The present invention provides a method (700) and apparatus for producing liquid
sodium from
sodium hydroxide other than by
electrolysis. The method comprises reacting
solid-phase
sodium hydroxide in an anoxic environment with an amount of liquid sodium in excess of the stoichiometric amount thereof required to produce
sodium oxide and
hydrogen gas, capturing at least some of the
hydrogen gas, phase-separating at least some of the
sodium oxide from the excess amount of liquid sodium, thermally decomposing at least some of the
sodium oxide under vacuum to produce sodium vapour and
oxygen gas, condensing at least some of the sodium vapour to produce liquid sodium, and recycling some of the liquid sodium thus produced to the reaction with the
solid-phase
sodium hydroxide. Subject to real-world losses and inefficiencies, the amount of liquid sodium produced by condensing the sodium vapour is double the stoichiometric amount thereof required to react with the
sodium hydroxide, so that half of it may be recycled back to this reaction, whilst recovering the same amount of sodium from the
sodium hydroxide. This chemical cycle therefore analyses the sodium
hydroxide into its constituent elements without consuming the liquid sodium with which the sodium hydroxide reacts and without using
electrolysis. It therefore effectively provides a chemical alternative to the electrolytic production of liquid sodium via the Castner process, whilst also consuming less energy than the Castner process because of the latter's inherent inefficiency. The corresponding apparatus comprises a gas-tight reaction vessel for reacting the sodium hydroxide with the liquid sodium in an anoxic environment and capturing the
hydrogen gas, a
solid-liquid sodium phase separator for separating the sodium
oxide from the liquid sodium, a
vacuum chamber for thermally decomposing the sodium
oxide into sodium vapour and
oxygen, a sodium condenser for condensing the sodium vapour, and a liquid sodium return path for returning liquid sodium from the sodium condenser to the gas-tight reaction vessel. [Fig. 2]