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- :I <br />M1 The variously screeked powders <br />are then are transport into stor- <br />' age silos and combin as called <br />'F7om page lOD for in spell"r^ product ipes. <br />As baking soda, it will compete <br />-with the well-known Arm & Ham- <br />mer brand. But. unlike <br />Arm & Hammer, which produces a <br />'Synthetic sodium bicarbonate, the <br />North American/NaTec product is <br />completely natural and that, <br />according to company officials. is <br />a big marketing plus. <br />Plant ofDcials say the deposit <br />they're tapping into is large <br />enough to meet the needs of the <br />baking-soda industry for the next <br />200 years. 'And the facility has the <br />capacity to produce more than <br />125.000 tons per year. <br />The mining process is surpris- <br />ingly simple. said Mark Demetree. <br />president of North American Salt <br />Co.. a sister company of North <br />American Chemical and the com- <br />pany that will market White River <br />'p-to~~ttducts to food-grade users. <br />' ic: t~uW a-tce[anni~i Qecnuz t(b~cac ~tlxa <br />pure sodium bicarbonate into <br />solution. The resulting "pregnant <br />' liquor" is then pumped to the sur- <br />•. face where it emerges looking like <br />7-U P. <br />Once piped into [he plant, it <br />goes into what looks and performs <br />like a washing machine stuck In <br />: the spin cycle. The sodmm bicar- <br />j honate precipitates out and <br />c1'ystallizes. ' <br />~ ~ A$er a purification process it <br />q~Des th ugh a dryer that pulls <br />nor er out. Then,' . trans- <br />Iforte ough a serf teens <br />t~iat lorcoarse <br />F ~~ ~ - <br />i <br />Linda AI a form zz bartd '~ <br />drummer. keeps the nt hum- <br />ming during her eight-ho shift. <br />Wi[h her hand on a board <br />and her eye on a input Green .a <br />that presents a,r 1-rim ~cture ;~ <br />Pf product flowi thr~h phe <br />lant, she control a wh o er- <br />ation. If there's a ottlen k over .' <br />there, she adjusts r it ov here. `,I <br />Food-grade pr uct g into .~ <br />the new plant a a whet state- <br />of•the-artmachin auto ~cally:.; <br />poufs open a sa sets it Aright <br />and pours in a g ded wh pow- ~~ <br />der and air mixt e. ~ <br />When the sac is filled+"to the <br />proper weigh the machine <br />instantly seals it ips it onto a con- <br />veyor b ~* and outgs it to the <br />automa~ Salle zer~ - <br />The pauetize row ,,p sacks in I <br />one direction, ps them down a I <br />notch, and art ges another row <br />at right angles-t the first rOw. <br />Wlaee seven 1 yers are ' place, <br />theatack is tow ed onto oodeg <br />pallet and scoo d towardtilftachin= <br />ery that met' ulously ~~Stretch- <br />wraps tb^ whol pai~et add slides <br />ittowae ie ~ I ~m~which it <br />wiii be trucked way. <br />From start t' finish, the manu- <br />f2ctur~ng proc95s takes aboui six <br />hours,WarnekOSaid. _ <br />Designed to,proces~~,,jj66 tons per <br />hour, fhe piart curre~fly runs at <br />about half'~hat rate ~t Warneke <br />expects that new Contracts for <br />food grade and pharmaceutical <br />customers will ease produc- <br />tion aeon. <br />