The sodium carbonate (soda ash) extrusion granulation production line focuses on the solidification and molding needs of powdered sodium carbonate. With “precise pretreatment – high-pressure extrusion – grading and screening – finished product output” as its core process, it achieves a stable production capacity of 4m³/hour (approximately 6.8 tons, based on a sodium carbonate density of 1.7g/cm³) through customized equipment configuration and process optimization. The finished granules are characterized by high strength, good flowability, and low moisture absorption, making them suitable for applications in chemical, building materials, and environmental protection industries.
Production Line Configuration and Core Details
I. Raw Material Pretreatment Unit: Ensuring Basic Granulation Quality
(I) Raw Material Storage and Feeding System
Raw Material Silo: Equipped with one 10m³ conical raw material silo, made of 304 stainless steel (resistant to slight corrosion from sodium carbonate). The silo has a 60° cone angle and is equipped with a vibrator and a star-shaped unloader at the bottom to prevent powder bridging and blockage. The raw material silo is equipped with a pulse dust collector at the top to collect dust generated during the feeding process. The dust emission concentration is ≤10mg/m³, meeting environmental protection standards.
Quantitative feeding device: A variable frequency controlled screw feeder (model LS300) is used, with the feeding rate precisely adjustable within the range of 2-5m³/h, suitable for a production capacity of 4m³/h. The feeder shell adopts a sealed design, and the internal spiral blades are treated with a wear-resistant coating to reduce wear on the equipment caused by sodium carbonate powder and prevent moisture absorption and agglomeration.
(II) Raw material drying and crushing pretreatment
Low-temperature dryer: Because sodium carbonate is prone to moisture absorption and agglomeration, one Φ1.2×6.0 meter drum dryer is configured. Hot air circulation heating is used, and the drying temperature is controlled at 80-100℃, reducing the raw material moisture content from ≤5% to ≤0.5%, avoiding agglomeration that affects extrusion molding. The dryer has a built-in lifting plate spiral layout, ensuring uniform heating of the material, with a drying uniformity error of ≤2%. Fine Pulverizer: A 400-type vertical pulverizer is selected, with a cutter disc made of high-chromium wear-resistant alloy. It pulverizes any lumps (particle size ≤20mm) that may exist after drying into uniform powder ≤1mm, ensuring consistent raw material fineness and improving extrusion granulation rate. The pulverizer is equipped with a grading screen, allowing flexible adjustment of the discharge particle size. The pulverizing efficiency reaches 6m³/h, meeting the continuous operation requirements of the production line.
II. Core Extrusion Granulation Unit: Key Link in High-Pressure Molding
(I) Precise Feeding and Pre-compression
Twin-Screw Pre-compressor: The pulverized sodium carbonate powder is conveyed to the twin-screw pre-compressor via a 1.5-meter belt conveyor. Through spiral extrusion, the loose powder is pre-compressed into a dense column with a density of 1.2g/cm³, avoiding problems such as uneven pressure and low granulation rate caused by direct entry into the granulator. The pre-compressor is equipped with a material level sensor, automatically linking with the front-end feeder to adjust the feed rate, ensuring stable material supply.
(II) High-Pressure Extrusion Granulation Main Unit
Core Equipment Selection: Two 2.5-type double-roller press granulators, each with a capacity of 2 m³/h, operate in parallel, achieving a total capacity of 4 m³/h. The granulator rollers are made of wear-resistant alloy steel, hardened to a hardness of HRC62 or higher, and feature customized anti-slip textures (0.8 mm depth) to enhance powder penetration.
Key Parameter Design: The extrusion pressure is precisely controlled at 12-18 MPa via a hydraulic system, ensuring that sodium carbonate powder is fully extruded and shaped within the die, resulting in granules with a compressive strength exceeding 3.0 MPa and minimal pulverization. The roller diameter is 400 mm, the roller width is 250 mm, and the die diameter can be customized (3-8 mm). A single unit achieves a stable hourly output of 2 ± 0.2 m³/h. Auxiliary Function Configuration: The granulator is equipped with an automatic roller cleaning device and a die hole unblocker to remove material adhering to the roller surface in real time, preventing die hole blockage and extending continuous operating time (≥8 hours per continuous run). Equipment operating noise is controlled below 75dB, meeting industrial production noise standards.
III. Post-processing and Finished Product Output Unit: Optimizing Quality and Efficiency
(I) Particle Crushing and Grading Screening
Roller Crusher: The extruded flaky granules are conveyed to a double-roller crusher via a 4-meter belt conveyor, crushing the flaky granules into irregular particles (3-8mm in diameter). The crusher roller gap is adjustable (1-5mm) to ensure uniform particle size after crushing.
Grading and Screening Machine: Equipped with one Φ1.5×4.0 meter drum screen, featuring a double-layer screen design. The upper screen (8mm aperture) separates oversized particles, while the lower screen (3mm aperture) screens for qualified particles. Unqualified particles (too coarse or too fine) are returned to the crusher for reprocessing via a return conveyor belt, achieving a material utilization rate of 98%. The screen is equipped with a vibration cleaning device to prevent screen clogging, achieving a screening efficiency of 5 m³/h.
(II) Finished Product Cooling and Moisture Prevention Treatment
Cooler: Qualified particles enter a Φ1.0×8.0 meter counter-current cooler, using ambient air to rapidly reduce the particle temperature from 60-80℃ to room temperature (±5℃), preventing high-temperature particles from absorbing moisture and clumping. The cooler is equipped with an induced draft device to enhance heat exchange efficiency, with cooling time controlled within 15 minutes. After cooling, the particle moisture content stabilizes at ≤0.5%. Moisture-resistant coating (optional): One Φ1.0×3.0 meter coating machine can be added according to customer needs. Using atomized spraying technology, a small amount of anti-moisture agent (such as calcium stearate, ≤0.3%) is evenly adhered to the granule surface, forming a dense protective film to further enhance the finished product’s moisture resistance and extend its shelf life.
(III) Finished Product Storage and Packaging
Finished Product Warehouse: Two 10m³ finished product warehouses (total volume 20m³) are configured. They feature a sealed design and are equipped with dehumidification and ventilation devices to maintain a relative humidity of ≤50% to prevent moisture absorption by the finished product. A star-shaped unloader is installed at the bottom of the warehouse for quantitative discharge.
Automated Packaging: A dual-station automatic packaging scale is used, supporting rapid switching between 25kg and 50kg specifications. The metering error is ≤±0.2kg, and the packaging speed reaches 120 bags/hour. The packaging machine is equipped with a dust cover and bag sealing device to reduce powder flying. Packaged finished products are transferred to the finished product stacking area via belt conveyor.
IV. Environmental Protection and Auxiliary Systems: Ensuring Stable and Environmentally Friendly Production
(I) Dust Control System Each dust-generating stage of the production line (raw material silo feeding, crusher, screening machine, packaging machine) is equipped with a pulse dust collector. A total of 3 MC-96 pulse dust collectors are installed, with a total air volume handling capacity of 15,000 m³/h and a dust collection efficiency of 99.5%, ensuring that the dust concentration in the workshop is ≤8 mg/m³, meeting national environmental protection standards.
The dust collected by the dust collectors is returned to the raw material pretreatment stage via a screw conveyor and reused in production, avoiding material waste.
(II) Intelligent Control System An integrated PLC central control system is provided, equipped with a touch screen operating interface. It can monitor the operating parameters of each piece of equipment in real time (feed rate, extrusion pressure, drying temperature, particle temperature, etc.), and supports automatic fault alarms and data recording (recording cycle ≥30 days). The system supports manual and automatic mode switching, facilitating operator management and maintenance.
(III) Equipment Protection and Adaptation Design
All equipment in contact with sodium carbonate (raw material silos, feeders, granulators, etc.) is made of mildly corrosive materials or treated with anti-corrosion coatings to prevent sodium carbonate from corroding the equipment.
The production line has a compact overall layout, occupying an area of approximately 600 square meters. Maintenance access channels (≥1.2 meters wide) are reserved between each piece of equipment for easy future maintenance. The equipment foundations are designed to withstand vibrations, reducing the impact of vibrations during the extrusion granulator operation.
Core Advantages and Application Value of the Production Line
Stable and Efficient Production Capacity: The dual-machine parallel extrusion granulation design achieves a precise hourly output of 4 m³, with an annual capacity of up to 30,000 tons (based on 300 days of operation per year and 8 hours per day), meeting the needs of large-scale production.
Excellent Finished Product Quality: The high-pressure extrusion molding process ensures high particle strength, resistance to pulverization, low moisture content, and strong moisture resistance, making it suitable for long-distance transportation and long-term storage. Environmentally friendly and energy-saving: The fully sealed design and pulse dust removal system result in minimal dust pollution; the dryer uses hot air circulation, which reduces energy consumption by 15% compared to conventional drying equipment, and keeps operating costs under control.
From Industrial Chemicals to Agricultural Inputs: A Shared Technology Base
The successful application of this sodium carbonate extrusion granulation line underscores the versatility of modern dry compaction technology. While designed for industrial chemicals, its core principles are directly transferable to the agricultural sector, highlighting a shared foundation in precision npk granulation machine technology.
The high-pressure extrusion process used here is essentially the same technology employed in a roller press granulator within a dedicated roller press granulation production line for fertilizer. This demonstrates how equipment like a npk fertilizer granulator machine operates on similar mechanical principles. For agricultural applications, a complete npk fertilizer production line integrates this granulation step into a broader npk fertilizer manufacturing process. This process begins with precise formulation using an npk blending machine or npk bulk blending machine, followed by granulation via the npk fertilizer granulator, and concludes with coating and packaging. The entire npk fertilizer production technology is an integrated system where each machine, from blender to granulator, plays a specific role in the npk fertilizer production process.
Thus, expertise in granulating sodium carbonate translates directly into the capability to produce high-density, low-dust NPK fertilizers, showcasing the interdisciplinary nature of advanced granulation engineering.