The essential components of rock salt, sodium and chlorine are essential elements for the operation of a large number of modern industries.
In a previous article we landed on very important uses: rock salt for deicing and common uses.
Rock salt is used in a number of processes for multiple applications, not only as a preservative but also as raw material or as a participant for proper working of facilities.
The industry that consumes the largest amount of rock salt is by far the chemical industry. Obtaining chlorine and caustic soda is needed before using it in multiple applications or industrial products.
The textile and tanning industries need it in brine to heal and soften the tissues and standardize the process batch. One of the largest consumers of rock salt is obviously the food industry for subsectors such as dressings and baked goods, toppings, seasonings, cereals, snacks, meat, cheese and more.
The Pulp and Paper industry uses large amounts of chlorine for bleaching of soda. Due to growing environmental concerns in reducing the use of chlorine, rock salt is increasingly being used as an alternative.
The oil industry applies it on mud during drilling so as to avoid its fermentation processes and increase its density and stability.
When processing aluminum it is necessary to avoid impurities in its manufacturing process, where the use of rock salt is essential.
Amongst other important industrial uses of salt:
Rubber manufacturers use it to separate rubber from latex.
It is used as a filler and grinding agent in pigment and dry-detergent processes
Ceramics manufacturers use it for vitrifying the surface of heated clays
Soap makers separate soap from water and glycerol by using it
