Caustic soda supplier
Gandi Chemical Solutions supplies caustic soda — sodium hydroxide, CAS 1310-73-2 — to manufacturers, water treatment plants and industrial processors in five forms: flake at 98% and 99%, pearls at 99%, and lye at 32% and 50%. Form is decided by how you dose it, strength by what your storage can hold.
Grades held
5 grades of sodium hydroxide, CAS 1310-73-2. Each one links to its full specification, safety data and packaging.
-
Flakes 99%
Solid flake
The traditional bulk solid. Cheaper per tonne of NaOH than pearls and dissolves readily, at the cost of more dust and less consistent feeding through a screw.
View the specification
-
Flakes 98%
Solid flake
Two percentage points below the 99% and normally cheaper per tonne. The difference rarely shows in bulk neutralisation; it shows where the dose is calculated tightly.
View the specification
-
Pearls 99%
Solid bead
Near-spherical beads that flow freely and meter accurately through screw and volumetric feeders, with far less airborne dust than flake. The form is the reason to buy it.
View the specification
-
Lye 32%
Solution
Stays liquid down to about −28°C, so an outdoor tank needs no trace heating. Normally the right answer wherever storage is outside.
View the specification
-
Lye 50%
Solution
About 77% more NaOH per litre than 32% — 763 g/L against 432 g/L at 20°C — which is what makes it economic on long hauls and at high consumption. It crystallises near 12°C and needs a heated tank.
View the specification
What decides the grade
All five are the same chemical. What separates them is handling, and handling is decided on your site rather than in a specification sheet.
-
Solid or solution
A solid is cheaper to freight and needs a make-up tank, an agitator and someone to run it. Lye arrives ready to dose. Where make-up is a daily job, removing the dissolving step usually pays for itself in handling risk alone.
-
Flake or pearl
Identical chemistry, different physical form. Pearls win wherever dosing is automated or enclosed. Flake is fine where solution is batched by hand into an open tank with extraction, and it is cheaper per tonne.
-
32% or 50% lye
Decided by the tank, not by the price per litre. 50% crystallises near 12°C; 32% stays liquid to about −28°C. An unheated outdoor tank takes 32% and nothing else.
-
98% or 99% assay
Assay matters where the dose is calculated tightly, or where the balance is carbonate rather than water. For bulk neutralisation, compare the two on delivered cost per tonne of NaOH instead of on headline price.
Supply, documentation and handling
Packaging
25kg bags for flake and pearls; drums, IBCs and bulk tanker for lye. Larger orders are packed to your requirement.
Documentation
A current safety data sheet ships with every consignment. A certificate of analysis for the specific batch is issued on request — ask at quotation stage if your auditor needs it on file.
Handling
Corrosive to skin, eyes and metals. Dissolving is strongly exothermic: solid goes into a large volume of cool water with the agitator running, never the reverse and never into a closed vessel. Aluminium, zinc and tin must be kept out of the make-up system.
How it is quoted
Priced by quotation. Send the form, the strength, the tonnage per month and the delivery point, and the comparison comes back on delivered cost per tonne of NaOH.
Before you order caustic soda
Which caustic soda grade should I order?
Start with how it will be dosed. Automated or enclosed dosing takes pearls; hand-batched make-up takes flake; continuous dosing takes lye. Then pick the strength from your storage — 32% for an unheated outdoor tank, 50% for a heated indoor one. Send the duty and GCS quotes the forms worth comparing rather than one.
Flakes or pearls?
Identical chemistry, different physical form. Pearls are near-spherical, flow cleanly through feeders and generate much less dust, which matters where dosing is automated. Flakes are cheaper per tonne and are fine where solution is batched by hand into an open tank with extraction.
Why does 50% lye need a heated tank?
It crystallises at around 12°C. Delivered into an unheated outdoor tank it becomes a solid problem within a day. 32% lye stays liquid down to about −28°C, which is why it is the outdoor answer in most climates even though it carries less NaOH per litre.
How much heat does dissolving caustic soda release?
Enough to take a concentrated make-up batch close to boiling — roughly 1.1 kJ per gram of NaOH dissolved. Add the solid slowly to cool water, keep the agitator running, and size the batch so the tank can shed the heat.
Still deciding between grades? Send the duty and the volume, and GCS comes back with what it costs and when it lands. Request a Quote
