This publication presents a series of data of one of the most difficult chemical processes to implement in industrial conditions. Obtaining soda using the Solvay technique is a process with a world volume of about 28 Tg per year. The process is extremely physico-chemically complex and environmentally burdensome. The paper presents information on a multi-component system containing three phases with a chemical reaction. Calculations for such systems and their engineering are very complicated, but the authors show how the results of this work can be applied. This paper also describes modifications of the soda process to minimize the environmental burden and minimize the production input of Na2CO3. The modifications were beneficial in reducing CO2 emissions and increased the efficiency of the soda process, resulting in a measurable financial benefit. At the scale of the plant where the experiment was carried out, this reduction in CO2 emissions amounts to 7.93 Gg per year.

The kick-off process is an important aspect of the proper operation of an agricultural biogas plant. At this stage, various operational problems may arise, mainly related to the stabilization of the fermentation process and reaching the full biogas production capacity. This paper presents the results of research on the kick-off of the fermentation process carried out on three selected biogas plants located in Poland. For the experiments, titration, potentiometric, and spectroscopic methods (ICP-MS) were used. The biogas plants during the kick-off period operated on the following substrates: a mixture of cattle and pig manure, corn silage, and whey liquor. Special attention was paid to the dosing process of the formulation developed by the authors (CMP-S1) containing Mo, Co, Ni, Se, and Mn for the fermentation chambers, to which the mixture of the selected microelements was not dosed. The study was carried out under real conditions on an engineering scale. The study showed that supplementing a dedicated mixture of microelements (DMM) in the first days of fermentation chamber kick-off has a positive effect on stabilizing the methane fermentation process and allows a faster and higher loading of fermenters with dry organic matter. The above translates into shortening the time (by more than half) of the kick-off process in the fermentation chamber, as well as brining about a significant reduction in costs.

Modifying the absorption process in soda production by the Solvay method requires performing many calculations and determining a new equilibrium process. An increase in ammonia concentration in the reaction solution causes kinetic changes in equilibrium. Changes to the Solvay soda production technology were determined using chemical and instrumental analysis methods. A modification of the process in the form of SAB was introduced. Information allowing the design of an additional absorber and its location in the network of technological devices was presented in the form of parameters using typical chemical engineering assumptions. Spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques were used for this purpose. The increase in total alkalinity due to the addition of ammonia to 135 mmol·20 cm−3 resulted in cooling savings of about 152.4 MJ·Mg−1 of soda. The ammonia desorption rate and process energy parameters were determined for the new system. The temperature requirements for the carbonation column were defined, and in particular, a technique was developed to minimize the cooling of the lower part of the reactor, which reduces the consumption of process energy. Emissions of CO2 were reduced from 11.70 to 7.85% and NH3 from 5.52 to 4.89% in exhaust gases from the carbonation column.