SODIUM BICARBONATE- ▸ Leavening and buffering: Leavening and pH-buffering agent in food and formulation.
- ▸ Cleaning abrasive: Mild abrasive and deodorizer in cleaning and personal care.
- ▸ Neutralization: Acid-neutralizing agent for process and effluent streams.
- ▸ Fire suppression: Dry-chemical extinguishing and flue-gas treatment media.
A grade-specific Safety Data Sheet (SDS) — with the complete hazard classification, handling precautions, and transport information — is supplied with every shipment and available on request. Confirm all safety and regulatory details against the SDS for your specific grade.
Request SDS →Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, NaHCO3, CAS 144-55-8) is a mild alkaline, multifunctional industrial chemical used as a buffer, leavening agent, mild abrasive, CO2 source, and dry sorbent for flue-gas treatment. It is a white, odorless crystalline powder that dissolves readily in water to give a mildly basic solution, making it a safe, low-cost neutralizing agent that releases carbon dioxide and water when it reacts with acids or is heated. RawSource supplies sodium bicarbonate in bulk across food, feed, technical, and refined dry-sorbent grades for industrial buyers.
Sodium Bicarbonate Grades
Sodium bicarbonate is a single compound (NaHCO3), but it is manufactured and refined to different specifications depending on the application. The grade governs purity limits, particle size, and the quality and regulatory documentation supplied with each lot. The table below summarizes the commercial grades RawSource sources.
| Grade | Typical purity / spec | Primary use |
|---|---|---|
| Food / USP | ≥99% NaHCO3; meets Food Chemicals Codex / USP and heavy-metal limits | Leavening, pH and buffering control in food, beverage, and pharmaceutical formulation |
| Feed | ≥99% NaHCO3; meets feed-additive specifications | Rumen buffer and sodium source in dairy and livestock feed |
| Technical / Industrial | ≥98–99% NaHCO3; general-purpose specification | Acid neutralization, cleaning, soda blasting, water treatment, and process chemistry |
| DSI (Dry Sorbent Injection) | Refined NaHCO3 milled to a controlled fine particle size for high reactive surface area | Dry injection into flue-gas streams for SOx, HCl, and acid-gas removal |
Applications by Sector
Food and Beverage
Sodium bicarbonate is the classic chemical leavening agent: when it reacts with an acid (cream of tartar, sodium acid pyrophosphate, or natural acids) or is heated, it releases carbon dioxide that aerates doughs and batters. It is also used as a pH and buffering agent in beverages, dairy, and processed foods, and as a sodium source where formulators want alkalinity without strong caustics. Food and beverage applications use Food/USP grade with Food Chemicals Codex documentation.
Animal Feed
In livestock and especially dairy nutrition, sodium bicarbonate is added to rations as a rumen buffer. It helps stabilize rumen pH on high-grain diets, supporting digestion and feed efficiency, and supplies dietary sodium. Feed-grade material is dosed into total mixed rations and mineral premixes.
Flue-Gas Treatment (Dry Sorbent Injection)
One of the largest industrial uses of sodium bicarbonate is dry sorbent injection (DSI) for flue-gas cleaning. Finely milled bicarbonate is pneumatically injected into hot flue-gas ductwork, where it thermally decomposes into a high-surface-area sodium carbonate that reacts with and captures acid gases such as sulfur oxides (SOx), hydrogen chloride (HCl), and sulfur trioxide. DSI is widely used by power generation, waste-to-energy, cement, glass, and industrial boiler operators as a flexible, lower-capital alternative to wet scrubbing. DSI performance depends heavily on particle size, which is why a dedicated refined grade is specified.
Cleaning and Soda Blasting
As a mild, water-soluble abrasive, sodium bicarbonate is the active media in soda blasting, a low-hardness blasting method used to strip coatings, paint, and surface contamination from metal, masonry, and equipment without aggressively cutting the substrate. In formulated cleaners it provides scouring action, alkalinity, and odor control. Particle size selection lets formulators tune abrasiveness for the surface being treated.
Water Treatment
Sodium bicarbonate is used in municipal and industrial water treatment to raise pH and add alkalinity, stabilizing water chemistry and helping control corrosion in distribution systems. Because it is a mild alkali, it adjusts pH gradually and is harder to overshoot than stronger bases such as caustic soda, which simplifies dosing control.
Pharmaceutical and Personal Care
USP-grade sodium bicarbonate is used in pharmaceutical formulation, where one well-known application is as an antacid active that neutralizes stomach acid (informational only; this page is not medical advice and supplies no medical claims). In personal care, it appears in toothpaste, bath products, and deodorizing formulations as a mild abrasive, buffering agent, and odor-control ingredient.
Forms, Particle Sizes, and Handling
Sodium bicarbonate is supplied as a dry, free-flowing white powder or fine crystalline solid. Standard, fine, and coarse milling grades are available, with particle-size distribution selected to match the application: fine grades for high-reactivity DSI and rapid dissolution, coarser grades for free-flowing handling and controlled blasting abrasiveness. From a handling standpoint, sodium bicarbonate is a low-hazard, non-flammable material that is not classified as hazardous for transport. The main practical considerations are routine dust control during handling and keeping the product dry and sealed, since it can slowly lose carbon dioxide on prolonged exposure to heat and humidity. Always refer to the lot-specific Safety Data Sheet for the full handling, storage, and personal-protective-equipment guidance.
Bulk Sodium Bicarbonate Sourcing
RawSource supplies sodium bicarbonate in industrial volumes — bags, bulk bags / super-sacks, and bulk quantities — with a Certificate of Analysis and Safety Data Sheet per lot. To request a quote, share the grade required (food/USP, feed, technical, or DSI), the target particle size or specification, the packaging format, and your volume and delivery location. We will return current pricing, lead time, and documentation for your application.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sodium bicarbonate used for?
Sodium bicarbonate (CAS 144-55-8, NaHCO3) is used as a leavening and pH-buffering agent in food and beverage, as a rumen buffer in animal feed, as a mild abrasive in cleaning and soda blasting, as an acid-neutralizing and alkalinity agent in water treatment, and industrially as a dry sorbent injected into flue-gas streams to capture SOx and HCl.
What grades of sodium bicarbonate are available?
Common grades are Food/USP (≥99% purity, meeting Food Chemicals Codex/USP limits for food and pharmaceutical use), feed grade (rumen buffer for livestock), technical/industrial grade (general acid neutralization, cleaning, and process use), and refined DSI grade (milled to a controlled fine particle size for dry sorbent injection in flue-gas treatment).
Is baking soda the same as sodium bicarbonate?
Yes. “Baking soda” is the common name for sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3 (CAS 144-55-8). They are the same chemical. Note that sodium bicarbonate is not the same as sodium carbonate (soda ash, Na2CO3), which is a stronger alkali with a different CAS number.
How is sodium bicarbonate used in DSI / flue-gas treatment?
In dry sorbent injection (DSI), finely milled sodium bicarbonate is injected into hot flue-gas ductwork, where it decomposes into a high-surface-area sodium carbonate that reacts with acid gases — sulfur oxides (SOx), hydrogen chloride (HCl), and sulfur trioxide — and removes them from the gas stream. It is used by power, waste-to-energy, cement, and industrial boiler operators as a flexible alternative to wet scrubbing. A refined, controlled-particle-size grade is specified for this use.
What is the difference between food grade and technical grade sodium bicarbonate?
The chemical is identical (NaHCO3), but food/USP grade is manufactured and tested to higher purity and contaminant limits and ships with Food Chemicals Codex/USP documentation for food and pharmaceutical use. Technical/industrial grade meets a general-purpose specification suitable for acid neutralization, cleaning, soda blasting, and water treatment, where food-contact purity is not required.
RANK_MATH_TITLE: Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3) Bulk Supplier | RawSource RANK_MATH_DESCRIPTION: Bulk sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, CAS 144-55-8) in food, feed, technical & DSI flue-gas grades. Buffer, leavening, soda blasting, SOx removal. Get a quote.