General Chemical Industrial Products

Packaging

Light and dense soda ash are normally packaged in plastic or polyethylene-lined, multi-wall paper bags holding 25 kg or 50 lb. (22.7 kg) and either 1-net-ton or 1-metric-ton supersacks. The product is typically shipped in boxcars, closed van-type trucks or on flatbed trucks, if carefully protected from the weather with tarpaulins.

Bags are shipped on non-returnable wood pallets and stacked in an interlocking pattern for stability in transit and handling. A typical unit load has 45 to 55 bags, depending on packaging configuration and bulk density, and measures no more than three to four feet in length or width. The number of bags may vary from less than 18 to more than 24 per pallet.

Bulk Railcars

Covered hopper cars with bottom discharge are the most common rail cars used for bulk soda ash. They have weather-tight steel roofs fitted with hinged circular or trough hatches for loading. Their sloping bottoms are essentially self-cleaning. They usually have three compartments, each with a single outlet on the centerline of the car. The outlets are closed by tight-fitting, horizontal slide gates opened by a rack-and-pinion mechanism. Hopper car sizes appear in Table 3-1. Most covered hopper cars discharge by gravity. General Chemical also offers pneumatic discharge (PD) railcars, if a pressurized off-loading is necessary.

Bulk Trucks

Trucks used for bulk soda ash are like those for cement and other dry bulk materials. The most popular are self-unloading, pneumatic trailers such as hopper pressure tanks. These have air compressors that can blow the 15 to 25 short-ton (14 to 23 metric-ton) load they carry into storage bins in one to two hours. Gravity-unload hopper trucks are also available. Maximum weight loads depend on local regulations.

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General Chemical
Industrial Products Inc.

120 Eagle Rock Avenue
East Hanover, NJ 07936
Tel: (973) 599-5500

info@genchem.com