Whats the biggest use of salt in brine?
Salt: Leading Chemical Feedstock Salt is the feedstock of the chlor-alkali industy (see these great graphics illustrating the “chlorine tree” ( 1 2 ) and used for the manufacture of chlorine ( 1 2 ) caustic soda and many other industrial and inorganic chemicals, and allied products. Chemical production is a major market for salt. During 1996, the most recent year for which data are available, 22.4 million metric tons of salt (NaCl) were consumed by the chemical industry. The chemical industry is the largest single user of salt (dry salt and salt in brine) in the United States, representing about 42% of total salt consumption during 1996. More than 88% of the salt used for chemical manufacture was salt in brine, which is produced by solution mining underground halite deposits. This “captive brine” is produced by chemical companies solely for use in making their products. The remaining 12% (2.6 million metric tons) was “dry” salt produced by rock salt mining, solar evaporation, and mecha
