Cleaner Waste Systems 3 (2022) 100042

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Cleaner Waste Systems

journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/cleaner-waste-systems

Conversion of gaseous effluents of power plant to sodium carbonate: A

value-added material for powder detergent ]]
]]]]]]
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Sujit Kumar Guchhaita,1, Krishna K. Yadava,1, Sunainaa,1, Shyam Khatanab, Rajendra K. Sainib,
Pranayb, Upain K. Arorab, Rajiv Satyakamb, Ramesh Bajajc, Menaka Jhaa,
⁎

a
Institute of Nano Science & Technology, Knowledge City, Sector 81, Mohali, Punjab 140306, India
b
NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance (NETRA), NTPC Ltd, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201306, India
c
SRD Industries F-18, Focal Point, Derabassi, Punjab, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The CO2 emission from thermal power plants is one of the major causes of global warming. Various CO2 capture
Carbon dioxide capture technologies such as chemical absorption and adsorption, solvent scrubbing, and membrane processes have been
Flue gas proposed; however, these approaches are expensive and energy-intensive. Here, we have developed a new
Nano sodium carbonate process for the conversion of gaseous effluents from thermal power plants into nanostructured materials without
Powder detergent
producing secondary waste. The process includes passing the gaseous industrial effluent (flue gas) in three
different aqueous-based solvents (neutral, acidic and alkaline). After completing the reaction, the alkaline sol­
vent was evaporated to get a solid mass. A powder X-ray diffraction study confirms the formation of sodium
carbonate. Transmission electron microscopic studies show the formation of a spherical particle of size
∼ 150 nm. Further, gas absorption study reveals high absorption of CO2. The as-obtained sodium carbonate was
used for the detergent formulation. The result shows grade I detergent has been prepared with improved de­
tergency power (> 65 %), having less than 15 % active alkalinity, ∼ 19 % active ingredient and less than 1 %
ash. The above work shows a new approach for the scientific as well as the industrial community to convert
pollutants into useful products.

1. Introduction constituents play a major role in global warming (Overview of

Greenhouse Gases). It has been reported that the global temperature of
Modernization of industries immensely boosted the economic the earth increases up to 4.8 ℃ by 21st century (Le Quéré et al., 2016).
growth of any country. The continuous increase of industries results in a Flue gas has several adverse impacts on the environment. To address
huge number of industrial effluents which causes serious environmental this serious environmental issue, several technologies have been im­
problems. Among the wide variety of industries, power plants are one of plemented in the last two decades. For the treatment of flue gas of
the important industries which meet the considerable amount of ex­ known composition, the known remediation process can be categorized
isting power demands of our society. Traditionally, power plant into two processes (a) dry scrubbing and (b) wet scrubbing. These
working on coal-based technology is worldwide accepted because of its methods can remove the soluble as well as the solid particulate present
economical and high-efficiency process. The drawback associated with in the flue gas. In the dry scrubbing process, solid/liquid sorbent will
electricity production via coal-based industries is the generation of capture the flue gas followed by conversion into solid particles. The pH
toxic by-products in gaseous form, which creates environmental pol­ and sorbent are the important criteria for the formation of end solid
lution by their gaseous effluents. It is estimated that 42 % of energy is product from flue gas of the desired volume (Singh and Shukla, 2014).
produced from coal-based plants where effluents contain CO2, SO2, In the wet scrubbing process, wet scrubbers are contacted with flue
NOX, CH4 and other air pollutants (U.S. Energy Information gases and the gases are collected. It is known that solid pollutant par­
Administration (EIA)). Gaseous effluents normally contain small soot ticles from the flue gas can be removed by a centrifugal separator,
particles also along with the above-mentioned gases. All these electrostatic separator, and wet separator or by filtering (Air pollution

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: menaka@inst.ac.in, menaka100jha@gmail.com (M. Jha).
1
Contributed equally as a first other.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clwas.2022.100042
Received 28 June 2022; Received in revised form 30 September 2022; Accepted 6 October 2022
2772-9125/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/4.0/).
S.K. Guchhait, K.K. Yadav, K.K.Sunaina et al. Cleaner Waste Systems 3 (2022) 100042

control devices - Energy Education). It has been observed that CO2 are length ∼ 1.5 µm) grown on the surface of silicon wafers (Amouzgar
one of the major gases in flue gas composition, which create a serious et al., 2012). The chief customer of Na2CO3 is the soap and detergent
environmental problem. Carbon dioxide capture at an industrial scale is industries. The main role of soda ash in detergents is to enhance its
performed via three methods; (a) pre-combustion capture, (b) oxy-fuel cleansing properties. Na2CO3 play the role of the builder to emulsify the
process and (c) post-combustion capture (Green Chemistry and oil stain or can reduce the deposition of dirt or can provide alkalinity
Sustainable Technology). The post-combustion CO2 capturing is chal­ during washing or can soften the hard water during cleaning. Fur­
lenging because of its low pressure in the flow pipeline. In most cases, thermore, it can be used for the manufacturing of ultramarine which
12–15 % CO2 is present in the coal-fired power plant provides a shiny look to white fabrics. In addition, soda ash is also used
(Thiruvenkatachari et al., 2009). Apart from the flow of CO2, the other for the synthesis of sodium tripolyphosphate, percarbonates, silicates
gas components of power plant effluents such as SOx, and NOx also and phosphates which are useful components of various household
hampers the remediation of CO2. Earlier, Thiruvenkatachari et al. cleaning products (Kotomin et al., 2004; Yakimchuk et al., 2004).
(2009), Qiao et al. (2016) and Peng and Cao (2013) reported that MOF, In the present work, we have converted gaseous effluents of the
Zeolites, Mg-MOF-74, respectively could be promising adsorbents for power plant into nanostructured sodium carbonate. Apart from the
SOx, NOx, and CO2 from the flue gas. However, CO2 can chemisorb to earlier report on the extraction of sodium carbonate, here, for the first
the zeolite surface as well as NOx, SOx, and H2O also lower the re­ time, we have designed a process to convert flue gas into nano sodium
mediation process. Zhang et al. (2009) also studied the CO2 capturing carbonate, which has been further utilized for the detergent formula­
efficiency in presence of other gases has been studied. tion. The key idea behind this work is the utilization of industrial
Earlier, some efforts have been put to convert flue gas into value- gaseous effluents without generating secondary waste along with the
added products. Huttenhuis et al. (2016) extracted sodium carbonate generation of the products which will be high in demand in our society.
and sodium bicarbonate from flue gas. Cai et al. (2018) also reported
the extraction of hydrated sodium carbonate by using CO2 from flue 2. Experimental
gas. Sodium carbonate is an industrially important material, which can
be utilized in glass manufacturing, textile, soap, detergent, paper, bio­ 2.1. Material and method
fuel, polymer, and absorption of greenhouse gas (Skeen and Snell,
1948; Nishimoto and Namba, 2000; Muthukumaran and Gupta, 2000; H2SO4 (Merck, 99 %, India), NaOH (CDH, 98 %, India), Flue gas
Fang and Somasundaran, 2010; Hartman et al., 2014; Bookong et al., (mixture of 13.1 % CO2 + 0.0472 % NOX + 0.172 % ppm SO2
2015; Ihsanullah et al., 2016). Sodium carbonate can be synthesized in + 7.03 ppm % O2, Nitrogen) were used while performing this reaction.
several ways in an economical manner (Smith et al.; Hutchings and For powder detergent preparation, synthesized nano Sodium Carbonate
Joffe, 1986; Weingaertner et al., 1991). Earlier, Nicolas Leblanc in the (nano Na2CO3) (40 wt%), Sodium Chloride (NaCl) (40 wt%), Sodium
eighteenth century synthesized sodium carbonate from sodium Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (14 wt%), Sodium Tripolyphosphate (STPP)
chloride, where a large amount of hydrogen chloride gas was generated (5 wt%), Sodium Sulfate (Na2SO4) (0.1 wt%), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
as a by-product that was simply expelled into the air and caused acid (SLS) (0.4 wt%), Tinopal CBS-X (0.1 wt%), Perfume (0.4 wt%) were
rain (Wisniak, 2003). Further, this process has been replaced by the used. All the chemicals were used as received without any further
Leblanc process as it was less polluting due to the nontoxic and non- purification.
corrosive by-product CaCl2 (Kiefer). The discovery of natural deposits To capture the flue gas emitted from a thermal power plant and
of the mineral “trona”, a double salt-containing hydrated sodium car­ their utilization for the synthesis of sodium carbonate; A three-step flue
bonate and sodium bicarbonate decline the use of the synthetic Solvay gas capture solvent has been used. A schematic for the capture of flue
method of producing anhydrous sodium carbonate at various places gas has been represented in Fig. 1. The flue gas has been passed through
(Agnello, 1966; Glanville and Rau, 1973). Earlier, sodium carbonate different solvents where constituents of flue gas have been captured
from Trona can be obtained via mixed solvent reactive crystallization selectively in three different solvents. In each reactor, there is one input
(Gärtner and Witkamp, 2007), wet calcination and thermal decom­ gas connector, and one output gas connector has been made. All three
position (Gancy, 1966). Bulk high-density sodium carbonate is pre­ solvents chamber has been connected in series so that the output of
pared by calcination at 150–200 °C (Sorg, 1986). All these methods lead solvent-1 acts as the input of solvent 2 and so on. Four gas taping points
to the synthesis of mainly bulk sodium carbonate. To the best of our are designed at the output of each solvent vessel as mentioned in Fig. 1.
knowledge, there is only one report by Amouzgar on the synthesis of The output of solvent 3 is released into the atmosphere because of the
nanostructured sodium carbonate nanorods (diameter ∼ 200 nm, presence of N2 gas with a very negligible amount of NOx (∼ 6 %).

Fig. 1. Process design for the treatment of flue gas.

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S.K. Guchhait, K.K. Yadav, K.K.Sunaina et al. Cleaner Waste Systems 3 (2022) 100042

Table 1
Experimental details of the reaction between solvents and the flue gas.

S. no. Gas flow rate Change of pH

(ml/min)
Solvent 1 Solvent 2 Solvent 3

Initial Final Initial Final The concentration of solution (M) Initial Final

1 100 8.1 6.5 2.1 3.2 0.1 12.8 10.2

2 150 7.7 6.3 2.2 2.3 0.1 12.7 10.3
3 200 8.1 6.7 2.1 2.8 0.1 12.8 10.2
4 100 7.6 6.7 2.0 2.3 0.5 12.8 10.2
5 150 7.6 6.5 2.0 2.7 0.5 12.6 10.1
6 450 8.1 2.1 2.0 2.8 0.5 12.7 10.4
7 1500 7.4 2.6 2.0 2.7 1.0 13.2 10.3

Here, a series of experiments by varying flow rate, and solvent ray spectroscopy (EDX, Bruker) attached with the TEM. For the pre­
concentration has been performed to capture the flue gas effluents as paration of TEM samples, the sample was dispersed in ethanol using an
described in Table 1. In this present study, we have to design an aqu­ ultra-sonication, and one drop of prepared dispersion was drop cast on
eous-based solvent to capture the gaseous effluents. Here, solvents 1, a carbon-coated 200 mesh copper grid. Further, synthesized sodium
solvent 2 and solvent 3 are water, 0.01 M sulfuric acid and (0.1–1.0 M) carbonate has been used for making powder detergent. The mass
sodium hydroxide was used to extract nanostructured sodium carbo­ spectroscopy (MS) of all solvents was performed using AcquityQDa
nate. The typically designed volume of solvent 1, solvent 2 and solvent with ESI ionization manufactured by Waters.
3 was 2, 10 and 19 L, respectively (Fig. 1). For, the synthesis of sodium
carbonate, first, flue gas passes through solvent-1. In solvent-1, SOx gas 3. Results and discussion
along with a small amount of NOX was captured which form an aqueous
acid mixture having low pH. The flue gas was further passed through In the present study, the power plant effluents were passed through
solvent-2, where the remaining NOx has been adsorbed; thereafter re­ various solvents which were connected in series (see Section 2) to
mained gases were passed through solvent-3. The solvent-3 contains capture CO2 and other harmful impurities of the effluents. After com­
NaOH, where CO2 reacts with NaOH instantaneously which results in pletion of the process, the solvent which capture CO2 was evaporated to
the formation of a mixture of aqueous sodium bicarbonate and sodium obtain pure sodium carbonate. The resultant Na2CO3 was utilized for
carbonate. The as-obtained aqueous solution has been evaporated to get detergent formulation.
pure sodium carbonate. All the gasses captured in different aqueous A detailed analysis of flue gas has been carried out using an online
solvents having different pH at room temperature and ambient pres­ flue gas analyser (HNL, Model No GA100). In this work, the observed
sure. The detailed flue gas absorption and change of pH of the solvents composition of effluents was 13.01 % CO2, 0.0472 % NOX, 0.172 % SO2,
have been studied and explained in the next section. The detailed ex­ 7.03 % O2 and N2. After the completion of the flue gas capturing pro­
perimental is given in Table 1. cess, with the help of various solvents Liquid Chromatography-Mass
To prepare detergent powder, we have taken 800 g of sodium car­ Spectrometry (LC-MS) has been performed for all solvents to get the
bonate into a clean bucket and added an equal amount of sodium composition of each solvent (solvent-1, solvent-2, and solvent-3). For
chloride into it. It was thoroughly mixed for 10 min and mixed well. this purpose, mass spectroscopy of all solvents was performed using
14 wt% of sodium alkylbenzene sulfonate (280 g), 5 wt% of sodium AcquityQDa with ESI ionization manufactured by Waters and the mass
tripolyphosphate (STPP) (100 g) and 0.4 wt% sodium lauryl sulfate spectra obtained were as given in Fig. S1a–c. The negative ion in the
(10 g) were added to the mixture in the reaction bucket and the mixture mass spectrum of solvent 1 appears at a mass-to-charge ratio (m/z)
was again thoroughly mixed for proper mixing. The addition was 96.97 (for negative ion mode) and at m/z 79.93 which confirms the
stopped after the vigorous foaming has stopped. After that 0.1 wt% presence of HSO-4 and (NO3-) (OH-) ions (Fig. S1a). Similar mass spectra
sodium sulfate (2 g), 0.1 wt% Tinopal CBS-X (2 g), and 0.4 wt% perfume were also observed for solvent 2 (Fig. S1b). This implies aqueous nitrate
(10 g) were added into the mixture one by one and mixed properly for and sulfate ions are formed when solvent 1 and solvent 2 on a reaction
30 min. The detergent was stored for further characterization. The with NOx and SOx. Insolvent 3, the unreacted CO2, which was passed
samples were tested as per requirements specified in IS 4955:2001 and through solvent 1 and solvent 2 reacts with solvent 3 and forms aqu­
reaffirmed in 2014 (of Indian Standards, 2001). eous sodium bicarbonate. The LC-MS spectra of solvent 3 have been
done in negative ion mode after the completion of CO2 gas capturing.
2.2. Material characterization The mass spectrum of solvent 3 shows up at m/z nearly 156, which
corresponds to (HCO3-)2(OH-)2 (Fig. S1c). Isolation of formed nitric acid
Powder X-Ray diffraction (PXRD) studies were performed by Bruker and sulfuric acid in solvent 1 and solvent 2 has been carried out by the
D8Advance X-ray diffractometer having Cu cathode for the generation distillation process. Further solvent 3 has been evaporated with an
of X-ray of wavelength 1.54 Å. The step size and step time were kept at evaporation rate in a range from 1 litre/h to 2 litres/h to obtain the
0.001° and 2 s respectively. Further, Fourier transforms infrared spec­ solid product, which was further dried at 90 °C.
troscopy (FTIR) was performed using Bruker in the wavenumber range The mechanism of the absorption process of SOx, NOx and CO2 by
450–4000 cm−1. The surface area measurement has been done using solvents 1, solvent 2 and solvent 3 has been studied and explained in
Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method by nitrogen adsorption/deso­ the following section. It was found that when flue gas passed through
rption isotherms at 77 K on Quantachromeautosorb iQ2. Before the solvent 1, at first NOX (i.e., NO2) reacts with water and is converted to
surface area measurement, samples have been degassed at 200 ℃ for HNO3 according to Eq. (1). After that, in the presence of HNO3, SO2
8 h. Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) method has been used for the pore dissolved in solvent 1 and finally converted to H2SO4 (Eqs. (2) and (3))
size distribution. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study as reported by Carmichael and Peters (1979). It is to be noted that, here
was carried out using JEOL JEM2100 at 200 kV acceleration voltage HNO3 acts as an oxidizing agent. This is supported by flue gas analysis
and elemental analysis studies were performed by Energy-dispersive X- data (Table 2). When we analyzed the gas composition after flue gas

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S.K. Guchhait, K.K. Yadav, K.K.Sunaina et al. Cleaner Waste Systems 3 (2022) 100042

Table 2
Gas absorption study.

Gas Time Position A Position B Position C Position D

SOx gas absorption study

SOx In ppm 10 min 1710–1725 0 0 0
3h 0 0 0
6h 0 0 0
9h 0 0 0
12 h 0 0 0
15 h 30–70 0 0
18 h 130–170 15–27 0
21 h 120–160 20–30 0
23 h 110–185 20–35 0
NOx gas absorption study
NOx In ppm 10 min 430–472 30–40 0 0
3h 52–65 0 0
6h 50–80 0 0
9h 40–85 5–10 0
12 h 75–112 10–15 0
15 h 110–130 12–20 0
18 h 90–120 10–30 0–10
21 h 141–155 10–20 10–15
23 h 165–180 25–35 10–30
CO2 gas absorption study
CO2 (% v/v) 10 min 12.8–13.1 12.5–13.1 12.5–13.1 0.0
3h 12.6–13.0 12.1–12.5 0.0
6h 11.8–12.4 11.5–11.7 0.0
9h 11.5–11.7 10.9–11.4 0.0
12 h 11.1–11.5 10.5–11.1 0.0
15 h 11.3–11.6 10.9–11.4 0.0
18 h 10.9–11.5 10.5–11.3 0.0
21 h 11.1–11.7 10.6–11.1 0.0
23 h 11.2–11.6 10.4–10.9 0.0

passed through solvent 1 (at position B in Fig. 1), it was found that the Characterization of the dried product extracted from solvent 3 has
SOx was completely absorbed by solvent 1 along with a small amount of been performed through Powder X-ray diffraction, FTIR, TEM and EDX
NOx. Then remaining NOx was completely dissolved in solvent 2 ac­ study, given in Fig. 2a–d. A powder X-ray diffraction study of the dried
cording to Eq. (1). product obtained after evaporation of the solvent-3 followed by drying
confirms the formation of pure sodium carbonate. The diffraction pat­
NO2 + H2 O HNO2 + HNO3 + (air ) HNO3 (1)
terns are well-matched with earlier reported monoclinic anhydrous
SO2 (g ) + H2 O SO2. H2 O (2) sodium carbonate (JCPDS PDF no. 05-001-0022) (Fig. 2a). The 2θ peak
presented at 26.085°, 30.147°, 34.202°, 35.251°, 37.51°, 38.013°,
SO2 + H2 O + HNO3 + air H2 SO4 + NO2 (3) 39.975° corresponds to (111), (002), (020), (310), (021), (112), (202)
It was interesting to note that CO2 did not dissolve in the solvent 1 respectively. Powder X-ray diffraction study of the sodium carbonate
and solvent 2 chambers. This can be nicely explained by Bjerrum's plot. extracted by varying the flow rate and solvent concentration has been
For the carbonate system, the Bjerrum plot shows that in acidic condi­ also investigated and all the diffraction patterns correspond to mono­
tions, the dominant form is CO2 however in alkaline conditions, the clinic anhydrous sodium carbonate and matched with JCPDS PDF no.
dominant form is CO32−; and in between, the dominant form is HCO3− 05-001-0022 (Fig. 3). The infrared spectrum of anhydrous Na2CO3
(Andersen, 2002). At every pH, the concentration of carbonic acid is obtained from evaporation of CO2 adsorbs solvent-3 is shown in Fig. 2b.
assumed to be negligible compared to the concentration of dissolved CO2. Bands at 880 cm−1 and 702 cm−1 are arises due to the in-plane bending
In the present investigation when flue gas passed through solvent 1 and and out of plane bending modes of carbonate species mode of carbonate
solvent 2, the pH was vary from 2 to 3. As a result, CO2 did not dissolve ions (CO32−) (Shaikh et al., 2005). Apart from that presence of a strong
in solvent 1 and solvent 2 chambers. Finally, when CO2 passed through band at 1454 cm−1 signifies the C-O stretching, which confirms the
solvent 3, it completely dissolved to form carbonate (CO32−) ions (Eqs. presence of CO32-. The overtones of carbonates species presented at
(4)–(6)) (Andersen, 2002; Yoo et al., 2013; Dabas et al., 2019). The flue 1775 cm−1 and 2503 cm−1 (Ross and Goldsmith, 1964). The band at
gas passed through solvent 3 until its pH reached 10.3. Then solvent 3 2357 cm−1 is due to O]C]O absorption (Genge et al., 1995). From the
was completely evaporated to produce the nano sodium carbonate. above observation, pure-phase sodium carbonate can be synthesized by
utilization of power plant gases effluent. Here, in the present study low-
CO2 (aq) + OH- → HCO3- (aq) (4) temperature synthesis (90 ℃) has been adopted, which has been lower
HCO3- (aq) + OH → -
H2O(l) + CO32- (aq) (5) than earlier reports (Seaton et al., 1956; Pérez-Ponce et al., 1998;
Eggeman, 2001).
Overall: Further, the morphology of the sodium carbonate has been done
using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which showed the for­
2NaOH (aq) + CO2 (g) → Na2CO3(aq) + H2O (6)
mation of 100–150 nm nanoparticles (Fig. 2c). The elemental compo­
sitions of all samples were investigated using an energy dispersive X-ray
3.1. Flue gas absorption study Spectroscopy (EDX) instrument. The EDX spectra confirm that there is
the only presence of C, O and Na elements in sodium carbonate. The Cu
Flue gas absorption study by the individual solvents with time has peak appears due to the copper grid used for TEM sampling. (Fig. 2d).
also been carried out by using flue gas analysis and given in Table 2. The effect of flow rate and concentration of solvent 3 on the particle

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S.K. Guchhait, K.K. Yadav, K.K.Sunaina et al. Cleaner Waste Systems 3 (2022) 100042

Fig. 2. Characterization of sodium carbonate extracted from flue gas (a) PXRD (b) FTIR (c) TEM (d) EDX analysis.

Fig. 3. Powder X-ray diffraction pattern of the sodium carbonate synthesized by varying flow rate and solvent 3 concentrations.

size of sodium carbonate has also been studied (Fig. 4a–f). The TEM obtained surface area is around 30 times higher than the maximum
micrograph of sodium carbonate extracted using solvent 3 and 0.1 M reported surface area of porous sodium carbonate (Oosterhof et al.,
NaOH solution with flue gas flow rates (100, 150 and 200 ml/min) has 2001).
been shown in Fig. 4a–c. Further, when the sodium hydroxide con­ Na2CO3 can be utilized as it is or with our cleaning agents. It has
centration changed to 0.5 M, different morphology of sodium carbonate high cleaning and water-softening properties. Therefore, the extracted
occurs (Fig. 4d–f). It has been observed that by increasing the flow rate Na2CO3 nanostructures were utilized for the formulation of detergents.
from 100 to 450 ml/min, the particle size slightly increases, and an The detergent preparation process has been demonstrated in the ex­
average particle size of 150–200 nm was obtained. Earlier, the mor­ perimental section. The detergent sample was tested as per require­
phology and size of sodium carbonates are micron and submicron-sized ments specified in IS 4955:2001 and reaffirmed in 2014 for its appli­
(Gärtner and Witkamp, 2007; Zhang et al., 2010). EDX analysis of the cation as household laundry detergent powders. The physical
sodium carbonated extracted by change of flow rate and the solvent 3 appearance and coloring matter color of the 2 % detergent-powder so­
concentration also confirms the presence of C, O and Na elements in lution was checked. The sample had coloring matter and it has a
sodium carbonate (Fig. 5a–f). Surface area is an important parameter characteristic odor which is acceptable as per the IS 4955:2001 stan­
for the application of nanostructured materials for the constituents of dard. Detergency is the capability to clean or remove dirt’s soil, gen­
detergent. Here, the obtained surface area was 7 m2/g (Fig. S2). The erally associated with the power of a cleaning agent such as soap, or

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S.K. Guchhait, K.K. Yadav, K.K.Sunaina et al. Cleaner Waste Systems 3 (2022) 100042

Fig. 4. TEM of the sodium carbonate synthesized by varying flow rate and solvent 3 concentrations; (a–c) solvent 3 concentration 0.1 M flow rate 100 ml/min,
150 ml/min, 200 ml/minute respectively; (d–f) solvent 3 concentration 0.5 M flow rate 150 ml/min, 200 ml/min and 450 ml/min respectively.

Fig. 5. EDX analysis of the sodium carbonate synthesized by varying flow rate and solvent 3 concentrations; (a–c) solvent 3 concentration 0.1 M flow rate 100 ml/
minute, 150 ml/min, 200 ml/min respectively; (d-f) solvent 3 concentration 0.5 M flow rate 150 ml/min, 200 ml/min and 450 ml/min respectively.

detergent. As per Indian Standard, the detergency percentage specified (Table S1). The results obtained for the viscosity and surface tension
for detergent powders is a minimum 65 % for Grade 1, 55 % for Grade measurements from fabricated detergent are comparable with that of
2, and 45 % for Grade 3. The prepared detergent had detergency of commercial standard detergent.
71 % which implies that prepared detergent is Grade 1 detergent. Other From the above test results, it is observed that the prepared de­
physicochemical test parameters such as active ingredient, ash built-up, tergent can be categorized as grade I detergent as it contains greater
active alkalinity, total phosphate, STPP, foaming power, and moisture than 19 % active ingredient, less than 1 % ash built up and less than
content have been tabulated in Table 3 and compared with standard 15 % active alkalinity, greater than 65 % detergency power. However
detergent. In addition to this, the surface tension and viscosity mea­ total phosphate (%), STPP (%) are slightly higher than reported in the
surements were also done and compared with standard detergent literature (of Indian Standards, 2001). It is to be illustrated that when

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S.K. Guchhait, K.K. Yadav, K.K.Sunaina et al. Cleaner Waste Systems 3 (2022) 100042

Table 3
Physicochemical test results of the detergent.

S. no. Test parameter Prepared detergent Standard detergent

1 Appearance Blue Color Granule Blue Color Granule

2 Odor Characteristic Characteristic
3 Coloring matter Present Present
4 Detergency (%) 72 71
5 Active ingredient (%) 20.25 21.63
6 Ash Built-up (%) 0.3 0.4
7 Active Alkalinity 8.9 9.1
8 Total Phosphate (%) 13.4 13.2
9 STPP (%) 12.8 12.5
10 Foaming power (%) 199 195
11 Moisture (%) 6.02 5.64

combined with other cleaning agents, soda ash’s unique properties editing. Shyam Khatana, Rajendra K. Saini, Pranay, Rajiv
allow those agents to disperse evenly during washing cycles. Acting as a Satyakam and Upain K. Arora: helped in power plant to carry out the
compound builder, it prevents the hard water from bonding with the reaction. Ramesh Bajaj: helped in the detergent formulation. Menaka
detergent while simultaneously removing grease and alcohol stains Jha: conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Writing-review &
from clothing. It does this by providing alkalinity to water while re­ editing.
moving magnesium and calcium ions that are prevalent in hard water.
Cleansing is one of the most important and complex colloidal chemical Ethical Approval
and physicochemical mechanical processes. It is of great scientific in­
terest and practical significance. Up-to-date synthetic detergents re­ NotApplicable.
present complex multicomponent systems containing both surfactants
with high detergent power and mineral and organic additives pro­ Data Availability
moting cleansing action. Household detergents also contain additives
imparting to them the desired consumer’s performance characteristics Data will be made available on request.
such as solubility, friability, color, and odor.
Declaration of Competing Interest
4. Conclusions
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
In this present study, we have summarized the process for complete interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ­
separation and absorption of CO2 from the flue gas to produce nanos­ ence the work reported in this paper.Acknowledgements
tructured sodium carbonate (∼ 100–150 nm) and its utilization in the All the author thanks DST-India, INST Mohali and NETRA (NTPC
detergent formulation. The key idea behind this process is to treat Ltd) for providing the infrastructure and financial support respectively
gaseous effluents of the power plant without producing secondary to carry out this work.
waste along with the production of nanomaterial which has high de­
mand in society. Here, we have successfully synthesized nanostructured
sodium carbonate from the gaseous effluents of the power plant at room Consent to Participate
temperature and ambient pressure. The separation and absorption
process includes passing the flue gas by varying the gas flow rate and Not Applicable.
the solvent concentrations through three different aqueous solvents
containing water, 0.01 M sulfuric acid and (0.1–1 M) NaOH respec­ Consent to Publish
tively. After completing the reaction, solvent 3 was completely evapo­
rated to obtain a solid mass followed by drying. A powder X-ray dif­ Not Applicable.
fraction study of the dried product obtained after evaporation of solvent
3 confirms the formation of pure sodium carbonate. Further, TEM Availability of data and materials
studies of the as-obtained materials show the formation of a spherical
particle of size in the range of approximately 100–150 nm. An EDX Data cannot be provided.
study of nanostructured sodium carbonate confirms the presence of
sodium, oxygen, and carbon. A detergent has been prepared with this Conflict of interests
nanostructured sodium carbonate and its detergency performance has
been evaluated. It shows that grade I detergent improve detergency There is no conflict to declare.
power (> 65 %), having less than 15 % active alkalinity, greater than
19 % active ingredient and less than 1 % ash built-up power. All these Appendix A. Supporting information
results are very promising in the power plant industry, soap and de­
tergent industries. Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the
online version at doi:10.1016/j.clwas.2022.100042.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
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