Sodium Hypochloride (NaClO)
Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) is formed when caustic soda (NaOH) and chlorine (Cl2) react. ASC delivers sodium hypochlorite to customers in the form of 10% solution. It is widely used bleaching, disinfecting and oxidizing agents.Sodium hypochlorite is widely used in swimming pools to disinfect the water and to oxidize pollutants in the water.
Sodium hypochlorite is also commonly used in the pretreatment of cooling water to prevent biofouling in a cooling water system which involves piping, heat exchangers, cooling towers, etc. Drinking water and process water are produced from ground water or surface water, which can contain large amounts of micro-organisms. The water needs to be disinfected to prevent the spreading of pathogenic micro-organisms and to prevent biofouling in general. In many developed countries sodium hypochlorite is used for the disinfection of drinking water.Sodium hypochlorite is also widely used in waste water treatment. After most impurities in waste water have been removed by other technical means such as biofiltration, just before being discharged, wastewater is treated with sodium hypochlorite.Cleaning and disinfection procedures using sodium hypochlorite is a well known practice in the food, beverage, and dairy industry.
Sodium hypochlorite is used in many products for household cleaning and disinfection. Other uses are industrial cleaning (food and beverage industry, kitchens and catering), and industrial laundry cleaning (washing of clothing for hospitals and in some factories). In the textile and pulp & paper industries, sodium hypochlorite is often used for bleaching purposes. Hypochlorite oxidation of starch is one of the most useful reactions developed for the modification of starch. Oxidation introduces an increasing number of carbonyl and carboxyl groups into the starch molecules, which in turn cause changes in the chemical and physical properties.
