Previously operating as a subsiduary of Elf Aquitaine, in June 1999 Tg Soda Ash Inc. was acquired by FMC Corp. TG Soda Ash Inc. engages in mining and production of soda ash. The company is based in Granger, Wyoming. Six companies in Wyoming and California comprise the United States soda ash industry, which is the largest in the world. The total estimated value of domestic soda ash produced in 1994 was $650 million. According the U.S. Bureau of Mines, the six producers had a combined nameplate capacity of 11 million tons per year and operated at 83%of that capacity in 1994. Soda ash is used in many products: glass, 49% chemicals, 23% soap and detergents, 13% distributors, 5% flue gas desulfurization, 3% pulp and paper, 2% Soda ash is the common name for sodium carbonate. This alkali compound is the eleventh largest inorganic chemical, in terms of production, of all domestic inorganic and organic chemicals, excluding petrochemical feedstocks.
Natural soda ash is produced from trona ore, sodium carbonate-bearing brines, or surface mineralization. All of the active facilities produce natural soda ash from sodium carbonate-rich brines or from underground mining of trona ore. Synthetic soda ash can be made by one of several chemical reactions that use common raw materials for feedstocks, such as limestone, salt, and coal.
