PROCESS OF THE

MANUFACTURE OF COMMON
SALT
Members:
-Carlos García García. -Antonio Contreras Rocha.
-Daniel Genez Manjarrez. -Darío Hoyos Caro.
-Marlón Ortega Álvarez.
 Unitary Operation

They are the basis of the chemical industry and the transformation of
materials and can be defined as an area of the process or a team where
materials, inputs or raw materials are incorporated and a certain
function occurs, they are basic activities that are part of the process.
A unitary operation is a basic step in a process. Unitary operations
involve a physical change or chemical transformation, such as
separation, crystallization, evaporation, filtration, polymerization,
isomerization and other reactions.
 Chemical Salt

A salt is a chemical compound formed by cations (positively charged

ions) linked to anions (negatively charged ions) by an ionic bond. They
are the typical product of a chemical reaction between a base and an
acid, where the base provides the cation, and the acid the anion. The
chemical combination between an acid and a hydroxide (base) or an
oxide and a hydronium (acid) causes a salt plus water, which is called
neutralization.
 Common Salt

Common salt or table salt, popularly known as salt, is a type of salt

called sodium chloride (or sodium chloride). There are three types of
common salt, depending on their origin: sea salt and spring salt, which
are obtained by evaporation; the rock salt, which comes from the
mineral extraction of a mineral rock called halite, and the vegetable
salt, which is obtained by concentration, by boiling a grass plant (a
method also used to obtain sugar from another grass plant) It grows in
the Kalahari desert.
 Sodium Chloride (NaCl)

Sodium chloride, common salt or table salt, called in its mineral form as
halite, is a chemical compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride
is one of the salts responsible for the salinity of the ocean and the
extracellular fluid of many organisms.
It is also the largest component of edible salt, commonly used as a
condiment and food preservative. It is an ionic compound formed by a
sodium cation (Na +) and a chloride anion (Cl-), and, as such, can suffer
the characteristic reactions of any of these two ions. Like any other
soluble ionic chloride, it precipitates insoluble chlorides when added to
a solution of an appropriate metal salt.
 PROCESS OF THE MANUFACTURE OF COMMON
SALT

We must take into account that common salt has more than one
manufacturing process, and since there are so many, we have opted for
an industrially common one, which we will analyze thoroughly later,
finally, the other types of manufacturing processes will be reviewed in
smaller measure later.
Now, the industrial process selected for the manufacture of common
salt involves the application of several processes to convert the
seawater solution into crystals and naturally purify them from
impurities that could be harmful to the organism.
The manufacturing process consists of the following subprocesses:
 1. Lagoon crystallization:

The process of obtaining salt in the lagoon is originated by a dissolution

stage of the salt mother layer due to the rains, forming a concentrated
brine (where this is water with a salt concentration higher than 5%
(NaCl) dissolved, there are rivers and salty lakes where there is no life
because of the excess of salt and where the brine is extracted, the brine
can be poisonous for some animals that drink from it).
During the dry season, the water evaporates and precipitation of the
salt crystals occurs on the bed of the lagoon.
 2. Extraction (Harvest):

When a sufficient layer of salt is formed, the surface is scraped and

harvested with the equipment and machinery suitable for the process
(tractors, trucks, harvesters, among others).
 3. Gathering and parking in piles

The salt is collected, that is to say, supplies, grain or other things that
are or may be necessary are gathered in large quantities, outdoors in
large patches on prepared beaches, during a parking period between 12
and 24 months. During this stage, the brine is drained, and the large
amount of impurities present in the harvested salt is reduced in part.
 4. Washing

The salt that comes from the large pits, is washed with a
countercurrent method with a type of brine solution in order to be able
to eliminate the impurities present. From here the salt is taken to a
centrifuge.
 5. Drying

The salt passes from the washing to be centrifuged, and then it is dried
in a fluid bed oven or dryer, which will ensure the elimination of
microorganisms that could affect the quality of the salt itself.
 6. Grinding and Classification

Salt is now milled, usually in roller mills, this is done with the aim of
reaching the desired granulometry (which is the measurement and
grading that takes place of the grains of a sedimentary formation, of
the sedimentary materials, as well as of the soils, for purposes of
analysis), be it coarse salt, fine salt, impalpable salt, in the end it is
classified by the mechanical method to separate two solids formed by
particles of different sizes, the sieving process.
 7. Iodization

It is done by spraying a concentrated solution of Potassium Iodate

(𝐾𝐼𝑂3 ) on a layer of salt, which passes through a spray chamber on a
conveyor belt at high speed. Controls are performed to ensure
adequate levels of Iodine.
This process is very important, since the Iodine is essential for the
healthy development of the brain of the fetus and the small child. Their
lack harms the health of women, as well as economic productivity and
quality of life. Most people need an additional source of iodine, as this
element is found in relatively small amounts in food, this in turn,
recommended by global health organizations.
 8. Packaging

They are usually packed in polyethylene bags or trilaminates, which

allow an optimal conservation of the product.
 Evaporation of a Brine

The first case and the selected one (the one we analyzed previously in
depth step by step), is called by "Evaporation of a Brine", is very
commonly used in the industries for the manufacture of salt. In
addition, to achieve evaporation usually use natural means such as
solar evaporation, or artificial such as cooking in special pans, as we
know, seawater is an inexhaustible source of salt since approximately
2.7% (by weight ) is NaCl, or in other words 78 million metric tons per
cubic kilometer of seawater, which gives this method a cheap and
inexhaustible form of salt.
 Other processes to obtain common salt:
PULVERIZATION OF A MINERAL

Salt is obtained from minerals extracted from salt flats or mines of

medium or small depth. This mineral is called halite and is usually
extracted in two forms: saline mud, here the ore is extracted and
pulverized until the desired appearance is achieved, or water is pumped
and dissolves with the minerals extracting a kind of mud-brine that
then it is dried by evaporation, or in rock-mineral form. The methods
used depend to a large extent on the geological characteristics of the
salt deposits. Salt from mines has been called "white gold" since
ancient times.
 Other processes to obtain common salt:
MANANTIALS

In the case of the springs, if its flow was, water was also introduced or
pumped into it from other flows or pools, in order to increase
production. This operation of evaporation is very common in places
where the climate does not favor natural evaporation. . Some authors
mention that the activity of evaporating the brines and transports using
a single bar container was called: "briquetage de la seille".
 Other processes to obtain common salt:
INDUSTRIAL MEANS

With the advent of the industrial revolution, food preservation systems

will soon be developed through refrigeration and freezing techniques,
and these advances will be developed in the demand for salt for human
consumption. However, other techniques of salt production by means
of vacuum evaporators have appeared.
BLOCK FLOW DIAGRAM
Process Flow Diagram
Process Flow Diagram
 Conclusion

In this work it was possible to know in depth the different components

that are involved in the industrial processing of salt, coming either from
the sea or from the mines; as well as understanding the process in
general of the salt treatment and what happens in each part of the
process using both operations and unit processes to enjoy the salt we
consume daily.
MUCHAS
GRACIAS