Borax Decahydrate (Technical Grade) - Argentina

Brief Overview
Borax (or sodium tetraborate decahydrate) is a white colored inorganic powder having the formula Na2B4O7·10H2O or Na2[B4O5(OH)4]·8H2O. It is a compound of the element boron and is also a salt of the compound called boric acid. It occurs naturally as Evaporite, or as a combination of various hydrates of borax. Some of the major properties of borax are its high solubility in water, its ability to produce a yellowish green colored flame when ignited, it acts as a mildly alkaline salt, its good chemical stability, and it has good buffering and fluxing properties.
Manufacturing Process
The most commercial methods for producing borax starts from the usage of the natural minerals available in mines or lakes. The slurry consisting of a mixture of minerals like ulexite, colemanite, etc, are pumped to solar evaporation ponds. Impurities such as sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium sulfate are concentrated and crystallized and are removed either by filtration or by rapid cooling to ensure selective crystallization. The filtered brine is then reacted with sulphate cake derived from the liquid-liquid extraction process product to get potassium sulphate and potassium chloride, which are further precipitated. The resulting solution is cooled such that borax pentahydrate is precipitated from the remaining solution. This borax compound is then redissolved, hydrated, and then filtered to finally produce borax decahydrate.