mainly horizontal diaphragm electrolyzers, and the quality of caustic soda is poor.
Phase II (Initial Development Phase)
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese government encouraged the development of the chemical industry. At this stage, China’s caustic soda industry is mainly led by the government, and on the basis of improving equipment production, the electrolysis technology and supporting equipment are improved. However, compared with developed countries in Europe and the United States, China’s quality inspection equipment technology is still in the stage of diaphragm electrolysis, and has not yet made a breakthrough in the high-daughter membrane electrolysis method, and the industry as a whole is in the initial stage of development.
Phase III (Rapid Development Phase)
In 1978, China entered the stage of reform and opening up, as of 2010, local caustic soda enterprises have introduced dozens of high-daughter membrane electrolyzers from Japan/the United States/Germany/Britain and other countries. The total production capacity exceeds 13 million tons/year.
Phase 4 (Steady Development Phase)
While the government’s strong support and production technology innovation have promoted the rapid development of China’s caustic soda industry, the caustic soda industry has overcapacity and pollution problems have also attracted public attention.
