Ullmann Sodium Chloride
Ullmann Sodium Chloride
Ullmann Sodium Chloride
Sodium Chloride
GISBERT WESTPHAL, Solvay Salz GmbH, Solingen, Federal
GERHARD KRISTEN, Solvay Salz GmbH, Solingen, Federal
WILHELM WEGENER, Sudwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG, Heilbronn, Germany
PETER AMBATIELLO, Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden, Germany
HELMUT GEYER, Salzgewinnungsgesellschaft Westfalen mbH, Ahaus, Germany
BERNARD EPRON, Compagnie des Salins du Midi et des Salines de lEst, Paris, France
CHRISTIAN BONAL, Compagnie des Salins du Midi et des Salines de lEst, Paris, France
GEORG STEINHAUSER, Atominstitut der Osterreichischen Universitaten, Vienna
University of Technology, Austria
FRANZ GoTZFRIED, Sudsalz GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany
necessary with the change from nomadic hunters French Revolution. Similarly, the Russians
to settled farmers. Before this, eating meat Czars salt taxes were an important revenue
covered human salt demand. source. In Germany a tax of 60 e/t was levied
Finds at Hallstatt in the Austrian Salzkammer- on all salt used in food. This tax was discontinued
gut, at Schwabisch Hall in Germany, and in many at the beginning of 1993, following the establish-
other places prove that salt was already extracted ment of the Common Market in the European
in prehistoric times. As early as 1000 B.C. salt Union. In Europe two salt monopolies estab-
was extracted in Hallstatt, perhaps the oldest salt lished by the Cantons in the 19th century exist
mine in the world, and in Schwabisch Hall from in Switzerland today still.
ca. 500 B.C. A series of finds in Wieliczka and Salt was of crucial importance economically.
Bochnia in Poland indicate that extensive salt A far-flung trade in ancient Greece involving
production existed already before 1000 A.C., using exchange of salt for slaves gave rise to the
brine springs emergent at the earths surface as expression not worth his salt. Special salt
raw material. The salt mine in Wieliczka has been rations given to early Roman soldiers were
a world cultural heritage site since 1978. In known as salarium argentum, the forerunner
Egyptian grave paintings salt production was of the English word salary. Possession of the
already described in 1450 B.C. In ancient China precious materia salt meant wealth and power
the majority of the salt was obtained evaporation over centuries. Cities such as Salzburg in Austria
of seawater. Inland brine sources were opened and Luneburg in Germany blossomed with salt
up by boring. Around 2700 B.C. the Peng-Tzao- production and the salt trade. The value of salt
Kan-Mu, probably the earliest known treatise on diminished with the industrial revolution in the
pharmacology, was published in China. A major 1800s. Since salt was needed as a raw material in
portion of this writing was devoted to a discussion the emergent chemical industry, salt deposits
of more than 40 kinds of salts, including descrip- were opened up by dry mining and exploited
tions of two methods of extracting salt and putting with improved drilling technology, and saturated
it in usable form that are amazingly similar to brine from boreholes was increasingly used in
processes used today. CONFUCIUS reported borings salt works.
with a depth of more than 500 m in ca. 600 B.C. In many museums, e.g., the German Museum
Indian history recalls the prominent role of salt. in Munich, the Musee du Marsal in France, the
There was even a caste of salt diggers. During Salt Museum of Northwich in the UK, the
British colonial days, salt motivated the Great Zigong Salt Museum of Sichuan in China, the
Hedge of India and its role in the British salt Salt Palace, Grand Saline, Texas in the USA,
starvation policy and GHANDIs resistance to and in the Salt and Tobacco Museum in Tokyo,
British colonial rule. salt history is presented vividly. Today, visitors
Salt also had military significance. For in- can take tours through salt mines such as those
stance, it is recorded that thousands of in Wieliczka/Poland, Berchtesgaden/Germany,
Napoleons troops died during his retreat from Hallstatt/Austria, Bex/Switzerland, and the
Moscow because their wounds would not heal as 19th century Khewra Salt mines in Pakistan.
a result of a lack of salt. In 1777, the British Lord
HOWE was jubilant when he succeeded in captur-
ing General Washingtons salt supply. 2. Properties [8]
Throughout history the essentiality of salt has
made it subject to governmental monopoly and Sodium chloride, NaCl, Mr 58.443, is a colorless
special taxes. The Chinese, like many other salt with good solubility in water. Chemically
governments over time, realizing that everyone pure NaCl crystallizes from aqueous solutions in
needed to consume salt, created a government well-formed cubes, which under the influence of
salt monopoly, and made salt taxes a major surface tension often grow together into funnel-
revenue source. French kings developed a salt shaped, hollow, square-based pyramids. In the
monopoly by selling exclusive rights to produce presence of impurities, octahedra or dodecahedra
it to a favored few who exploited that right to the are sometimes formed. Crystallization from
point where the scarcity of salt, and the gabelle, hydrochloric acid solution gives long, fibrous,
the salt tax, was a major contributing cause of the needle-shaped crystals.
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 321
Temperature, C 5% 10 % 15 % 20 % 25 %
0.0 5.78
0.125 5.52
0.25 5.30
0.5 4.92
1.0 4.20
2.0 3.05
3.0 2.24
4.0 1.62
. Seawater: the oceans and seas nected to the ocean by an extended saturation
. Natural brines: Alpine brine in Bad shelf lake where considerable amounts of CaSO4
Reichenhall, Germany; Presov, Slovakia; Che- were deposited. The minor and major salt lakes
shire, UK were filled with salts during four largely identical
. Salt lakes: Great Salt Lake in the United States; deposition cycles, each having the sequence clay,
Lake Baskunchak, Russia calciummagnesium carbonates and calcium
. Lake basins: Salar de Atacama, Chile; Searles sulfate, sodium and potassium chlorides, and
Lake, California ending with a recessive transition [sodium
. Bedded salt: Germany, France, Poland, chloride, calcium sulfate (anhydrite), and clay]
Romania, Russia, Switzerland, USA to the next cycle. The concentrations of the
. Salt domes: U.S. Gulf Coast; Zechstein Basin various soluble salts reached saturation succes-
in Germany sively as the seawater became gradually more
concentrated, so forming the geographical se-
When rocks are chemically weathered, salts quence of salts. This explains why the composi-
are dissolved, carried into natural running waters, tion does not correspond to that of normal
and collect in the oceans and inland lakes and seawater at any point in the salt profile, why all
seas. Where evaporation is predominant, the salts the types of salt are not deposited everywhere,
become concentrated until the solutions are su- why salts of differing solubilities are precipitated
persaturated and crystallization occurs. simultaneously at different saturation regions,
The proportion of sodium chloride in the salts and why the chlorides of potassium and magne-
of seawater is ca. 78%. Although the oceans sium are deposited only at the centers of the
contain the largest quantity of dissolved salts, lakes.
the majority of salt is bound in the form of solid The intermediate layers of clay sediments in
deposits. In Germany alone, the quantity is esti- each cycle are the result of influxes of fresh
mated to be ca. 100 000 km3. seawater. Eolian (airborne) transportation of clay
The chemical-sedimentary genesis of salt de- minerals into the salt basin can also occur.
posits has been accepted ever since OCHSENIUS The depths of the brine in the deposition
(1877) proposed his bar theory. Inspired by the basins have been calculated from the bromine
contemporary example of the Kara-Bugas bay contents for each phase of deposition. The results
(Caspian Sea), he suggested that bodies of sea- obtained were: first cycle (Werra region) 330 m,
water become almost completely isolated second cycle in the Stassfurt region 860 m, and
from the open sea by bars. Then, due to the third cycle in the Leine region 95 m. In
evaporation that takes place in arid climatic some cases the salt basin dried out during the
regions, the seawater is concentrated. The spar- third cycle. Sediments of younger formations
ingly soluble carbonates and sulfates are then the covered and protected the Zechstein salts from
first to crystallize, followed by the more soluble dissolution.
chlorides. In the North West German depression zone, a
In the case of the most important European layer of overlying rock up to 5 km thick was
salt deposit, the Zechstein Formation, communi- formed. The pressure due to this denser rock,
cation with the North Sea has been proved by together with the interior heat of the Earth,
fossil finds, thus demonstrating the marine origin caused metamorphosis of the salt, which became
of the Zechstein salts, which extend over ca. plastic and migrated. It then accumulated in
500 000 km2 from England to Central Poland, zones of deformation and ascended, forming salt
and from Denmark to Thuringia/Hesse domes (diapirs) which sometimes extended as far
(Germany). The bar theory can satisfactorily as the earths surface. These were slowly dis-
account for even the 8001000 m thickness of solved by groundwater, leading to the formation
the Zechstein salt deposit, and is also valid, in of very flat secondary intermediate layers next to
modified form, for marine salt deposits. A depth the overlying rock.
of 100 m seawater produces a salt layer only The upward movement of the salt during the
1.5 m thick on complete evaporation. formation of salt domes deformed the salt layers
It is now believed that, for the European into folds, with predominantly steeply inclined
Zechstein salt deposit, the salt lakes were con- strata. Under the thinner overlying rocks at
324 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
the edge regions, the flat deposits remained Keuper. Germany, England, France, Spain,
undisturbed. Algeria, Libya.
Marine rock salt deposits occur in most geo-
logical formations (see also ! Potassium Com- Triassic Alpine. Germany, Austria.
pounds). In the following list, the names of
countries or areas printed in italics have salt Triassic, unstructured. Mexico: Tehuante-
deposits that are economically exploited. Con- pec. Bulgaria. Greece. Morocco. Tunisia.
nected regions are separated by commas, and
disconnected regions in a country by a semico- Jurassic. United States: Idaho, Utah; Gulf
lon. Countries and regions are separated by Coast: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi. Cuba.
periods. Chile. Yemen. Kuwait. Morocco. Tadzhikistan.
Germany.
Cambrian. Canada: NW territories.
Australia. Siberia. Iran. Pakistan. Cretaceous. United States: Florida. Boli-
vian Cordillera, Brazil: Sergipe-Alagoas Basin,
Ordovician. Canada and United States: Argentina, Colombia. Angola, Congo, Gabon,
Williston Basin with parts of Manitoba and Morocco, Algeria. Tadzhikistan.
Saskatchewan (Canada) and parts of Dakota,
Montana, and Wyoming (United States). Eocene. United States: Green River Basin
Wyoming. Belize. Spain. Yugoslavia.
Silurian. United States and Canada: Salina
Basin with Maryland, Michigan, New York, Oligocene. France, Germany. Spain. Anato-
Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia (United lia, Caucasus Mountains, Iran, Iraq.
States), and Ontario (Canada).
Miocene. Czechoslovakia, Polish, Russian,
Devonian. United States and Canada: Will- and Romanian Carpathian foreland, Yugoslavia,
iston Basin with North Dakota, Montana (United Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Golf of Suez,
States), and Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan Algeria, Sicily, Tuscany, Spain. Sudan. Domini-
(Canada). CIS: Siberia; Byelorussia, Baltic, can Republic.
Dnieper-Donets Basin. Australia.
Pliocene. United States: Nevada, Utah.
Carboniferous. Canada and United States: Jordan, Israel.
Williston Basin with New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia (Canada), Virginia (United States), Para-
dox Basin with Colorado and Utah (United 4. Production
States). Brazil: Amazon Basin.
4.1. Mining of Rock Salt from
Permian. American Permian Basin: Color- Underground and Surface Deposits
ado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and
Texas; American Supai Basin: Arizona, New Rock salt has been mined in Europe for 3000
Mexico; American Williston Basin. Mexico: years. A salt deposit near ground level in the
Chihuahua. Peru: E Cordillera. CIS: Kama Eastern Alps was developed by tunneling and
Basin; Donets Basin, Volga Basin, Caspian worked by excavation around 1000 B.C.
Basin; Baltic. Bulgaria. Greece. Salt-bearing regions are revealed by the pres-
ence of surface springs of saline water, and these
European Zechstein. England, the Nether- were the areas where the possibility of mining
lands, Denmark, Germany, Poland. was always investigated by sinking shafts. The
main precondition for success is the presence of
New Red Sandstone. Germany, the Nether- dry overlying rock, and it was this circumstance
lands, Portugal. that enabled the first German salt mine to be
opened in 1825 near Schwabisch Hall. In other
Muschelkalk. Germany,France, Switzerland. parts of Europe, salt was mined long before this,
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 325
e.g., in Poland before 1000 A.D., and in England If the salt deposit appears as an outcrop, or is at
since the 1600s. low depth (< 100 m), the salt can be extracted
The purity of the salt mined from rock salt by drift mining (tunneling) or by means of an
deposits is between 90 and 99% NaCl, and inclined shaft. In these cases, the salt can be
sometimes higher. The other minerals present in transported to the surface with conveyor belts or
the rock salt are mainly clay and anhydrite, often trucks. One of the richest European salt deposits is
intimately intergrown. in Petralia, Sicily, where an enormous lens of salt,
Rock salt and potassium chloride have the trapped in the heart of a mountain that rises
same marine origin, often occurring together in a 1100 m above sea level, extends over 2 km2 with
single deposit, and have essentially the same a thickness of 250 m and a salt purity of 99.9%.
mechanical strength properties. Hence, the de- Construction of industrial mining structures began
velopment and mining of rock salt deposits is in 1972. The entire production process takes place
similar to that of potash mineral deposits. below ground, from extraction of the salt to its
packaging, with subsequent transportation of the
Mine Shafts. Access from the surface to the bulk and packed salt onto the surface by truck.
salt deposit is usually by vertical shafts 5 m in
diameter. There must be at least two shafts, so
that in case of damage to one of them, the 4.1.1. Mining by Drilling and Blasting
underground workforce has an emergency route
to the surface. As with any mining operation, the method of
To sink the shaft, the rock is broken up by extracting salt depends on the thickness and
drilling and explosives. The rock debris is loaded spatial formation of the deposit.
into skips by grabs, and taken to the surface. In A characteristic feature of salt mining is that
most cases, the upper layers of the overlying rock the haulage and ventilation tunnels servicing the
are water-bearing, and sometimes consist of excavation chambers are driven through rock
unstable loose rock and moving sand capable of salt, whereas in other types of mine they are
exerting pressure. Therefore, before sinking the often coated in the adjacent rock. In salt mining
shaft, these strata must be solidified and stabi- this is generally not necessary, as the deposits are
lized. This can be achieved by freezing via holes usually thicker. Furthermore, drilling and tunnel-
drilled around the area where the shaft is to be ing into the adjacent rock should be avoided as far
sunk. The freezing equipment must be kept in as possible to prevent ingress of water or gas from
place for the duration of the sinking of the shaft. these strata into the mine.
Another method of preventing the movement
of water in the overlying strata and immobilizing Mining in Bedded Salt Deposits. In most salt
loose rocks is the injection of cement, synthetic mines, a systematic extraction procedure is pos-
resins, or other hardening materials via bore- sible due to the uniformity of the deposit over
holes. This technique is also suitable for sealing large areas.
the mine shaft against the ingress of water and for In salt deposits with horizontal or gently
stabilizing the rock at the bottom of the shaft. inclined seams, the standard method is room
As rock salt is a water-soluble mineral, it is and pillar mining. In this method, the extraction
especially important to ensure that the lining of process produces large chambers with rectan-
the shaft is watertight when it is sunk through gular cross sections of ca. 50400 m2 and
water-bearing strata. In older shafts, the sealing lengths of up to 500 m. The parallel extraction
system consists of ring-shaped sections of cast chambers are separated from each other by rock
iron or steel bolted together. Newer shafts have a salt pillars left behind during mining. These pil-
watertight lining consisting of a welded sheet- lars must be of such dimensions that they can
steel cylinder, an inner hollow cylinder of rein- carry the weight of the overlying rock. Generally,
forced concrete, and an outer asphalt-filled ring. additional support is not required, and the ground
Material is hoisted up the shaft in 20 t skips at above is protected against subsidence.
rates of up to 1000 t/h. These travel between The pressure exerted by the overlying rock
wooden or steel guide rails, or in a few cases increases with depth, so that the salt pillars must
between tensioned guide cables. be wider. For example, in a salt mine at a depth of
326 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
200 m, the pillars are 15 m wide and the chambers The mining of the salt during the construction
15 m;atadepthof500 m,thepillarsare30 mwide of the tunnels and in the extraction chambers is by
and the chambers 20 m; and at a depth of ca. drilling and the use of explosives.
700 m, the pillars are 50 m wide, and chambers Various drilling and blasting processes are
22 m. The salt pillars result in a ca. 4070 % loss of used. In the undercutting method, the working
product, depending on their dimensions. face is undercut to a distance of 45 m. The cut,
The salt extraction process starts with the 1520 cm wide, is produced by a machine resem-
construction of a central haulage tunnel. At right bling a chain saw. An electro-hydraulic mobile
angles to this, tunnels leading to the working drilling machine drills 3538 mm diameter holes
faces are driven. The tunnels are developed for the explosive. In another process, a wide hole
upward or downward to form chambers if the up to 7 m in length and 0.45 m in diameter is
deposit is so thick that it extends above or below drilled into the middle of the working face to
them. The salt pillars produced by this mining provide an initial extension space for the salt at the
technique are usually not cut through. moment of explosion, a function that is performed
If the deposits have a workable thickness of in the undercutting process by the undercut.
< 10 m, the pillar and chamber method with The extraction chambers are created by wid-
long pillars is often changed to one with short, ening the access tunnels. If these are driven
square pillars (room and pillar system). Here, the through the lower part of the deposit, this is
transverse tunnels usually have the same height performed by the use of explosives in long
and width as the long ones. inclined boreholes directed upwards. If the tun-
Fresh air is provided by an inlet ventilation nel runs through the upper part of the deposit, the
road above the haulage tunnel. The used air is salt is extracted from the floor, i.e., by drilling
removed through return air galleries and by the long holes downwards into the salt.
main ventilating fan, which is usually under- Figure 2 shows a vertical section through a
ground, and blown through the exhaust shaft to South German mine where the rock salt deposit is
the surface. 20 m thick and 200 m deep. The haulage and
working roads are located in the lower part of the located in the North Chilean coastal mountain
deposit, and the main ventilation road in the chain approximately 80 km south of Iquique.
upper part. In the main extraction phase, the salt This sedimentary deposit is composed almost
that has been broken up by explosives is left lying exclusively of sodium chloride with a degree of
in the space created, and the final position of the purity that surpasses 98% NaCl. The deposit is
roof of the chamber is created by blasting, work- 45 km long and has an average width of 5 km
ing from the top of the heap of loose salt. After with a saline thickness that can reach more than
scaling, the roof can then be collected without the 100 m. Operations are carried out on the surface,
danger of roof falls. and consist of a classic combination of drilling,
The most commonly used explosive is ANFO blasting, loading, and transportation.
(ammonium nitrate/fuel oil mixture) in the form
of loose prills. It is charged pneumatically into
the boreholes. 4.1.2. Continuous Mining
Due to the strength of the salt rock, it is
possible in most mines to keep the mined space Continuous miners or boring machines have been
open without supports. At great depths, where the used since the late 1950s for salt mine develop-
pressure is high, or where breakup of the deposit ment and for production. These machines have
leads to danger to the miners from roof falls of movable, rotating heads with carbide-tipped cut-
salt, rock bolts are used. ting bits. Continuous miners bore into the salt and
eliminate undercutting, drilling, and blasting. A
Mining in Diapirs. Steep to vertical rock salt typical single drum head miner weighs 130 t.
deposits are generally mined by the stepped face Excessive fines were a problem in the past, but
method, as used, for example, in North German newer machines have reduced fines production.
mines at depths of 400850 m, with working l- Advantages of continuous mining are high pro-
evels at vertical intervals of 100250 m and i- ductivity and no residues from blasting (wires,
ntermediate sublevels at intervals of 1520 m. plastic) in the extracted rock salt. Furthermore,
Between the sublevels, there are working faces there is no explosion-related vibration at the
which are drilled and blasted, beginning with the surface.
lowest, using long boreholes. In one mine, the Once the rock has left the face it goes to the
openings produced are 20 m wide, 42 m high, crushing and screening plant to be crushed and
and 100 m long, and, in another, 20 m wide, graded into different sizes, depending the use (0
100 m high, and 60 m long. 5 or 010 mm).
To maintain stability of the rock, salt masses
must also be left behind using the grid wall
system, the vertical pillars being 1030 m thick, 4.1.3. Upgrading of Rock Salt
and the horizontal pillars between the sublevels,
8 m thick. In mines where the salt has a purity of > 99%
To load the mined material after blasting and NaCl, in most cases, the salt can be marketed
to transport it to the first crusher, diesel-powered directly after grain-size classification.
front loaders with bucket capacities of up to 18 t Where the natural purity is low (e.g., 94%
are used (LHD: Load, Haul, Dump System). For NaCl in South German mines), or the salt is
economic reasons, there should be a straight road intended for use in the chemical industry, upgrad-
between loading and discharging points not lon- ing is necessary. The mechanical dressing of the
ger than ca. 300 m. For longer distances, the extracted salt pursues the objectives of removing
interrupted system is more economic, with spe- secondary minerals and increasing salt content.
cial loading equipment and dumper trucks of up To remove secondary minerals, the salt must
to 50 t capacity. be milled to such an extent that the secondary
After crushing the salt to < 300 mm using minerals are available as single free grains beside
equipment near to the working face, it is trans- the salt in the bulk material. This first preparation
ported by band conveyors to the hoisting shaft. step is already partially carried out underground
The most prominent open-pit salt operations in the mine, so that the secondary minerals
are at the Salar Grande de Tarapaca deposit, remain in the mine. The choice of separating
328 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
procedure is dependent on the grain size of the with a throughput of 500 t/h. The magnetite is
feed material and on the nature of the secondary recycled with drum-type magnetic separators.
material to be removed. The rock salt thus produced is low in sulfate and
In practice the following procedures are used, suited for use in chlor-alkali electrolysis [14].
sometimes in combination with each other:
Flotation. In many types of rock salt the
Selective Comminution and Sieving. Rock impurities (anhydrite, insolubles) are dispersed
salt is more brittle than secondary materials such throughout the crystalline salt. The final product
as clays and anhydrite that are frequently present. quality attainable by flotation therefore depends
The salt is therefore ground more finely in an not only on salt grinding, and thus on minerals
impact mill than these secondary minerals, and separation, but also on removal of the impurities
the larger clay and anhydrite grains still present with the foam product, which is influenced by the
after comminution can be separated by sieving. used flotation reagents. Selective separation of
Rejection of the oversize increases the salt con- anhydrite from fine-ground rock salt requires
tent, for example, from 94 to 96.5%. grinding to 250 mm and the use of sulfated fatty
acids. Sulfate contents of 500 ppm in the final
Separation in a Throw Parabola. Density product are achievable. Disadvantages of salt
differences of minerals with approximately the flotation result from the very fine grains, which
same grain sizes lead to different throwing ranges can be hard to debrine and require additional
at the end of a conveyor belt ends. By using a effort during later production of brine. Attention
splitter the materials can be separated. must be paid to the complicated handling of the
flotated salt and its residual flotation reagents,
Manual Sorting. In mines with drilling and and a suitable possibility for disposal of the
blasting manual sorting of large pieces of sec- tailings must be available. A few flotation plants
ondary material sorted from crude rock salt is still are located next to potash mines for sulfate
widely used, employing a slow running conveyor removal from byproduct rock salt for use in
belt or a sieve. chlor-alkali electrolysis plants using mercury
and membrane cells.
Optical Sorting. Automated optical sorters
can be used to replace manual sorting and to Electrostatic Separation. Preheated salt
increase salt quality for special uses like water with the grain size of 0.24 mm is fed to
softening. The procedure exploits differences in a rotating metal roll, above which a corona-
color, brightness, transparency, and reflectivity producing electrode is placed. The salt and an-
of the minerals. Each single particle is individu- hydrite/clay particles become charged, but only
ally scanned with a digital camera. Brightness the conducting anhydrite/clay particles can lose
thresholds enable identification of reject material their charge. The charged nonconducting salt is
that is ejected with compressed air. Installed attracted to the opposite charge, becomes elec-
plants have throughput rates of up to 80 t/h with trostatically attached to it, and moves with the
a maximum reject percentage of 15%, while the surface of the roll. The anhydrite/clay particles
feed size is 1580 mm. The economy of the are discharged rapidly on the grounded roll
procedure depends on the consumption of com- surface and thrown free. The disadvantage of
pressed air, the amount of which is related to the electrostatic separation is the high power con-
percentage of rejected material. sumption. Depending on the purity of the crude
salt a quality improvement of nearly 1.5% NaCl
Heavy-Medium Separation. Differences is achievable.
in mineral densities are used for separation in
heavy-media plants. The rock salt is suspended in Magnetic Separation. Magnetic separation
a heavy medium, which consists of saturated relies on the different behavior of individual
brine with magnetite. The raw salt components mineral particles under the influence of a mag-
are separated with the help of centrifugal forces netic field. While salt is nonmagnetic, clay is
in hydrocyclones. A German plant separates salt weakly magnetic due to traces of transition
of 112 mm grain size from clay and anhydrite, metals such as iron and can be removed with
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 329
rare-earth magnetic roll separators, which reach usually dumped in the empty chambers. Hence
field strengths of up to 22 T. If anhydrite is salt mines do not produce heaps of tailings at
intergrown with clay, part of the anhydrite is ground level.
also separated simultaneously with the clay. A In some cases, empty chambers are utilized
short conveyor belt envelops a magnetic roll for disposing of waste materials, e.g., wastes
and a tensioning idler roll. A suitable feeder from combustion processes and the chemical
discharges salt onto the belt and, as the salt is industry. Salt mines are well suited for long-term
conveyed over the magnetic roll, weakly mag- or perpetual disposal of solid wastes, and
netic clay particles adhere to the conveyer belt especially for residues that have high leachabili-
while in contact with the magnetic roll, whereas ty. They offer a unique closed environment for
the nonmagnetic salt particles flow freely off the storage: natural gas-impermeable salt layers,
end of the conveyor. well isolated (depth from 150 to 1000 m), very
In a 1 t/h pilot plant installed in the Heilbronn dry, with stable atmosphere, allowing very long
salt mine in 1992, 0.24 mm rock salt was puri- term conservation. Natural water barriers (im-
fied with a four-stage rare-earth magnetic roll permeable layers such as clay and anhydrite)
separator. The maximal achievable purity was protect the salt layers against water hazards
salt with 0.1% anhydrite and 0.3% clay. The (infiltration or flooding). In addition, artificial
results depended on the feed quality and the barriers can be added to natural ones, if neces-
degree of intergrowth between clay and anhy- sary, creating further reliable sealing measures
drite. Another German salt mine operates a mul- (packing, brick walls, massive damming walls)
tistage rare-earth magnetic roll separator plant against any outside communications. This com-
for purification of Muschelkalk salt, which is bination ensures secure isolation of wastes which
intended for use in membrane chlor-alkali represent a hazard to humans and the environ-
electrolysis. ment in above-ground landfills due to their water
solubility and concentration of toxic substances
Thermoadhesive Process. Basically, the (e.g., dioxins and furans, mercury, and also
thermoadhesive process consists of exposure of residues from air pollution control).
crude rock salt to radiant heating, which selec- Salt mines are considered to be ideal disposal
tively heats the impurity particles. Subsequently, sites for incinerator fly-ash and flue-gas cleaning
the heated particles are removed by adhesion to a residues. Usual criteria for acceptance are:
heat-sensitive coating on a conveyor belt. This
method was found to be effective in improving . Nonexplosive
both the quality and appearance of rock salt by . Nonradioactive
rejection of the dark impurity particles. The first . Not spontaneous combustible
commercial unit employing the thermoadhesive . No generation of toxic or explosive gases
method of dry separation of minerals was . No reactions between the wastes or with the
installed in 1957 underground at the Detroit rock rock salt
salt mine. The plant was fed with rock salt of . No spreading of diseases
grade 79.5 mm. The concentrate contained . No penetrating odor
98% of sodium chloride, with resin losses of . Sufficient stability
45 g/t [15].
For mine filling, main additional criterion for
accepting residues is that the compressibility
4.1.4. Utilization of the Chambers under the maximum overburden pressure may
not be higher than 22%, in order to obtain the
Salt mining is mainly carried out without back- best resistance and avoid any collapse of the
filling, i.e., the chambers produced during mining mine, which is the purpose of the filling. Such
need not be backfilled with other material to a condition may be achieved by a proper mixing
support the roof of the mine and increase the of the waste with some mine salt residues (cov-
load-bearing capacity of the salt pillars. ering of big bags with salt tailings) or with
Where processing of the rock salts produces incineration slag (bottom ashes), or other mining
residues that must be disposed of, these are techniques.
330 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
Underground salt mines in operation have and West Virginia in the USA. Similarly, another
void space of many million cubic meters, and commercial center is associated with brine re-
this resource is growing permanently, giving sources in the Mississippian and Middle and
unlimited potential for a long-term safe storage Lower Devonian beds in Michigan. In general,
of items such as art works, pictures, books, pieces brines from the older and deeper lying beds are of
of furniture, archives, licenses, and records under higher concentration. The brine pumped in the
controlled temperature and humidity conditions. neighborhood of a flooded salt mine at Solivar
near Presov in Slovakia contains 292 g/L of salt
[18]. Natural Alpine brines are processed in the
4.2. Brine Production salt works at Bad Reichenhall in Germany. The
concentrated brines are a result of underground
Three methods can be distinguished for the pro- brine discharge from the Quaternary layers of
duction of brine: the Reichenhall Basin. The brines are generated
by natural solution mining of the salt mountain
. Extraction of natural brine [19].
. Solution mining Brines often contain high concentrations of
. Combined dry and wet mining bromide such as in the Smackover Formation of
southern Arkansas and Mississippi in the USA,
The most widely used and most economic which is known for its bromine production
process today is solution mining (see Section (Harben). Certain brines contain relatively high
4.2.2). A combination of dry and wet mining for concentrations of iodine, for example oilfield
production of brine is employed in alpine salt brines in the USA, Japan, Indonesia, and the
deposits (see Section 4.2.3). In a few cases, former USSR. Iodine-bearing brines may be
subsurface solution mining is also carried out at classified as of Japanese or Oklahoma type.
depths of 100140 m. The work-face dissolution The former occur in young rocks (i.e., Miocene,
process, in which dissolution is carried out Pliocene, and Pleistocene) and are probably
in chamberlike tunnel sections, is no longer derived from seawater. Their maximum iodine
used. content is 150 ppm. Brines of the Oklahoma
The rock salt, which may be present in a pure type occur in older formations and have an iodine
state (e.g., geologically undisturbed crystalline content of as much as 1500 ppm [20].
salt deposits) or in a mixed mineral in finely
divided form (e.g., in alpine salt deposits), is
dissolved by the action of fresh water on the rock 4.2.2. Solution Mining
formation and converted to a concentrated salt
solution (brine with an NaCl content of 312 g/L Solution mining technology originated in China
or 27 %). over 1000 years ago; today, this technology has
In all mining processes, the brine is produced been developed to high levels of perfection,
in underground excavations made by conven- capable of constructing caverns with optimal
tional mining or solution mining. The extraction shapes, conforming to precise specifications, at
processes result information of chambers. Be- depths down to 3000 m and with volumes of up
tween the chambers in which the brine is pro- to 800 000 m3 and more.
duced and extracted, pillars of considerable size Controlled solution mining is the modern,
are left behind to maintain stability of the rock economical method of extracting rock salt from
[16, 17]. underground deposits, and contrasts with con-
ventional mining (see Section 4.1). However, for
this method certain preconditions must be ful-
4.2.1. Natural Brine Extraction filled, especially with regard to the geology of the
deposit (type, formation, and depth of the salt).
Natural brines containing up to 20% salt, pumped Economic operation of the solution mining pro-
from Pennsylvanian, Mississippian, Devonian, cess requires that the deposit whether a diapir
and Silurian beds, are a source of halite and a (salt dome) or a flat stratum of salt should fulfill
basis for the chemical industry in southern Ohio the following geological conditions:
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 331
1. Adequate thickness and extent of the salt The casings described in 2) and 3) above are
deposit cemented up to ground level.
2. High purity of the rock salt without inclusions Geophysical borehole measurements and tests
of potassium chloride on the cores obtained during sinking of the
3. Largely undisturbed stratification at medium borehole not only give information about miner-
depth alogical composition, but also yield physical data
about the overlying rock and the salt deposit. The
In addition, an adequate supply of water must be most important characteristics of the overlying
available. rock are its thickness and strength. Also, to enable
the dimensions of the cavern and the proposed
4.2.2.1. Drilling and Construction of the extraction process to be decided upon, the
Borehole strength and thickness of the salt deposit and the
The drilling and completion of the trial boring solubilities of its component parts must be known.
and the design and installation of the brine wells The outer casing must be installed and ce-
(also known as the cavern wells) closely resem- mented with special care, and each individual
ble those of petroleum and natural gas wells (see joint as well as the whole casing must be tested
! Oil and Gas). The method of operation and the for tightness. After this, the well is completed by
geological conditions determine the size, type, inserting two concentric pipes (of diameter be-
and position of the casing that protects the walls tween 8.625 and 5.5 inches); the final preparative
of the borehole against the effects of permeable work being the assembly of the well head and
strata, and prevents solid material from the rock making all the pipe connections (Fig. 3).
from falling into the borehole. A standard pattern
for the casing diameters in a cavern well (see 4.2.2.2. The Process of Solution Mining
Fig. 3) is as follows:
Two alternative methods allow precise control of
1. 015 m: 24.5 inch pipe the development of cavern shape:
2. 0300 m: 16 inch pipe
3. 020 m (max.) beyond the projected roof of 1. Direct leaching through the inner tubing se-
the cavern in the deposit: 11.75 inch pipe cures a more speedy development of the lower
region of the cavern
2. Indirect leaching via the inner annulus produc-
ing highly concentrated brine ensures faster
development of the upper region of the cavern
under a constant load. For the first filling opera- extraction chambers are set up. A block of
tion with gas, a brine extraction pipe is lowered to definite dimensions (length, breadth, and height)
the bottom of the cavern. The gas in the annular is allocated to each chamber based on a prede-
space between the protective pipe and the vertical termined degree of extraction. The block encom-
central pipe is compressed to a high pressure, and passes a space of irregular configuration pro-
displaces the brine from the cavern until the latter duced by the extraction process and the pillars
is completely empty. The gas storage system left between the extracted spaces, which are also
operates by the principle of compressiondecom- of irregular shape. An initial space is first created,
pression. The gas in the cavern required to main- which is a funnel-shaped (Germany), or circular
tain the minimum residual pressure required for chamber (Austria). A shaft or tunnel is first
stability of the cavern is called the cushion gas, driven from the main tunnel or a transverse
but when it is filled up to its maximum operating tunnel to the center of the intended block at the
pressure, it is known as the working gas. bottom of the worked strata. A shaft is then sunk
To meet peak electrical demand, air is com- by mining techniques, from which the initial
pressed using cheap electricity and stored in a salt chamber of a specific size is created at the lowest
cavern. Later air is expanded through a gas point by drilling and explosive methods
turbine coupled to an electric generator to pro- (Austria). In Berchtesgaden, Germany, the initial
duce high-value, peak electricity. Before expan- space (Fig. 4) required for excavation is created
sion, the air is heated in a compression chamber by drilling and water-injection processes. An
using natural gas or diesel oil as fuel. The com- important feature of this process is that the initial
pressed-air energy-storage facility at Huntorf in space is funnel-shaped, and is generated by con-
Germany, which has been in operation since trolled dissolution, starting from a wide borehole,
1979, has the following characteristics [39]: so that the insoluble components of the deposit
can be raised by airlifting equipment and re-
. Three salt caverns (300 000 m3 total, 650 m moved by a hydraulic pump as a solidbrine
depth) mixture [16]. The production of the initial space
. Pressure range 5070 bar is usually divided into the following stages
. Input (compression) 60 MW (8 h) (Fig. 6): sinking a borehole for examination of
. Output (discharge mode) 290 MW (2 h) the deposit in the region to be excavated, vertical
development by sinking a wide borehole, and
Salt caverns have been used for several dec- further widening of the borehole by controlled
ades to store various hydrocarbon products. More dissolution, forming a funnel-shaped space at a
recently, the use of salt caverns for disposal of depth extending from 100 to 125 m. During this
oil-field wastes has received increased attention. phase, the space normally attains a volume of
In the early 1990s, several Texas brine compa- 30005000 m3, depending on the quality of the
nies obtained permits to receive oil-field wastes, deposit, with a height of 46 m and a diameter of
much of which was drilling waste [40]. 3032 m. The creation of the initial space com-
Descriptions of cavern storage systems can be pletes the preparation for the extraction process.
found in [4144]. A worldwide information ex- The space is next extended further, conditions
change service is provided by the Solution Min- now having been established for continuous,
ing Research Institute (SMRI) [45]. high-yield, cost-effective brine production. The
initial space (chamber) is slowly filled with fresh
water, which dissolves salt from the side walls
4.2.3. Combined Dry and Solution Mining and roof. The insoluble components, such as
clay, anhydrite, and polyhalite sink to the floor
Water flushing (intermittent or continuous disso- of the chamber. Fresh water is continuously
lution in chambers) is the extraction process added, raising the liquid level, so that water
usually used in the alpine salt deposits in remains continuously in contact with the roof of
Germany and Austria. Tunnels, shafts, and cham- the chamber until the water in the chamber is
bers are usually first produced by mining tech- completely saturated. The dwell time depends on
niques. A single worked stratum is divided into the salt content of the rock, the size of the
separate districts of a given size in which several chamber, the ease of dissolution of the salt, and
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 335
Bad Ischl, Drang, Mandi Fairport, Huitrin, Khanguet Lyons, Pugwash, Stassfurt,
Austria District, Ohio, Argentina el Melah, Kansas, Nova Scotia, Germany
[48] India [49] USA [50] [51] Algeria [51] USA [50] Canada [52] [53]
In an evaporative crystallizer, the salt normal- salt in industrial processes causes less waste than
ly crystallizes at 40150 C, whereby the solu- the use of rock salt. On the other hand, the
bility of sodium chloride increasing only slightly purification of brine itself causes wastes, because
with temperature (see Table 1). of the foreign ions in the crude salt.
Brine is generally obtained by dissolving A summary of possible processes for the
crude salt that contains many impurities. The production of crystallized salt based on rock salt
production of high-purity salt requires chemical deposits is shown in Figure 7.
purification of the brine. The high purity is the
major difference to rock salt (see Table 6). 4.3.1. Brine Purification
Purification is also necessary to avoid scale
formation in the heat exchangers and the evapo- Brine purification is an important step in the
ration equipment. Additionally, the use of pure production of sodium chloride for the chemical
Figure 7. Processes for the production of crystallized salt based on rock salt deposits
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 337
industry, pharmaceutical uses, and water treat- performed in the Schweizerhalle process, named
ment. Magnesium and calcium ions must be after a Swiss saline. It consists of two steps:
removed from the saturated brine to avoid scale
formation and also impurities such as hygroscop- 1. Addition of calcium hydroxide to precipitate
ic magnesium chloride in solid sodium chloride. magnesium ions as magnesium hydroxide and
The most common and most problematic produce gypsum due to the increase in the
impurities in crude salt are the sulfates, chlorides, concentration of calcium ions in a solution
and, to some extent, the carbonates of calcium already saturated with calcium sulfate:
and magnesium, as well as the triple salt poly-
Mg2 SO2
4 CaOH2 !MgOH2 CaSO4
halite (K2SO4 2 CaSO4 MgSO4 2 H2O). In
addition the water which is used for dissolving Usually, solid calcium oxide is preferred
rock salt contributes to the content of impurities over milk of lime, because it does not dilute
in the crude brine. Most of the magnesium com- the saturated sodium chloride solution fur-
pounds are very soluble in crude brine. Further- ther. Since lime is hydrated much more slow-
more, the crude brine is saturated with calcium ly in brine than in water, it is important to use
sulfate in many cases. Sodium chloride brine highly reactive, fine-grained lime. However,
significantly enhances the solubility of calcium if a higher degree of utilization of the calcium
sulfate [54]. This effect is called salting-in. oxide is desired, milk of lime with a content of
The principal impurities of crude brine are about 20 % calcium oxide can be used as well
therefore calcium, magnesium, and sulfate ions, [55]. Where cheap sodium hydroxide is avail-
but also strontium ions (usually dissolved in able, it can be used instead of calcium hy-
relatively low concentrations in crude brine; see droxide, thus avoiding additional input of
Table 7), all of which take part in scale formation. calcium ions. In this step, an excess of base
Potassium ions are irrelevant for the formation of is always added to reach a pH of about 11.3.
incrustations in the evaporation equipment due to 2. The addition of soda ash to precipitate the
their high solubility. They only play a role as remaining calcium ions as calcium carbonate:
impurities in the final high-purity product [55].
Ca2 Na2 CO3 !CaCO3 2 Na
The following chemical methods are used to
purify crude brine. The crystallization of calcium carbonate
can also be achieved by purging the alkaline
Purification with Lime or Caustic Soda and brine with carbon dioxide, easily available in
Soda Ash. Traditional brine purification is the form of combustion gas, which contains
Table 7. Compositions of crude and purified brine, and mother liquor (in g/L, unless otherwise noted)
about 1014 vol% carbon dioxide. Although a sulfate concentration in the brine for the Solvay
minimum concentration of dissolved calcium process causes formation of gypsum scales dur-
ions is obtained at a pH of about 9.5, purging ing the recovery of ammonia with milk of lime
is usually stopped at a pH of approximately (see ! Sodium Carbonates, Section 1.4.1.2.),
11.2, thus avoiding the formation of soluble this strategy is not entirely without problems.
calcium hydrogencarbonate, which can hard-
ly be removed [55]. Continuous Brine Purification Process.
The brine purification processes described above
After these two reactions, magnesium and are carried out as batch operations, but in a few
calcium ions are removed almost quantitatively cases continuous processes are used. Continuous
(see Table 7). The insoluble compounds are processes require an almost constant composi-
decanted and filtered after each purification step. tion of the crude brine. On the other hand, they
The resulting basic sludge is generally consid- use smaller reactor vessels than batch processes.
ered to be useless and is therefore suspended in In both methods, the impurities are allowed to
water and pumped back into abandoned caverns settle and are then removed. Sedimentation is
of the salt mine or brine field, or washed into accelerated by adding flocculating agents, usual-
rivers, lakes, or the sea. There it covers the ly anionic polyacrylates (! Flocculants, Section
ground and thus may threaten the equilibrium 2.3.1. and ! Flocculants, Chap. 4.). In the con-
of the aquatic ecosystem. tinuous process, the solid precipitates are re-
Sulfate is not removed completely from the moved in thickeners.
crude brine in this purification process. Salt is Continuous brine purification can be carried
obtained from the purified brine by evaporation, out in a single reactor vessel as well [55]. In this
which is stopped prior to the onset of sodium case, the conical vessel employed is filled with
sulfate crystallization. The residual solution is crude brine and mother liquor from the bottom
called mother liquor and contains sodium and and milk of lime from the top. The formation of
potassium chloride, sulfate, and carbonate (due gypsum causes caustification. Sodium hydrogen-
to the excess of soda ash in the second reaction; carbonate is added and, due to the equilibrium
see Table 7). The saturation concentration of with hydroxide ions, carbonate ions are formed,
sulfate depends on the composition of the puri- which precipitate calcium carbonate. The pre-
fied brine, but normally the value is about 48 g of cipitates settle, and clarified brine is taken from
sodium sulfate per kilogram of mother liquor. the top. The resulting sludge contains about 60%
Brine with a higher potassium content allows a solids and is removed from the bottom. The main
higher sulfate concentration in the mother liquor disadvantage of this process is that the brine has
without crystallization of an alkali metal sulfate to be kept at a temperature between 80 and
[55]. After removing the mother liquor, it can be 100 C.
fed to an flash evaporator, where a second frac-
tion of pure sodium chloride can be produced Gypsum Slurry Process. In the majority of
with an extent about 50 kg of sodium chloride per cases purified brine is evaporated. For the evap-
cubic meter of mother liquor. Recycling of sodi- oration of crude brine in multiple-effect or ther-
um sulfate (solid or liquid form) from the purge mal and mechanical vapor recompression plants,
flow of the crystallization process back to the the gypsum slurry process is used, particularly in
brine purification tanks (or adding of external the USA. In Europe it finds only occasional use
sodium sulfate) reduces the solubility of CaSO4, [58]. In this process raw brine with suspended
as the solubility product Ca2 SO2 4 is con- finely ground gypsum is evaporated. Calcium
stant. Adding some excess lime generates NaOH, sulfate from brine evaporation precipitates as
which can be converted to sodium carbonate by anhydrite, remains in suspension, and does not
injection of CO2. In this way savings of costly form incrustations on the metallic surfaces of the
sodium carbonate are achieved. The residual evaporators and heat exchangers. Chemical brine
solution can be used for the production of sodium purification is not necessary. The gypsum is
sulfate, or, in combination with purified brine, for removed from the produced vacuum salt by
the production of soda ash, where sodium sulfate backflow washing with raw brine in the leg of
is also an appropriate sodium source. Since a high the evaporator and in a thickenerwasher unit.
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 339
The procedure is relatively cheap but supplies and Br ions and to obtain a brine with more or
vacuum-salt quality with increased contents of less no sulfates not only enables high-grade salt
calcium, magnesium, and sulfate that is no longer production but also reduces the purge or the
sufficient for all uses. bleed-off by using additional evaporator steps
[62].
Mother Liquor Concentration. Soluble Pretreated seawater is also suitable for nano-
ions such as K and Br cannot be precipitated filtration. Nanofiltered seawater is sent to a ther-
in brine purification process. In an electrolysis mal desalination plant, which operates as a sodi-
plant they end up in the products as KOH and um chloride concentrator and a distilled-water
Br2. producer. The concentrated sodium chloride so-
Following NaCl crystallization by evapora- lution is then crystallized. This process should
tion of the brine in multistage or MVR processes, provide a high purity sodium chloride suitable for
the obtained mother liquor still contains among many industries [63].
others SO24 , K , and Br . Further concentration A supplementary NF step to the Schweizer-
of this mother liquor by evaporation results in the halle method as third purification step is pro-
precipitation of both NaCl and Na2SO4, and a posed for obtaining highly pure brine. The con-
more strongly concentrated mother liquor with centrate from this step is recirculated into the first
respect to both K and Br remains. This con- stage of brine purification. The production of
centrated mother liquor is drained off. The low-bromide vacuum salt is expected [64].
Na2SO4 is dissolved in brine and then returned
to the brine purification process, thereby lower- Quality of the Purified Brine. Purified
ing both the K and Br levels in the purified brine still contains low concentrations of prob-
brine. As a consequence the contents of both K lematic ions [55] (Table 7).
and Br of the NaCl of the first evaporator steps A minimum concentration of magnesium ions
are reduced. From crude brine containing 50 mg/ in brine is reached with a hydroxide concentra-
L Br, a low-bromide salt with 27 mg/kg Br tion of about 0.003 mol/L in the brine. The
can obtained which is highly suitable for the solubility of calcium and strontium ions is tem-
production of chlorine. One-fifth of the total salt perature-dependent. Soda ash is usually used
production occurs in the mother liquor concen- with 0.0030.004 mol/L in excess.
trator. This second salt stream contains 247 mg/ The low-concentration alkaline earth metals
kg Brand has to be used for other purposes like in the purified brine form primarily carbonate
road de-icing [59, 60]. scales in the evaporators, with the following
composition: 71.5% calcium carbonate, 22.2%
Nanofiltration. In chlor-alkali plants nano- strontium carbonate, 2.1% magnesium carbon-
filtration (NF) of brine has been known since ate. These carbonate incrustations must be re-
1996 [61]. Nanofiltration removes sulfate as a moved with acids. To avoid this problem, ion
small-volume, high-concentration stream and exchangers can be used to remove the remaining
can reduce direct purge volumes by as much as alkaline earth metal ions. This strategy is mainly
95%, or can eliminate the handling of toxic and used for the production of ultrapure brine
expensive barium compounds and disposal of for membrane chlor-alkali electrolysis (for
sulfate-containing solid waste. some limit values, see Table 7 and ! Chlorine,
Sulfate removal is based on selective filtration Section 7.2.1.).
of brine through a NF membrane under high Another method is keeping these ions dis-
pressure. The NF membrane has charged groups solved by using complexing additives, usually
that selectively reject multivalent anions such as polyphosphates or phosphonates. Such antisca-
SO24 , while allowing monovalent ionic species lants prevent the formation of insoluble carbo-
such as Cl from the feed solution to pass nates. The alkaline earth metal ions then accu-
through. mulate in the mother liquor [55].
The NF membrane process has great potential
for improvements in producing high-grade vac- Byproducts. Chemical brine purification
uum salt. The use of a NF separation unit to leads directly or indirectly via the concentrated
recover the sulfates with a reduced content of K mother liquor from the evaporation to several
340 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
byproducts which can be sold after processing: the pan as incomplete cubes or hopper-shaped
sludge as fertilizer and sodium sulfate. crystals. The product is collected by a mechani-
A typical value for the amount of sludge is cal rake and dried in the same way as vacuum pan
15 kg/m3 of crude brine or 5055 kg/t of evapo- salt. The grainer process, similar to the historic
rated salt. In Austria, for example, the composi- process of open-pan boiling, is suitable where
tion of the water- and salt-free brine purification waste steam is available or where waste lumber
mud is 58.8% calcium sulfate, 23.4% calcium products provide an inexpensive source of heat.
carbonate, 16.8% magnesium hydroxide, and Since the grainer process is energy-inefficient, it
1.0% clay minerals, which are impurities of the was modified to make it less costly to operate.
limestone [65]. One such variation still in use is the Alberger
Recently, the use of this sludge as a lime process, which results in a combination of flakes
fertilizer has been discussed. However, three and cubic crystals of salt. The pans are shallow,
aspects must be considered: circular units with external heating units rather
than heating coils. The open-pan process cannot
1. The brine purification mud must be washed be operated successfully in regions with high
thoroughly to remove most of the chloride. A humidities because the evaporation rate is too
fertilizer should contain < 1% chloride [66]. slow and more energy is required to evaporate the
2. The sludge must have a sufficiently low water water from the brine. Alberger salt is less dense
content ( 28 wt%) if conventional fertiliz- than granulated-evaporated salt and, like grainer
er-distributing machines are to be used [66]. salt, is typically used where coarser salt is re-
3. Such fertilizer does not contain significant quired, as in koshering [70].
amounts of the three major macronutrients
nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Earlier
studies on the growth of plants on similar 4.3.3. Multiple-Effect Process
wastes show that growth is limited primarily
by the low content of phosphorus [67]. The multiple-effect evaporation process is a
classical process for the production of vacuum
Sodium sulfate can be produced by crystalli- salt (Fig. 8). Several evaporators are connected
zation from sulfate-rich mother liquors from in series. The boiling point of the brine is reduced
multistage or vapor recompression processes. in each evaporator stage by ca. 1220 C by
The potassium-rich Alpine brines enable the decreasing the pressure above the brine from unit
salt factories to produce potassium sulfate from to unit with the aid of a vacuum pump. The first
the evaporator mother liquor. A plant for potas- effect is heated by live steam, and the following
sium sulfate production from evaporator mother stages are heated by the vapors of the upstream
liquor was realized in Ebensee/Austria. The pro- unit. The vapor of the last stage enters a cooling
cess includes the intermediate reaction of potas- water system (loss stage). The brine feed is
sium chloride and sodium sulfate to give glaserite preheated with condensate from the evaporators.
[68, 69]. The consumption of live steam can be reduced by
decreasing the number of effects. In salt plants
the number of effects used varies between two
4.3.2. Open-Pan Evaporation and six. The expected live-steam consumption
can roughly be estimated as M B/Z
Evaporated salt can also be produced with the (1 0.05 Z), where M is the live-steam con-
addition of heat in open pans. The grainer or sumption, B the total water evaporation, and Z the
open-pan process uses open, rectangular pans number of effects.
with steam-heated immersion coils to evaporate Today, four- or five-stage evaporator installa-
the water in the brine. The resulting grainer salt tions with production capacities of up to 150 t/h
consists of flakes and is used for food and bath of vacuum salt are usual. The largest evaporator
applications where a coarser flake salt product is lines, which use the multiple-effect principle, can
desired. Salt crystals forming on the surface of be found in The Netherlands. The salt factory at
the brine are supported by surface tension. As Harlingen has a design capacity of 1.2 106 t/a
they become heavier, they fall to the bottom of of vacuum salt [71].
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 341
Color
Fig
Figure 8. Multiple-effect evaporation (Source: Evatherm AG, Othmarsingen/CH) a) Crystallizers; b) Preheaters; c) Slurry
tank; d) Centrifuges
To ensure optimal plant efficiency in terms of precipitated. Vapor is withdrawn, scrubbed, and
primary energy consumption, the steam should compressed for reuse in the heater. Crystallized
be generated at high pressure in order to utilize salt is removed from the elutriation leg as a
the energy for power generation by a counter- slurry.
pressure steam turbine or a gas- or steam-turbine Recompression evaporators are more ener-
cogeneration unit. The backpressure steam can gy-efficient than multiple-effect evaporators
be used to heat the evaporation plant. At a smaller but require more expensive electrical power for
evaporation capacity, where utilization of a co- energy input. The compressor can be a radial
generation system is not possible or feasible, the turbo type compressor or industrial blowers
overall efficiency can be improved by thermal connected in series. The development of sin-
vapor recompression with a steam ejector. gle-stage compressors has significantly reduced
costs.
The recompression system is widely used
4.3.4. Mechanical Vapor Recompression where cheap electrical energy is available. A
(MVR) Process [72, 73] thermocompression plant with a steam ejector
instead of a mechanical thermocompressor in-
An MVR plant works like an open heat pump volves less capital expense but higher energy
(Carnot process) in which the vapors are recom- costs. The heat pump in salt works is one of the
pressed up to the pressure level of the heating oldest applications of heat recovery. In Austria,
steam. Vapor-recompression forced-circulation Bavaria, Slovakia, and Switzerland the entire salt
evaporators consist of a crystallizer with one or production is based on MVR technology. The
several heating loops, a compressor, a vapor worlds largest two single-stage sodium chloride
scrubber, and a preheating system (Fig. 9). Feed MVR crystallizers each with an annual salt
brine enters the crystallizer vessel where salt is capacity of 820 000 t are installed in Plaquemine,
342 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
Color
Fig
Figure 9. Mechanical vapor recompression (Source: Evatherm AG, Othmarsingen/CH) a) Crystallizer; b) Compressor;
c) Scrubber; d) Heat exchanger; e) Slurry tank; f) Centrifuge; g) Preheaters; h) Balance tank
Louisiana at the Shintech chlor-alkali electroly- vacuum salt. In principle cold and hot dissolution
sis plant [74]. of the solid salt is possible.
Hybrid systems are also used with multistage The recrystallization process is similar to
and vapor-recompression evaporators [75, 76]. flash-evaporation desalination of seawater or
In combined methods high-pressure steam is a multiflash evaporation plant. In the preferred
passed through backpressure turbines, and the hot-dissolution process the undersaturated re-
exhaust steam heats a multistage evaporation circulation brine becomes saturated with solid
plant. The mechanical power is available for salt at about 108 C and is fed downstream to
compressing the vapors. A large hybrid plant at several flash crystallizers working at different
Varangeville/France consists of a first, single unit pressures. Supersaturation is achieved in the
operated by compression while a second unit vacuum crystallizers by simultaneous evapora-
operates in five-stage evaporation [58]. This tion of water and adiabatic cooling of the brine
plant has a yield of 600 000 t/a, with the follow- feed, and consequently crystallization of salt
ing brine boiling temperatures: MVR 116, 1st starts. The purge from the last crystallizer is
stage 124, 2nd stage 105, 3rd stage 86, 4th stage pumped to preheater columns, where the cold
69, 5th stage 49 C. saturated brine is mixed with the hot vapors
coming from the evaporators. Finally, the
output from the columns is an undersaturated
4.3.5. Recrystallization Process [77] brine at nearly 100 C which goes back to the
saturators. Process heat losses are compensated
The recrystallization process was first introduced by means of booster heaters built into the hot
in the salt industry in 1951 by International Salt brine recirculation pipeline. The heat content
as the Richards process and by Salins du Midi as of the vapor from the last evaporator is lost.
the Pompe a Sel process [78, 79]. It starts with Another thermal concept uses the vapors
rock or solar salt as feed input and ends up with from the last evaporator by mechanical vapor
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 343
Color
Fig
Figure 10. Recrystallization process (Source: Evatherm AG, Othmarsingen/CH) a) Dissolvers; b) Preheaters; c) Clarifier;
d) Crystallizers; e) Cold brine tank; f) Centrifuge; g) Slurry tank
than one revolution the slurry is transformed into Table 8. Typical dried vacuum salt qualitiesa
dry salt. Hot drying reduces the moisture content Process Multiple-effectb MVRb Recrystallizer
of the final product to 0.05% or less. Rotary
coolers or fluidized-bed coolers lower the tem- NaCl (dry basis), % 99.97 99.97 99.98
Moisture 0.05 0.05 0.05
perature of the salt before screening, storage, (120 C, 2 ), %
further processing, and packaging. A salt tem- Moisture 0.10.3 0.10.3 0.10.3
perature of max. 40 C, or better max. 30 C, is (550 C, 1 hr), %
recommended. Directly fired rotary kiln dryers Calcium (ppm) 510 510 40
Magnesium, ppm 0.5 0.5 0.5
are no longer common; they are used only for Potassiumc (ppm) 100 (max. 100 (max. 20
special purposes such as removal of the internal 1000) 1000)
crystal moisture before feeding to cells for mol- Bromidec, ppm 50 (max. 50 (max. 15
ten salt electrolysis (see ! Drying of Solid 250) 250)
Sulfate, ppm 250 250 90
Materials, Chap. 2.). Insolubles, ppm 10 10 < 10
a
Unwashed.
b
With Schweizerhalle brine treatment.
4.3.7. Evaluation of the Different c
Depending on raw brine or raw salt quality.
Processes
The selection of the technology for a new vacu- with a sodium chloride content of at least
um salt plant must consider the following criteria 99.95%, whereby recrystallized salt is character-
in particular: ized by a low sulfate content of ca. 100 ppm and
the salts from the multiple effect and mechanical
. Availability of raw materials (brine, raw salt) vapor recompression processes are characterized
. Impurities of the raw material by the low calcium content of less than 10 ppm.
. Availability and energy costs (power, steam, Typical analyses of salt produced by evaporation
primary energy) of crude and purified brines are given in Table 8.
. Water situation (quantity and quality) The multiple-effect process and recrystalliza-
tion require considerable amounts of cooling
The multiple-effect process is frequently em- water (20 m3/t of salt), which are taken from
ployed in combination with an oil- or gas-fired open or closed cooling-water circuits.
co-generation plant. Both the steam produced The different evaporation systems are charac-
and the electric power generated are used for the terized by specific energy consumptions that are
evaporation. The co-generation unit is driven in the focus of the cost management of salt
according to the steam demand of the evapora- factories (Table 9).
tion plant. The surplus electric energy is deliv- Three types of evaporators are used in general.
ered to the public grid. Mechanical vapor recom- The simplest type is a flash evaporator with
pression does not presuppose the operation of its forced circulation, but without heaters. This type
own power station. Normally cheap electric is used for recrystallization and for the utilization
energy, e.g., from hydropower stations, is pur- of hot mother liquor from MVR plants. Most
chased. The small steam demand for plant start- frequently evaporators with forced circulation
up, adjusting purposes, and salt drying is pro- and heaters in the brine circuit are used. Both
duced in a low-pressure steam boiler. evaporator types supply die-shaped crystals with
Advantages of the recrystallization procedure a mean grain size of 450 mm. With increasing
are the dispensation with classical chemical brine grain size the salt grains are rounded off. The
purification and the possibility to use raw salts Oslo evaporator delivers coarse grains of lens to
with high calcium sulfate contents. The proce- spherical shape ca. 12 mm in size. In this crys-
dure has an almost neutral water balance and tallizer type circulation brine and fresh brine are
therefore it can also be used in water-poor regions evaporated after heating in the heater. Crystal
for production of vacuum salt from rock salts and growth occurs in supersaturated brine, which
solar salts. The increased investment expenditure flows through the central tube into the crystallizer
compared to the other processes is disadvanta- and from there from below up through the crystal
geous. All three procedures supply a salt quality bed (Fig. 11).
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 345
Five-stage effect (150 t/h) live steam, 4.5 bar (saturated) 750 kg/t
electrical energy 25 kWh/t
MVR (30 t/h) live steam, 3.5 bar (saturated) 1000 kg/h (for startup)
electrical energy 155 kWh/t
Seven-stage recrystallizer (20 t/h) live steam, 2 bar (saturated) 450 kg/t
electrical energy 45 kWh/t
Evaporation in open pans produces the larg- the heaters consist of Monel or Inconel 625. The
est, hollow, pyramidal crystals with an edge tubes in the heaters are manufactured from
length of up to 24 mm. titanium grade 12 [81].
Saline solutions and moist, saline air lead to
considerable corrosion damage in salt works if
unsuitable materials are used. Corrosion is 4.3.8. Vacuum Salt based on Seawater as
strongly dependent on temperature, pH, and the Raw Material
oxygen content of the brine. The evaporator
bodies are mostly manufactured from Monel or Processes that can be used in the production of
Monel-plated steel. Also evaporators made of vacuum salt from seawater are shown in
titanium, Inconel 625, Duplex steel, and rubber- Figure 12.
lined steel are in use. The tube plates of The conventional process includes the use of a
solar saline pond to produce the crude salt, which
is recrystallized in a vacuum plant using vacuum-
cooling or vacuum-evaporation crystallization.
In regions of less favorable climatic condi-
tions, it can be advantageous to use the solar pond
for producing concentrated brine instead of crude
salt. This brine is processed to vacuum salt in
a subsequently arranged vacuum-evaporation
crystallization plant. This ensures production
even under unfavorable weather conditions.
In arid regions and regions unsuitable for solar
ponds and without rock salt deposits, electrodi-
alysis of seawater is an alternative preconcen-
tration process. Because of its higher CaSO4
concentration, concentrated seawater poses some
difficulties. Vacuum salt is produced in a down-
stream vacuum-evaporation crystallization plant
[82].
Electrodialysis with ion-exchange mem-
branes is superseding the traditional methods
(channeled and sloping salt-terrace methods)
for seawater concentration in Japan, Korea,
and Taiwan. Electrodialysis concentrates sea-
water from 3.5 to 1520% of salinity before it
enters multiple-effect plants for the salt produc-
tion [83].
Besides electrodialysis, reverse osmosis can
also act as a preconcentration process, although
Figure 11. Oslo evaporator a) Heat exchanger; b) Vacuum the degrees of concentration that can be obtained
evaporator; c) Down pipe; d) Crystallizer; e) Bed of crystals are lower than with electrodialysis. This process
346 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
is also followed by vacuum-evaporation tal protection. This applies to the vast majority of
crystallization. salt fields in the Mediterranean basin, on the west
In Poland reverse osmosis is also used as a coast of Australia, and Guerrero Negro, the
first stage for the concentration of salty coal- worlds largest salt field in Mexico at the south-
mine water to an NaCl concentration of ernmost tip of Baja California.
8090 g/L. The saturated brine for the MVR The term solar salt refers to crystalline salt
crystallizer is then made in a falling-film which is obtained from seawater, salt lakes, and
evaporator [84]. brine by evaporation and crystallization with
The procedures of electrodialysis and reverse solar energy. For salt which is extracted from
osmosis have not found wide application in the seawater the term sea salt is also used.
salt industry. They remain restricted to special
cases, since they involve high energy costs.
Crystallization plants for salt should be always 4.4.1. Production from Sea Water
fed, if possible, with concentrated brine or crude
salt in order to avoid expensive evaporation of The water of the seas and oceans contains all the
water, without simultaneous production of crys- known elements, most of them present in small
tallized salt (blind evaporation). amounts [85]. Sodium chloride is the most im-
portant compound in terms of concentration,
averaging 28 g/L.
4.4. Production of Solar Salt Sea water also contains significant amounts of
magnesium, sulfur, and calcium, the other im-
Introduction. In his Historia Naturalis, portant sea-water-based process being the pro-
PLINY THE ELDER already referred to the technique duction of magnesium compounds.
of producing salt by the natural evaporation of The salinity (grams of salt per kilogram of
seawater. Even today, this method of exploiting seawater) of ocean and seawater varies with
the oceans, seas, salt lakes, and chotts is still location and depth [86]. This dispersion, due
widespread. It is practiced in nearly all regions of either to dilution by precipitation or drainage
the world where climate and topography allow. pattern, or to local overconcentration caused by
While some methods have changed very little, strong evaporation, is more evident in inland
such as those of the Paludiers working the salt seas.
marshes along the Atlantic coast of Portugal and The average salinity is 3.5%, corresponding to
France, other modern methods are now applied, a relative density of 1.026. It reaches 4.1% in the
combining productivity with strict environmen- Red Sea and is only 3% in the Baltic Sea.
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 347
South of
France Australia Indonesia Taiwan
NaCl 77
MgCl2 10
MgSO4 6 Figure 13. Evaporation coefficient a as a function of density
CaSO4 3.9
KCl 2
10 cm. At other latitudes, layers may be over 4.4.1.2. Production Stages in a Modern Salt
20 cm thick. Field
The Margherita di Savoia saltworks, located
in Apulia (Southern Italy), since the mid-1980s Figure 15 shows the main components of the
has used a new method of deposited salt produc- infrastructure of a modern salt field, from seawa-
tion, known as long-term production and de- ter intake to the production facilities for proces-
signed to significantly reduce operating costs. sing and packaging the salt.
In this process, the salt produced during the The production process features the following
salt-extraction campaign (May to September) is stages:
not collected, but left as a deposit on the
bottom of the saltpans. This process is repeated 1. Seawater pumping: the salt field is supplied
for 45 years. At the end of the cycle, there are with seawater by a pumping station. In some
several superimposed layers, with a total thick- parts of the world, such as Australia, the salt
ness that varies from 50 to 60 cm. The saltpans fields are gravity fed with seawater in accor-
are harvested on a six-monthly basis using the dance with the tides. Several million cubic
big beam harvesting method. In fact, the meters of seawater are required annually to
thickness of the crust of salt deposited in the salt produce several hundred thousand tonnes of
pans allows a certain number of diggers (three or sodium chloride (the Aigues-Mortes salt field
four) to descend directly into the salt pan and in France pumps 50 106 m3 of seawater for
form roads of salt (the so-called big beams). The an average annual output of 400 000 t).
thickness of these roads is twice that of the crust. 2. Concentration of seawater in the ponds: in this
A scraper then compacts the beams, enabling stage, the water flows through shallow ponds
trucks to descend directly into the saltpan for and is allowed to concentrate until approxi-
loading by the diggers. Several advantages have mately 90% of the initial water content has
become apparent by adoption of long-term pro- evaporated. The brines are moved pond to
duction und beam harvesting; in particular the pond by gravity or by pumping as dictated by
harvest is separated from the production phase. the local topography.
The harvest can therefore be scheduled on the 3. Deposition of NaCl in the crystallizers: for a
basis of market requirements or quieter times of salt field with a single production season
year at the plant, such as March and October [91]. during the year, the crystallizers are first filled
Figure 15. Modern salt field [86] a) Sea water intake; b) Pumping station; c) Dikes; d) Condensers; e) Brine storage tanks;
f ) Crystallizers; g) Bitterns area; h) Washing plant; i) Salt storage areas; j) Packaging plant; k) Dispatch
350 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
with brine kept from the previous year, which Solar Salt Quality. It has been widely rec-
has been protected from rain dilution in deep ognized in the salt community that healthy bio-
storage ponds. A few weeks later, the old logical systems in solar salt works lead to higher
brine is replaced by the new concentrated salt production and better salt quality.
brine leaving the ponds. In solar salt works, salt is harvested from
By the time the relative density of the brine crystallizing ponds as mixture of salt crystals
reaches 1.215 g/L, when NaCl crystals start to and mother liquor (bitterns) containing soluble
form, the brine has already precipitated 80% impurities in high concentrations. During out-
of the calcium sulfate in the form of gypsum. door storage, the content of soluble impurities is
The high-magnesium brine, called bittern, reduced, until it becomes constant after six
because of its bitter taste, is then removed months. This phenomenon is known as natural
before the relative density reaches 1.260 to purification.
avoid codeposition of magnesium salts. The washing process immediately after har-
4. Salt harvesting: in batch-operated salt fields, vesting ensures high salt quality, as it minimizes
salt harvesting begins at the end of the salt the impurity levels and moisture content. The
production period. For continuous salt fields, design of the wash plant and location of the salt
harvesting is performed at regular intervals to stockpiles have an important bearing on the
ensure that the level of the salt does not exceed quality of the end product. Proper salt washing
the operating height of the harvesting ma- improves the color of the salt and removes some
chines. The harvester is generally carried by impurities, both soluble and insoluble. In one
a tractor of the type often used for civil such method, the crude salt is fed into an agitated
engineering projects. The salt is first scooped tank where it is mixed with saturated brine from
off the floor of the crystallizer by a large blade the crystallizers to form a slurry, which is
up to 3.6 m wide pushed along by the tractor. pumped into a screw classifier. The wash liquor
It is then lifted by slotted or bucket conveyors. overflows. The salt then passes through a dewa-
The salt is then evacuated and poured into tering screen for further removal of impurities.
trailers by a conveyor belt. Hydromilling selectively ruptures the salt crys-
5. Transport, washing, and storage: the har- tals in which the impurities are embedded so that
vested salt is loaded onto trucks or tractor- they become exposed to purification [92].
drawn trailers for transport to a washing plant In Mexico a unique process for refining salt
where most of the impurities are removed. was developed [93]. By redissolving high-quali-
Washing removes all solid impurities from ty solar salt and using a salting out process to
the salt (substances insoluble in water) along precipitate out trace amounts of calcium, mag-
with the accompanying bitterns (solutions of nesium, and sulfate, it is possible to produce a
magnesium or potassium compounds). The solar sea salt exceeding 99% purity.
salt is kept in suspension in saturated brine. The best solar salt qualities achieve 99.80%
The saltbrine mixture is then dewatered and NaCl content (Table 11).
centrifuged. The salt travels up an inclined
gantry conveyor and is poured on top of one of
the huge salt stockpiles that are a familiar Table 11. Typical solar salt qualities
feature of salt production sites.
Guerrero Negro, Port Hedland,
6. Processing and packaging: The salt reclaimed Mexico Australia
from the salt stockpile may be washed a (unwashed grade) (washed grade)
second time, which increases the sodium Component [94] [95]
chloride content to 99%. The salt is then NaCl (dry basis), % 98.54* 99.7099.80
generally dried, crushed, and screened, and Moisture, % 1.802.80
anticaking agents are added. Other substances Calcium, % 0.16 0.030.05
Magnesium, % 0.20 0.020.03
added at this stage include iodide or fluoride in Potassium, % 0.010.02
salt for human consumption. The salt is then Sulfate, % 0.68 0.100.15
packaged in various containers (e.g., boxes, Iodine, ppm < 0.5
polyethylene bags), as required by the Insolubles, % 0.07 0.010.03
consumer. *
Washed: average 99.70%.
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 351
Byproducts. In most commercial opera- electricity with gas turbines. By using the resid-
tions, the bittern often is disposed in the sea. ual heat from co-generation the brine from solu-
Where bitterns are present in sufficiently large tion mining caverns is heated to ca. 80 C before
quantities, an adequate market exists and if entering the crystallization ponds. The evapora-
the climate allows, the bitterns can be concen- tion rate at that temperature is ten times higher
trated on a bittern salt field to extract the than at 30 C. As a result, the ponds required are
magnesium bromide, magnesium sulfate, and much smaller than solar evaporation ponds and
even magnesium chloride (! Magnesium Com- the salt layer is much thicker [98].
pounds) [96, 97].
When the salt concentration in the salt
marshes reaches 50 g/L, Artemia salina (brine 4.4.3. Extraction from Salt Lakes
shrimp) starts to develop. This tiny crustacean,
measuring just a few tenths of a millimeter, Evaporation of saline waters over geological
reaches an adult size of 1 cm and weighs approx- time has resulted in terminal lakes of saline
imately 2 mg. Artemia is an important source of waters in many countries of the world. In these
food for fish and crustaceans. Rich in proteins, deposits, concentrations of the salts are much
polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, and caro- higher than in seawater and the recovery of a
tenoids, it is suitable for fresh and seawater range of salts from salt lakes and their processing
aquarium fish. Artemia is also the main source to other products is carried out in commercial
of food for larvae and adult fish and crustaceans operations.
bred in fish farms. In some salt works, like The Great Salt Lake in Utah has a NaCl
Aigues-Mortes in France, Artemia salina is bred content of 15.11%. It does not contain any bro-
as a secondary activity to salt extraction. mide, unlike seawater, and the content of
Glaubers salt is higher than that of magnesium
sulfate. The NaCl concentration in the Dead Sea
4.4.2. Crystallization from Mined Brine is 7.93% (Table 12).
Products from lakes such as the Dead Sea, the
The salinity of brines from solution mining is Salar de Atacama, and the Great Salt Lake, in
much higher than that of seawater. In conse- addition to halite, include magnesium and potas-
quence there is no need for ponds in which the sium salts, bromine, iodine, and boron, lithium,
brine is concentrated. and nitrate salts. These salts, including halite, are
The composition of underground brines varies converted to a number of other chemicals. The
widely. In certain inland underground brines, production of salt from salt lakes occurs in
potassium and magnesium salts are absent and
calcium sulfate is the only constituent other than
sodium chloride. In such cases an 8 m deep brine
Table 12. Comparison of composition of saline waters [99]
pond is used for intermediate brine storage before
entering the crystallization ponds. During six- Component Great Dead Salar de
month intermediate storage gypsum precipitates (g/L) Seawater Salt Lake Sea Atacama
from the brine. Sodium 10.56 80.1 39.15 93.18
One large solar salt production, which starts Potassium 0.38 5.22 7.26 21.95
from mined brine, is located in Torrevieja in Magnesium 1.27 5.19 39.15 12.26
Spain. The saturated brine is pumped via a 52 km Calcium 0.40 NR* 16.86 0.30
Sulfate 2.65 18.74 0.47 23.29
pipe from the Cabeza de Pinoso salt deposit to the Chloride 18.98 139.12 212.40 192.0
1400 ha solar lagoon at the coast of the Mediter- Bicarbonate 0.14 NR 0.22 NR
ranean Sea. Salt is obtained by evaporating the Bromide 65 103 NR 5.12 NR
water of the brine by the combined action of solar Boron 4.6 103 NR 40 103 0.84
Lithium 0.17 103 NR 18 103 1.96
radiation and wind. The estimated annual solar Total 34.38 248.37 320.63 345.78
salt production is 200250 kg/m2. SG** 1.021.04 1.164 1.220 1.226
Some 120 000 t/a of pure NaCl is being pro- *
Not reported.
duced at Sales Monzon in Spain by utilizing the **
Ratio of the weight of the liquor to that of an equal volume of
residual heat from production of 17 MW of water at 4 C.
352 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
similar way to that of seawater by evaporation the production of salt from seawater are de-
with solar energy. scribed in Section 4.3.8.
Food Standard for Food Grade Salt Stan 150 Codex Alimentarius Commission (FAO)
Sodium Chloride Monograph Food Chemicals Food and Nutrition Board, Academy
Codex (FCC) of Sciences
Deicing Standard Specification for Sodium Chloride ASTM-D-632 ASTM
Standard Specification for Sodium Chloride AASHTO-M-143 American Association of State Highway
Transportation Officials
Technische Lieferbedingungen TL-Streu Forschungsgesellschaft fur Straen- und
fur Streustoffe Verkehrswesen e.V. (FGSV), Germany
Specification for Salt for Spreading BS 3247 British Standards Institution (BSI), UK
on Highways
for Winter Maintenance
Chlorure de sodium solide utilise NF P98-180 Association Francaise de Normalisation
comme fondant routier (AFNOR), France
Pharmaceutical Ph. Eur. European Directorate for the Quality
of Medicines & HealthCare
U.S.P. U.S. Phamacopeia Convention
JP Society of Japanese Pharmacopoeia
Water treatment AWWA Standard for Sodium Chloride ANSI/AWWA American National Standards
B200 Institute/American
Water Works Association
Sodium chloride for regeneration EN 973 European Committee for Standardization
of ion exchangers (CEN)
Sodium chloride for on EN 14805 CEN
site electrochlorination using
nonmembrane technology
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 353
handling, storage, and shipment a tendency exists descending order of salt consumption, into other
for the various-sized salt particles to segregate, a food processing, meat packing, canning, baking,
detailed sampling plan is necessary. A method dairy, and grain mill products [100]. Of the
for sampling of food-grade salt for determination millions of tonnes of dry salt produced annually
of sodium chloride is included in the Codex in the world, a very small percentage finds its way
Standard 150 for Food Grade Salt. Many other to dining tables either in commercially processed
salt standards include sampling methods and foods, in home preparations, or in the saltshaker.
methods for chemical analysis and determination
of grading by sieve analysis. An overview of Functional Salts. Salt enjoys unique advan-
official standard methods for chemical analysis is tages as a vehicle for micronutrient fortification
given in Table 14. in most parts of the world in terms of universal
access, uniformity of consumption, and low cost
of fortification (Table 15).
7. Uses Iodine deficiency is one of the worlds most
important nutritional deficiencies, and produces
Salt has more than 14 000 known uses. The salt a spectrum of disordersimpaired cognitive
industry generally classifies salt uses by the five development and function, hypothyroidism, con-
principal use categories and then lumps the re- genital abnormalities, cretinism, and endemic
maining uses in the miscellaneous classification: goiterknown as IDD [101]. These disorders
Table salt and food processing, agriculture, water are endemic in many countries around the world.
treatment, chemical, anti-icing and de-icing, and Iodine deficiency affects one-third of the global
miscellaneous [70]. population, including 260 106 school-age chil-
dren. Iodine deficiency is the result of insufficient
dietary iodine intake. The prevention of IDD is
7.1. Table Salt and Food Processing possible with the addition of iodine to the diet. Of
the various methods used to add iodine to the diet,
Salt is added to food by the food processor or by fortification of salt with iodine for human and
the consumer through free choice, as a flavor animal consumption has been recommended and
enhancer, preservative, binder, fermentation- is implemented worldwide [102, 103].
control additive, texture-control agent, and color Iodine may be added to salt as iodides or
developer. This major category is subdivided, in iodates. Potassium iodide is unstable under con-
354 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
ditions of extreme moisture and temperature, folic acid, help adolescent girls and women of
particularly in an acid environment. Sodium childbearing age prevent anemia and NTDs [105].
carbonate or sodium bicarbonate is added to Iodization is performed by spraying a concen-
increase alkalinity, and sodium thiosulfate or trated solution of sodium or potassium iodide or
dextrose is added to stabilize potassium iodide. iodate over crystalline sodium chloride and thor-
Without a stabilizer, potassium iodide is oxidized ough mixing. This process can be carried out
to iodine and lost by volatilization from the continuously or as a batch operation. Usually
salt. drying is not necessary, since one tonne of salt is
Oral disease is a significant burden to all sprayed with only about one liter of solution.
countries of the world and is the fourth most Fluorides are added to salt is by wet or dry
expensive disease to treat. Although dental methods [108].
health has improved dramatically across many Folic acid is added as dry vitamin to the
of the worlds populations, there are still huge iodized salt. Double fortified salt with 30 ppm
problems with dental caries in many sections of iodine and 8501100 ppm iron contains potassi-
society, particularly the underprivileged. While um iodate and encapsulated ferrous fumarate
steps can be taken to improve general education containing soy stearin, titanium dioxide, hydro-
about oral care and hygiene, research and practi- xypropyl methyl cellulose, and sodium hexam-
cal experience have shown that dental caries can etaphosphate [106].
be prevented most effectively through the estab-
lishment of fluoride programmes. Salt fluori- Nitrited Salt. In cured products, salt acts in
dation should be considered where water fluori- combination with nitrite to effect preservation. It
dation is not feasible for technical, financial, or improves product safety and stability, prevents
sociocultural reasons. botulism, and has positive effects on the sensory
Iron deficiency is one of the top ten most properties (curing color, curing aroma). In most
serious health problems in the modern world. cases a nitrite content of 0.5% in the salt is su-
Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) impairs the mental fficient. The production of iodized meat products
development of over 40% of the developing is possible if the nitrite is added to salt with p-
worlds infants and reduces their chances of otassium iodate.
attending or finishing primary school. IDA de-
creases the health and energy of pregnant women Dendritic Salt. For the production of den-
and contributes to approximately 50 000 deaths dritic vacuum salt, sodium or potassium ferro-
in childbirth each year. IDA is complex because cyanide is added to the brine before the crystal-
it requires increased iron intake at critical stages lization process. This crystal modifier prevents a
of the life cycle: before and during pregnancy and normal crystallization and leads to an open, po-
throughout early childhood. The solution is dou- rous crystalline structure with a large surface.
ble fortified salt with iodine and iron, which is on This salt is readily compactable, has strong a-
stream in India, one of the worlds most iron- dhesive ability, e.g., for seasoning chips, pea-
deficient countries [104]. nuts, and other snacks, and its high adsorption
Folic acid deficiency can lead to neural tube capacity makes it suitable as a carrier for natural
closure defects (NTDs) and anemia. Fortification and artificial flavors. The low density of ca.
of cereal flours with vitamin and mineral pre- 0.7 kg/L and an increased content of ferrocya-
mixes containing folic acid and other essential nide (20 ppm, calculated as potassium ferrocy-
micronutrients, as well as salt fortification with anide) are characteristic of dendritic salt.
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 355
low-sulfate rock salt, evaporated salt, and solar ysis of acidified brine, metallic sodium by the
salt. It takes about 1.75 t of salt to make 1.0 t of electrolysis of a molten salt mixture containing
chlorine and 1.1 t of coproduct caustic soda. 33% sodium chloride and 67% calcium chloride,
These two chemicals are further used to manu- and other downstream chemical operations. It is
facture other materials (Fig. 16). also used with sulfuric acid to produce sodium
The Solvay process is the most widely used sulfate and hydrochloric acid.
method for the production of synthetic soda ash.
The raw materials for the process are captive or
purchased salt in the form of brine and lime- 7.5. De-icing and Anti-icing
stone. Soda ash is made by saturating purified
brine with ammonia gas and then carbonating The second largest use of salt is for highway
the solution with carbon dioxide gas to form a de-icing. Rock salt, solar salt, and in some
sodium bicarbonate precipitate, leaving ammo- cases, evaporated salt are used to maintain
nium chloride in solution. The sodium bicar- traffic safety and mobility during snow and ice
bonate is calcined to soda ash, and the ammoni- conditions in snow belt regions throughout the
um chloride is treated with milk of lime to world. Sodium chloride melts ice at tempera-
recover the ammonia and to produce the by- tures down to its eutectic point of 21.12 C.
product calcium chloride. For de-icing on highways dry salt, nearly satu-
The ammonium chloride coproduction pro- rated brine or prewetted salt is used, depending
cess for synthetic soda ash, is essentially a varia- on the road and weather conditions. Salt is
tion of the conventional Solvay process, where prewetted with 20 to 30% of brine or solutions
instead of treating the ammonium chloride with of calcium and magnesium chloride. In anti-
milk of lime, the ammonium chloride is crystal- icing near 0 C, where salt is very effective,
lized and the mother liquor is recycled. The prior to the beginning of snowfall or frost, brine
process requires the use of solid raw salt. The is sprayed onto the dry or wet pavement, where
ammonium chloride can be used as food additive it prevents a bond forming between the snow
in liquorice and for manufacturing dry batteries. or ice and the pavement. Anti-icing allows
Salt is also used as a feedstock in chemical savings in salt consumption on highways to be
plants that make sodium chlorate by the electrol- achieved.
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 357
Salt is an inexpensive, widely available and quent water evaporation due to changes in tem-
effective ice control agent. However, it becomes perature or air humidity causes recrystallization
less effective as the temperature decreases below of the brine film and the crystals bond together.
about 10 C. At lower temperatures, more salt Also the presence of small quantities of brine
would have to be applied to maintain a higher included in the crystals can contribute to caking.
brine concentration in order to provide the same Especially evaporated salt that exits the salt dryer
degree of melting. at higher temperatures tends to undergo in-
creased caking during cooling in silos. To pre-
vent caking, free-flow additives or anticaking
7.6. Other Industrial Uses agents are added to salt.
Water-insoluble adsorbents such as calcium
Salt is used to fix and standardize dye batches in carbonate, magnesium carbonate, magnesium
the textile industry; it is used in metal processing hydroxide carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, cal-
and secondary aluminum making to remove im- cium silicate, and silicon dioxide are used as
purities; rubber manufacturers use salt to sepa- free-flow additives. These additives are finely
rate rubber from latex; salt is used as a filler and distributed in concentrations of 0.13% in the
grinding agent in pigment and dry-detergent salt. Free-flow additives are not suitable for every
processes; ceramics manufacturers use salt for application since they become suspended in so-
vitrifying the surface of heated clays; soap ma- lution, for example, in a saline solution for
kers separate soap from water and glycerol with vegetable preservation. In deicing salt free-flow
salt; oil and gas drillers use salt in well drilling additives would delay the start of the melting
muds to inhibit fermentation, increase density process.
and to stabilize drilling in rock salt formations; Most effective are water-soluble crystal modi-
hide processors and leather tanners use salt to fiers such as yellow prussiate of soda (YPS,
cure, preserve and tan hides. sodium ferrocyanide decahydrate). These are
Dry-compacted salt cores are used in foun- sprayed as aqueous solutions onto the salt. In
dries for mass production of cast aluminum general 220 ppm of YPS is sufficient to prevent
pistons. Core removal is simple, because the salt caking. For deicing salts which are stored for a
is completely water-soluble. longer time under changing weather conditions,
In the pharmaceutical industry, salt is used for YPS and Prussian blue (ferric ferrocyanide) are
preparation of saline solutions for injection, and most commonly added. Concentrations of YPS
for manufacturing hemodialysis and peritoneal and Prussian blue in deicing salt vary, typically in
dialysis solutions used in kidney machines. Oral the range of 20100 ppm.
rehydration therapy is a simple, cheap, and ef- Alternatives to ferrocyanides include meso-
fective treatment for dehydration associated with tartrate derivatives, for example, an iron complex
diarrhea, particularly gastroenteritis, such as that of meso-tartaric acid, which is used with an
caused by cholera or rotavirus. Oral rehydration approximate concentration of < 40 ppm on salt
solutions (ORS) consist of a solution of salts and [113].
sugars which is taken by mouth. UNICEF
recommends a ORS formulation with 2.6 g/L
sodium chloride, 13.5 g/L anhydrous glucose, 9. Health Aspects
1.5 g/L potassium chloride, 2.9 g/L and triso-
dium citrate dihydrate [112]. Sodium chloride is an essential nutrient for the
normal functioning of the body. It is important
for nerve conduction, muscle contraction, correct
8. Anticaking and Free-Flow osmotic balance of extracellular fluid, and
Additives absorption of other nutrients.
Sodium, together with potassium, is an essen-
Sodium chloride is hygroscopic above 75% rela- tial mineral for regulating body fluid balance.
tive humidity (critical humidity). Therefore, salt Sodium is the most abundant cation in the
crystals can absorb enough moisture during stor- extracellular fluid, and sodium salts account for
age to form a brine film on their surfaces. Subse- more than 90% of the osmotically active solute in
358 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
the plasma and interstitial fluid. Sodium is the Sodium Restriction. The major adverse
principal cation of the plasma. Consequently, effect of increased sodium intake is elevated
sodium load is the major determinant of blood pressure. Higher blood pressure is an
extracellular volume. Chloride is also important acknowledged risk factor for ischaemic heart
in maintaining the fluid balance and is an essential disease, stroke, and renal disease. For groups of
component of the gastric and intestinal secretions. individuals there is strong evidence of a dose-
The total body store of sodium in healthy dependent rise in blood pressure with increased
humans is 100 g or 60 mmol/kg body weight, consumption of sodium as sodium chloride [121].
95% of which is found in the extracellular and 5% Individuals with hypertension, diabetes, and
in the intracellular space. Around one-third is chronic kidney disease, as well as older-age
stored in bound form in bones as a reserve, which persons, tend to be more sensitive to the hyper-
means that around 70% of body sodium, corre- tensive effects of sodium intake. Blood-
sponding to approximately 40 mmol/kg body pressure response to sodium can be modulated
weight, can be quickly exchanged. The sodium by a range of factors that include other compo-
concentration in blood plasma is normally be- nents of the diet (e.g., potassium), relative body
tween 135 and 145 mmol/L, corresponding to weight and level of physical activity, as well
31053335 mg/L [114117]. as fixed factors that include age, gender, and
Renal excretion of sodium in urine is highly genetic factors [122].
regulated, through the complex interaction of Current recommendations of WHO/FAO in-
hormonal, nervous and other systems that dicate that in order to prevent chronic diseases,
enable tight homeostatic control. In this way the population average consumption of salt
urinary sodium excretion can be adjusted over a should be less than 5 g/d [123].
very wide range to achieve sodium balance, Possible risk groups for a purely dietary sodi-
from virtually zero when sodium needs to be um deficiency are pregnant women and elderly
retained in the body, to 1100 mmol/d when people. During pregnancy and breastfeeding
intake is high [118]. (because of the sodium content in human milk),
it is assumed that there is an increased need. It
Sodium Intake. Sodium is added to foods, is suggested that polypathia (a multiplicity of
commonly as sodium chloride, during proces- illnesses) in the elderly is frequently associated
sing, cooking, and immediately prior to con- with an inadequate supply of sodium [124].
sumption, but also in other forms, for example In healthy individuals there may be cases of
as sodium glutamate. The amount of sodium c- higher sodium losses through sweat as a conse-
onsumed, varies widely between populations, quence of intense physical activity or periods
within populations, and within individuals with spent at high temperatures which can lead to a
time. In the Intersalt study of 52 centers in 32 critical nutritional status.
countries, 24-h specimens of urine were collect- A sodium deficiency normally only occurs in
ed from 10 079 men and women 2059 years of conjunction with congenital (e.g., mucoviscido-
age [119]. sis) or acquired diseases as a consequence of
Twenty centers from 12 countries in Western elevated losses if no corresponding substitution
Europe participated, providing data from 3942 occurs [125].
men and women. In this group median sodium Recent discoveries by studying salt and fluid
excretion varied from 135 to 180 mmol/d (equiv- homeostasis in weightlessness indicate that a
alent to 3.14.1 g Na or 7.910.5 g NaCl). so far unknown low-affinity, high-capacity os-
The main source of sodium in the diet is motically inactive sodium storage mechanism
processed foods, and it is estimated that this appears to be present in humans that acts
nondiscretionary consumption accounts for about through sodium/hydrogen exchange on glyco-
7075% of the total intake in most European saminoglycans and might explain the patho-
countries. Naturally occurring sodium in unpro- physiology, e.g., of salt-sensitive hypertension
cessed foods contributes about 1015% of total [126].
sodium intake. Discretionary sources of sodium
added during cooking and at the table make up Toxicity. Sodium chloride is not a hazardous
about 1015% of total intake [120]. material. The FDA regards NaCl as GRAS for its
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 359
intended use as a food additive. Although rare, liquor are purged into caverns or mines as
acute toxicity may be caused by ingestion of 0.5 backfill, into rivers, or into the sea. Some treated
1 g sodium chloride per kilogram body weight. sludge can be used for agricultural applications
Symptoms include vomiting, ulceration of the and dam construction.
gastrointestinal tract, muscle weakness, and re- Solar salt works need a series of connected
nal damage, leading to dehydration, metabolic ponds through which seawater flows, evaporates,
acidosis, and severe peripheral and central neural and deposits sodium chloride. Compared with the
effects. The acute lethal dose for humans is given other production methods, the production of solar
as 0.753 g/kg body weight. salts requires considerably more land. Aigues
Oral toxicity for mammals is reported in Mortes with a total capacity of 1.2 t of sea salt
mg/kg [127]: human, TDLo: 12 357; mouse, uses solar ponds with an area of 10 800 ha [133].
LD50: 4000; rat, LD50: 3000; rabbits, LDLo: The waste product (bittern) from solar salt works
8000. is returned to the sea in diluted form, used to
Aquatic toxicity in mg/L: Pimephales pro- produce fertilizers and other products, or they
mealas (fathead minnow), 69-h LC50: 7650 retained permanently on the property. The vol-
[128]; Daphnia magna (water flea), 48-h EC50: ume of the bittern is about 23% of the volume of
3310 [129]; Myriophyllum spicatum (water mil- the intake seawater. Calcium sulfate, which
foil), phytotoxicity (EC50 for growth): 5962 forms deposits in the last-stage condensers, must
[130]; and for Rana breviceps (frog), NOEC: be periodically scraped off and is retained on the
400 [131]. Further toxicity and ecotoxicity data property. On the other hand, the ecological value
are available from the IUCLID dataset for sodi- of solar salt works stems from their shallow
um chloride [132]. ponds whose floors produce highly suitable food
The ferrocyanides which are used as anticak- for birds, shellfish, and other animals.
ing agents are not toxic; they are chemically
stable metal complexes and completely nontoxic. Energy Consumption. Obviously, less fossil
YPS is approved by the FDA and Joint FAO/ energy is needed for the production of solar salt
WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives than for the extraction of rock salt and the pro-
(JECFA) for use in food-grade salt. duction of evaporated salt. Most of the energy
required to extract sodium chloride from seawa-
ter or brine is free. Seawater is evaporated by the
10. Environmental Aspects power of the sun and wind. The lowest consump-
tion of fossil energy is in traditional solar works,
During rock salt production by blasting attention where the harvesting is performed by the human
must be paid to the gaseous reaction products workforce [134].
(CO, NOx), and to vibration from blasting. Sub- For rock salt energy savings compared with
sidence effects at the surface as consequence of evaporated salt can be up to 70% [135].
underground salt extraction are usually not ob- A German study showed that sodium chloride
served, since this is considered in the static (rock salt) consumes less energy for production
calculation of the extraction plan. Further, the and distribution than other spreading materials
empty chambers are filled with tailings from salt for winter road service (Fig. 17).
dressing or residues from other industries and
waste incinerators. Impact of Salt Use. In highway deicing, salt
Brine production by leaching salt caverns is has been associated with corrosion of motor v-
associated with the risk of land subsidence. Ca- ehicles, bridge decks, unprotected steel struc-
verns must be measured at regular intervals tures, and reinforcement bar and wire, used in
depending on the subsidence rate. Fully grown road construction. Surface runoff, vehicle spray-
caverns must plugged well, filled with saturated ing, and windblown actions also affect roadside
brine. vegetation, soil, and local surface and ground
In evaporated-salt production sludges from water supplies. Although evidence of environ-
chemical brine purification and the purged mental impact of salt has been found during peak
mother liquor enter the environment. Depend- usage, the spring rains and thaws usually dilute
ing on the local situation, the sludges and mother the concentrations of sodium in the area where
360 Sodium Chloride Vol. 33
Color
Fig
Figure 17. Energy consumption for production and distribution of spreading materials on 1000 km (4 km2) of road
[136]
salt was applied. Fortunately, through sensible practically inexhaustible supply of salt. In 2008,
salting, the environmental downside can be mit- world salt production was estimated at 245 106
igated while preserving the social and economic t. Up to 2005, the USA was the leading producer
benefits of proper winter road service. Use of of salt. In 2006, China overtook the USA in salt
road salt is cost-effective and environmentally production with an estimated annual production
acceptable at current levels [137139]. of 12 106 t. In 2008, China accounted for 23%
The electrolysis of salt and use of chlorine of global production, and the USA for 18 %.
bear risks for human health and the environment.
Matters of concern include the use of mercury,
asbestos, chemicals having an ozone-depletion Table 16. Production of sodium chloride in Europe (in 103 t), [143,
144]
potential, and chlorine-containing materials
which are persistent, toxic, and liable to bioac- Country 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008e
cumulate. Regarding the principles of Responsi-
Albania 20 23 25 50 50
ble Care and of Sustainable Development the Austria 641 643 747 750 850
chemical industry is managing this challenge Belarus 437 1 369 1 883 1 900 1 900
[140]. One of the consequences is the phasing Bosnia 325 400 260 260 260
out of mercury cell technology. Bulgaria 1 700 1 800 1 900 1 900 1 900
Croatia 34 30 33 40 40
Water softeners must be regenerated period- Denmark 587 590 600 600 600
ically with salt and the resulting discharge France 6 823 7 894 7 612 8 448 7 800
stream returns the minerals calcium, magne- Georgia 30 30 30 30 30
sium, sodium and chloride to the environment. Germany 15 054 15 633 18 696 17 470 16 000
Greece 245 126 188 200 200
These require proper management to avoid im- Iceland 4 5 5 5 5
pairing drinking water quality, potential for Italy 3 933 3 943 3 476 3 500 3 500
water reuse, and the efficient functioning of Netherlands 5 564 5 773 5 896 5 900 5 900
home on-site wastewater recycling (septic) sys- Poland 3 493 3 558 4 150 4 000 4 000
Portugal 659 645 737 750 750
tems [141]. Romania 2 308 2 258 2 398 2 400 2 400
Russia 3 170 2 800 2 800 2 800 2 800
Serbia 42 17 33 40 40
11. Economic Aspects Slovakia 122 97 122 110 100
Slovenia 99 128 125 120 125
Spain 3 869 3 893 3 944 3 850 3 850
The world reserves of salt are very large. Eco- Switzerland 452 400 486 575 420
nomic and subeconomic deposits of salt are Turkey 2 116 2 197 2 158 1 750 1 750
substantial in principal salt producing countries. Ukraine 2 287 2 300 4 393 4 800 4 800
United Kingdom 5 800 5 700 5 800 5 800 5 800
The oceans contain an estimated amount of Europe total 59 814 62 252 68 497 68 048 65 870
5 1016 t of mineral salts [142], which is a
Vol. 33 Sodium Chloride 361
Table 18. Global consumption of sodium chloride in major application areas in 2008 and forecast for 2013 (in 106 t) [144]
Chemical production
Chlorine and caustic soda 24.2 3.1 18.8 2.6 3.8 25.3 20.9 98.6 111.5
Sodium carbonate 0.5 0.3 9.7 3.6 2.7 21.6 3.2 41.6 48.6
Sodium chlorate 1.0 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.1 1.7 2.0
Other 1.2 0.2 1.2 2.6 2.9
Total 25.7 3.4 30.1 6.2 6.5 47.2 25.4 144.6 164.9
De-icing 22.9 0 8.0 0.1 0 0.5 1.0 32.5 34.1
Food processing
Slaughterhouses 1.5 0.3 0.7 2.4 2.7
Dairy industry 0.7 0.1 0.4 1.2 1.4
Household salt 0.8 0.1 0.6 1.5 1.6
Bakeries 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.8 0.9
Miscellaneous 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.6
Total food 2.3 2.5 3.7 1.1 2.1 7.6 7.0 26.3 31.7
Water softening 3.5 0.8 1.8 0.2 0.5 0.3 2.0 9.0 10.0
Medicine/chemical/technical use 2.5 1.9 1.3 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.5 7.8 8.8
Mineral fodder blends 1.9 1.9 1.5 0.1 0.8 1.0 2.0 9.2 9.5
Other technical industries 3.6 3.2 2.0 0.1 1.7 0.5 4.1 15.1 17.8
Total 62.5 13.7 48.4 7.8 11.7 57.4 43.0 244.5 276.8
Other major producing countries include Table 16 shows the development of salt pro-
Germany, India, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and duction in Europe, and Table 17 lists world
Brazil. production figures. Breakdown of worldwide
The capacities of the main salt suppliers consumption by end-use is summarized in
worldwide for crystallized salt and salt in brine Table 18.
are as follows (in 106 t, excluding captive use):
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