China’s largest trade fair turns digital, thanks to Israel

China’s largest trade fair turns digital, thanks to Israel
By NADAV SHEMER
03/24/2011 23:17


Hod Hasharon's ExpoBee device allows buyers to collect data on products they’re interested in, gives suppliers real-time stats on performance.
When the bi-annual Canton Import and Export Fair begins on April 15 in Guangzhou, it will mark the first time that China’s largest trade exhibition goes digital, thanks to new technology developed by Israeli company ExpoBee.

ExpoBee’s system will work in two separate stages. In the first stage, visitors will receive a digital badge which they can use to scan any product that interests them. Later they will be able to access information about all the products and keep in touch with suppliers through an online portal.

Motti Kleinmann, Vice President of Product Management for ExpoBee, told The Jerusalem Post that his company came up with the concept when it realized that there was a need to make international exhibitions more efficient for buyers, suppliers and for the organizers themselves.

“Before the show we sign up all the exhibitors, and we give them a special tag which they can attach to their product,” Kleinmann explained.

“We [also] have a special web portal that we created, and there the exhibitors must upload in advance all of their products.”

“So now you come to the show, all the products are there, all of them are tagged, and when the buyer comes we give each of them their badges, which they can go around with and scan any product they like. Once they scan it, it automatically goes into to a report that is generated for them.

“[The report] shows them all the products that they have scanned, with detailed information, with photo descriptions and so on. It also shows them information about the supplier, who the supplier is, [and] with one click they can get access to the company profile, some company facts and so on.”

Kleinmann said that suppliers would benefit just as much from the technology as the buyers, as it gives them leads on who is interested in their products. In addition, he said that the technology has a business intelligence component, which allows the supplier to see how they performed compared to their rivals, and to track buyer trends at the exhibition.

As for the organizers of the now 54-year-old fair, Kleinmann said that they would receive information previously unavailable to them through “a real-time dashboard with analysis that shows them exactly what’s going on on the floor and how many buyers are going to which booth and where.”

In the second stage, which comes after the visitors return to the more than 100 countries from which they came, buyers and suppliers will be able to continue sourcing and contacting each other via the portal, which Kleinmann called “the foundation of the business.”

“It starts with one click of a badge but it’s actually quite a comprehensive system,” he said.

The Canton Fair will be the first major event to use the new technology, although it has already been tried at several smaller fairs around China.

Kleinmann said that ExpoBee decided to target China first because of its prominence in the exhibitions industry, although he added that the company would look to branch out to Europe in the near future.

In fact, the focus on China has been so strong that company CEO Ady Meretz has based ExpoBee’s headquarters in Shanghai, while all the technology was developed at the company’s research and development facility in Hod HaSharon, just north of Tel Aviv.

“We combine the strength of Israeli creativity and R&D excellence together with all of the muscles and dedication of the Chinese people, the operations that they run very smoothly,” Kleinmann said.

The coming session of the China Import and Export fair will run in three separate phases over three weeks, the first beginning on April 15. The ExpoBee technology will be accessible to visitors through a special portal designed specifically for the fair, conveniently named “CantonBee.”

Different Languages of Sodium Sulphate.

We export sodium sulphate anhydrous.

Contact: Samuel Gu
Email: samuelinchina@yahoo.com
Tel:+862034548721
Mob:+8613631385491
Add: Dong-11-2-402, Aolinpike Huayuan, Luoxi, 511431, Panyu District, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.

Sodium sulfate, Glauber's salt, Natriumsulfat, sulfate de sodium, натриев сулфат, sulfat de sodi, natrijevog sulfata, síran sodný, natriumsulfat, natriumsulfaat, naatriumsulfaati, natriumsulfaatti,sosa sulpit, sulfato de sodio, θειικό νάτριο, sulfat sodyòm, סודיום סולפט, सोडियम सल्फेट, nátrium-szulfát, natríum súlfat, natrium sulfat, sulfáit sóidiam, solfato di sodio, 硫酸ナトリウム, 나트륨 황산염, nātrija sulfāts, natrio sulfato, натриум сулфат, סאָדיום סאַלפייט, sulfat tas-sodju, سولفات سدیم, siarczanu sodu, sulfato de sódio, sulfat de sodiu, сульфат натрия, Натријум сулфат, natrijevega sulfata, โซเดียมซัลเฟต, sodyum sülfat, сульфат натрію, sodiwm sylffad, natri sulfat.

The Hongze Lake is located in Jiangsu Province of China.

http://www.sriconsulting.com/CEH/Public/Reports/771.1000/?Abstract.html

Abstract

China is the largest producer and exporter of sodium sulfate. Jiangsu Province is the world’s largest sodium sulfate production base, with a total capacity of 800 thousand metric tons. In 2003, Lautan Hongze Chemical Industry began commercial production at the world’s largest sodium sulfate plant in Hongze County. China’s production, consumption, and exports of sodium sulfate have been increasing significantly in the past few years.
Sodium sulfate is consumed in four major industries—kraft pulping, detergents, textiles and glass. In the United States, consumption in each of these end uses has declined. The largest overall decline has been in kraft pulping for the pulp and paper industry, mainly as a result of the introduction of the hydrogen peroxide and sodium chlorate processes. Decreases in the U.S. market, especially in the textile sector, have also been a direct result of the industry’s shift to Mexico. The major end use for sodium sulfate in Canada was formerly kraft pulping. This end use accounted for over 90% of total sodium sulfate consumption in Canada until 1972. Since then, consumption for kraft pulping has declined drastically due primarily to antipollution regulations. In Western Europe, sodium sulfate is consumed in four major industries—detergents, glass, kraft pulping and textiles. Detergents are the foremost consumers of sodium sulfate, accounting for over 80% of total consumption. In Japan, textiles, detergents, bath additives and glass account for 80% of consumption, with textile uses accounting for over 30%.
In North America, the recent closure of several plants has helped to eliminate the oversupply situation the sodium sulfate market has faced in the past few years. The largest contraction happened in January 2001 when Saskatchewan Minerals closed its Ingebrigt plant in Canada indefinitely. DLD Resources in Monument, New Mexico and Acordis in La Moyne, Alabama also recently shut down their operations. Balanced supply resulted in price increases for customers. Demand is expected to remain stable or to grow slightly in the near future as exports to Central and South America increase to satisfy the expanding textile sector. Consumers overall accepted the price increases introduced in 2001 and 2005. In October 2004, Cooper Natural Resources and Giles Chemical combined to form Saltex, which has become one of the two major marketers of by-product sodium sulfate in North America.
Mexico has been an increasing market for sodium sulfate lately as a result of demand from its detergent and textile sectors. Along with production, exports to South America have also grown steadily in recent years.
A factor that has an impact on sodium sulfate supply is the chromium business of UK-based Elementis. It cut its chromium production significantly and as a consequence, sodium sulfate generation was also reduced. Similarly, DSM decided to stop producing ascorbic acid at its Belvidere plant in 2005, thereby reducing by-product sodium sulfate supply. In late 2005, Liberty Fibers also closed down its Tennessee plant, citing competitive pressures.
There are sufficient resources of sodium sulfate to last for a long time. Major countries that have reserves include the United States, Spain, Mexico, Turkey, China and Canada. In the United States, the brine in Searles Lake, California and western Texas are used for commercial production. Both these locations are estimated to have a combined 860 million metric tons of reserves. In June 2005, Vancouver-based Atacama Minerals initiated activities to start producing sodium sulfate from its Aguas Blancas iodine-sulfate-nitrate mine in Chile. It is estimated to have around 4–5 million metric tons in reserve.

An Introduction of Sodium Sulfate/Sulphate Anhydrous

Equipment in the factory.

Sodium sulfate is the sodium salt of sulfuric acid. Anhydrous, it is a white crystalline solid of formula Na2SO4 known as the mineral thenardite; the decahydrate Na2SO4·10H2O has been known as Glauber's salt or, historically, sal mirabilis since the 17th century. Other solid is the heptahydrate, which transforms to mirabilite when cooled. With an annual production of 6 million tonnes, it is one of the world's major commodity chemicals and one of the most damaging salts in structure conservation: when it grows in the pores of stones it can achieve high levels of pressure, causing structures to crack.
Sodium sulfate is mainly used for the manufacture of detergents and in the Kraft process of paper pulping. About two-thirds of the world's production is from mirabilite, the natural mineral form of the decahydrate, and the remainder from by-products of chemical processes such as hydrochloric acid production.

History
The hydrate of sodium sulfate is known as Glauber's Salt after the Dutch/German chemist and apothecary Johann Rudolf Glauber (1604–1670), who discovered it 1625 in Austrian spring water. He named it sal mirabilis (miraculous salt), because of its medicinal properties: the crystals were used as a general purpose laxative, until more sophisticated alternatives came about in the 1900s.
In the 18th century, Glauber's salt began to be used as a raw material for the industrial production of soda ash (sodium carbonate), by reaction with potash (potassium carbonate). Demand for soda ash increased and supply of sodium sulfate had to increase in line. Therefore, in the nineteenth century, the Leblanc process, producing synthetic sodium sulfate as a key intermediate, became the principal method of soda ash production.

Physical and chemical propertiesSodium sulfate is chemically very stable, being unreactive toward most oxidising or reducing agents at normal temperatures. At high temperatures, it can be reduced to sodium sulfide. It is a neutral salt, which forms aqueous solutions with pH of 7. The neutrality of such solutions reflects the fact that Na2SO4 is derived, formally speaking, from the strong acid sulfuric acid and a strong base sodium hydroxide. Sodium sulfate reacts with an equivalent amount of sulfuric acid to give an equilibrium concentration of the acid salt sodium bisulfate:
Na2SO4(aq) + H2SO4(aq) ⇌ 2 NaHSO4(aq) In fact, the equilibrium is very complex, depending on concentration and temperature, with other acid salts being present.
Sodium sulfate is a typical ionic sulfate, containing Na+ ions and SO42− ions. Aqueous solutions can produce precipitates when combined with salts of Ba2+ or Pb2+, which form insoluble sulfates
Na2SO4(aq) + BaCl2(aq) → 2 NaCl(aq) + BaSO4(s)

Sodium sulfate has unusual solubility characteristics in water. Its solubility rises more than tenfold between 0 °C to 32.4 °C, where it reaches a maximum of 49.7 g Na2SO4 per 100 g water. At this point the solubility curve changes slope, and the solubility becomes almost independent of temperature. In the presence of NaCl, the solubility of sodium sulfate is markedly diminished. Such changes provide the basis for the use of sodium sulfate in passive solar heating systems, as well is in the preparation and purification of sodium sulfate. This nonconformity can be explained in terms of hydration, since 32.4 °C corresponds with the temperature at which the crystalline decahydrate (Glauber's salt) changes to give a sulfate liquid phase and an anhydrous solid phase.
Sodium sulfate decahydrate is also unusual among hydrated salts in having a measureable residual entropy (entropy at absolute zero) of 6.32 J·K-1·mol-1. This is ascribed to its ability to distribute water much more rapidly compared to most hydrates.
Sodium sulfate displays a moderate tendency to form double salts. The only alums formed with common trivalent metals are NaAl(SO4)2 (unstable above 39 °C) and NaCr(SO4)2, in contrast to potassium sulfate and ammonium sulfate which form many stable alums. Double salts with some other alkali metal sulfates are known, including Na2SO4.3K2SO4 which occurs naturally as the mineral glaserite. Formation of glaserite by reaction of sodium sulfate with potassium chloride has been used as the basis of a method for producing potassium sulfate, a fertiliser. Other double salts include 3Na2SO4.CaSO4, 3Na2SO4.MgSO4 (vanthoffite) and NaF.Na2SO4.

Production
The world production of sodium sulfate, mostly in the form of the decahydrate amounts to approximately 5.5 to 6 million tonnes annually (Mt/a). In 1985, production was 4.5 Mt/a, half from natural sources, and half from chemical production. After 2000, at a stable level until 2006, natural production had increased to 4 Mt/a, and chemical production decreased to 1.5 to 2 Mt/a, with a total of 5.5 to 6 Mt/a. For all applications, naturally produced and chemically produced sodium sulfate are practically interchangeable.
Natural sourcesTwo thirds of the world's production of the decahydrate (Glauber's salt) is from the natural mineral form mirabilite, for example as found in lake beds in southern Saskatchewan. In 1990, Mexico and Spain were the world's main producers of natural sodium sulfate (each around 500,000 tonnes), with Russia, USA and Canada around 350,000 tonnes each. Estimatedly, natural resources amount to over 1 billion tonnes.
Major producers of 200,000–1,500,000 tonnes/a in 2006 include Searles Valley Minerals (California, USA), Airborne Industrial Minerals (Saskatchewan, Canada), Química del Rey (Coahuila, Mexico), Criaderos Minerales Y Derivados and Minera de Santa Marta, also known as Grupo Crimidesa (Burgos, Spain), FMC Foret (Toledo, Spain), Sulquisa (Madrid, Spain), and in China Chengdu Sanlian Tianquan Chemical (Sichuan), Hongze Yinzhu Chemical Group (Jiangsu), Nafine Chemical Industry Group (Shanxi), and Sichuan Province Chuanmei Mirabilite (Sichuan), and Kuchuksulphat JSC (Altai Krai, Siberia, Russia).
Anhydrous sodium sulfate occurs in arid environments as the mineral thenardite. It slowly turns to mirabilite in damp air. Sodium sulfate is also found as glauberite, a calcium sodium sulfate mineral. Both minerals are less common than mirabilite.

Chemical industry
About one third of the world's sodium sulfate is produced as by-product of other processes in chemical industry. Most of this production is chemically inherent to the primary process, and only marginally economical. By effort of the industry, therefore, sodium sulfate production as by-product is declining.
The most important chemical sodium sulfate production is during hydrochloric acid production, either from sodium chloride (salt) and sulfuric acid, in the Mannheim process, or from sulfur dioxide in the Hargreaves process. The resulting sodium sulfate from these processes are known as salt cake.
Mannheim: 2 NaCl + H2SO4 → 2 HCl + Na2SO4 Hargreaves: 4 NaCl + 2 SO2 + O2 + 2 H2O → 4 HCl + 2 Na2SO4 The second major production of sodium sulfate are the processes where surplus sulfuric acid is neutralised by sodium hydroxide, as applied on a large scale in the production of rayon. This method is also a regularly applied and convenient laboratory preparation.
2 NaOH(aq) + H2SO4(aq) → Na2SO4(aq) + 2 H2O(l) Formerly, sodium sulfate was also a by-product of the manufacture of sodium dichromate, where sulfuric acid is added to sodium chromate solution forming sodium dichromate, or subsequently chromic acid. Alternatively, sodium sulfate is or was formed in the production of lithium carbonate, chelating agents, resorcinol, ascorbic acid, silica pigments, nitric acid, and phenol.
Bulk sodium sulfate is usually purified via the decahydrate form, since the anhydrous form tends to attract iron compounds and organic compounds. The anhydrous form is easily produced from the hydrated form by gentle warming.
Major sodium sulfate by-product producers of 50–80 Mt/a in 2006 include Elementis Chromium (chromium industry, Castle Hayne, NC, USA), Lenzing AG (200 Mt/a, rayon industry, Lenzing, Austria), Addiseo (formerly Rhodia, methionine industry, Les Roches-Roussillon, France), Elementis (chromium industry, Stockton-on-Tees, UK), Shikoku Chemicals (Tokushima, Japan) and Visko-R (rayon industry, Russia).

Applications
Commodity industriesWith USA pricing at $30 per tonne in 1970, in 2006 up to $90 per tonne for salt cake quality and $130 for better grades, sodium sulfate is a very cheap material. The largest use is as filler in powdered home laundry detergents, consuming approx. 50% of world production. This use is waning as domestic consumers are increasingly switching to compact or liquid detergents that do not include sodium sulfate.
Another formerly major use for sodium sulfate, notably in the USA and Canada, is in the Kraft process for the manufacture of wood pulp. Organics present in the "black liquor" from this process are burnt to produce heat, needed to drive the reduction of sodium sulfate to sodium sulfide. However, this process is being replaced by newer processes; use of sodium sulfate in the USA and Canadian pulp industry declined from 1.4 Mt/a in 1970 to only approx. 150,000 tonnes in 2006.
The glass industry provides another significant application for sodium sulfate, as second largest application in Europe. Sodium sulfate is used as a fining agent, to help remove small air bubbles from molten glass. It fluxes the glass, and prevents scum formation of the glass melt during refining. The glass industry in Europe has been consuming from 1970 to 2006 a stable 110,000 tonnes annually.
Sodium sulfate is important in the manufacture of textiles, particularly in Japan, where it is the largest application. Sodium sulfate helps in "levelling", reducing negative charges on fibres so that dyes can penetrate evenly. Unlike the alternative sodium chloride, it does not corrode the stainless steel vessels used in dyeing. This application in Japan and USA consumed in 2006 approximately 100,000 tonnes.

Thermal storage
The high heat storage capacity in the phase change from solid to liquid, and the advantageous phase change temperature of 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) makes this material especially appropriate for storing low grade solar heat for later release in space heating applications. In some applications the material is incorporated into thermal tiles that are placed in an attic space while in other applications the salt is incorporated into cells surrounded by solar–heated water. The phase change allows a substantial reduction in the mass of the material required for effective heat storage (83 calories per gram stored across the phase change, versus one calorie per gram per degree Celsius using only water), with the further advantage of a consistency of temperature as long as sufficient material in the appropriate phase is available.

Small-scale applications
In the laboratory, anhydrous sodium sulfate is widely used as an inert drying agent, for removing traces of water from organic solutions.[18] It is more efficient, but slower-acting, than the similar agent magnesium sulfate. It is only effective below about 30 °C, but it can used with a variety of materials since it is chemically fairly inert. Sodium sulfate is added to the solution until the crystals no longer clump together; the two video clips (see above) demonstrate how the crystals clump when still wet, but some crystals flow freely once a sample is dry.
Glauber's salt, the decahydrate, was historically used as a laxative. It is effective for the removal of certain drugs such as acetaminophen from the body, for example, after an overdose.
In 1953, sodium sulfate was proposed for heat storage in passive solar heating systems. This takes advantage of its unusual solubility properties, and the high heat of crystallisation (78.2 kJ/mol).
Other uses for sodium sulfate include de-frosting windows, in carpet fresheners, starch manufacture, and as an additive to cattle feed.
Lately, sodium sulfate has been found effective in dissolving very finely electroplated micrometre gold that is found in gold electroplated hardware on electronic products such as pins, and other connectors and switches. It is safer and cheaper than other reagents used for gold recovery, with little concern for adverse reactions or health effects.
At least one company makes a laptop computer chill mat using sodium sulfate decahydrate inside a quilted plastic pad. The material slowly turns to liquid as the heat from the laptop is transferred.

Safety
Although sodium sulfate is generally regarded as non-toxic, it should be handled with care. The dust can cause temporary asthma or eye irritation; this risk can be prevented by using eye protection and a paper mask. Transport is not limited, and no Risk Phrase or Safety Phrase apply.


References
Szydlo, Zbigniew (1994). Water which does not wet hands: The Alchemy of Michael Sendivogius. London-Warsaw: Polish Academy of Sciences.
Westfall, Richard S. (1995). "Glauber, Johann Rudolf". The Galileo Project. http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/glauber.html.
Aftalion, Fred (1991). A History of the International Chemical Industry. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 11–16. ISBN 0-8122-1297-5.
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (71st ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: CRC Press. 1990.
The Merck Index (7th ed.). Rahway, New Jersey, USA: Merck & Co.. 1960.
Nechamkin, Howard (1968). The Chemistry of the Elements. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Linke, W.F.; A. Seidell (1965). Solubilities of Inorganic and Metal Organic Compounds (4th ed.). Van Nostrand.
Brodale, G.; W.F. Giauque (1958). "The Heat of Hydration of Sodium Sulfate. Low Temperature Heat Capacity and Entropy of Sodium Sulfate Decahydrate". Journal of the American Chemical Society (ACS) 80: pp. 2042–2044. doi:10.1021/ja01542a003.
Lipson, Henry; C.A. Beevers (1935). "The Crystal Structure of the Alums". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences 148 (865): pp. 664–80. doi:10.1098/rspa.1935.0040.
Garrett, Donald E. (2001). Sodium sulfate : handbook of deposits, processing, properties, and use. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 9780122761515.
Mellor, Joseph William (1961). Mellor's Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry. Volume II (new impression ed.). London: Longmans. pp. 656–673.
Suresh, Bala; Kazuteru Yokose (May 2006). Sodium sulfate. Zurich: Chemical Economic Handbook SRI Consulting. pp. 771.1000A–771.1002J. http://www.sriconsulting.com/CEH/Public/Reports/771.1000/?Abstract.html.
"Statistical compendium Sodium sulfate". Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, Minerals Information. 1997. http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/sodium_sulfate/stat. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.
The economics of sodium sulphate (Eighth ed.). London: Roskill Information Services. 1999. pp. 195 pages and appendices.
The sodium sulphate business. London: Chem Systems International. November 1984.
Butts, D. (1997). Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. v22 (4th ed.).
Hargreaves, J. (1873). Chem. News 27: p. 183.
Vogel, Arthur I.; B.V. Smith, N.M. Waldron (1980). Vogel's Elementary Practical Organic Chemistry 1 Preparations (3rd ed.). London: Longman Scientific & Technical.
Cocchetto, D.M.; G. Levy (1981). "Absorption of orally administered sodium sulfate in humans". J Pharm Sci 70 (3): p. 331–3. doi:10.1002/jps.2600700330. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7264905?dopt=Citation. Retrieved on 2007-06-06.
Prescott, L.F.; J.A.J.H. Critchley (1979). "The Treatment of Acetaminophen Poisoning". Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology 23: pp. 87–101. doi:10.1146/annurev.pa.23.040183.000511.
Telkes, Maria (1953). Improvements in or relating to a device and a composition of matter for the storage of heat. http://v3.espacenet.com/textdes?DB=EPODOC&IDX=GB694553&F=0&QPN=GB694553.
"Sodium sulfate (WHO Food Additives Series 44)". World Health Organization. 2000. http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v44jec07.htm. Retrieved on 2007-06-06.
"MSDS Sodium Sulfate Anhydrous". James T Baker. 2006. http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/S5022.htm. Retrieved on 2007-04-21.

External links
Sodium sulfate information of Airborne Industrial Minerals
Sodium sulfate website of Elementis Chromium

Na2SO4, Sodium Sulphate Anhydrous, Glauber's Salt, Sodium Sulfate

If you want to do long-term business with us, I can show you the factory.



One corner of the warehouse. Sodium sulphate anhydrous, for washing powder, glass industry, textile dyeing, etc.

We mainly export chemicals manufactured in the lakeside city of Huaian in Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Please contact me by email at samuleinchina@yahoo.com for further information. We're looking foward to establishing business relationships with companies and factories from all around the world.