What type of industry is salt in 2022 -Which salt is most used in industry?

Salt is one of the biggest reserves in Pakistan. Pakistan has salt mines in Khewra, Warchalk, and Kalabagh. Khewra being Pakistan’s largest salt mine, and the world’s 2nd largest mine of salt plays an important part in increasing the exports of the country. The overall reserves of salt in Pakistan are over 10 Bn tones and out of which Khewra alone has 6.8 bn tonnes. This is a rough estimation and the reserves could be much more than that. Pakistan has many companies which produce premium quality salt and export it. Industrial salt is also very demanding these days as it has various industrial uses. Further details about the salt industry in Pakistan and industrial salt are mentioned below.

All You Need to Know About Salt Industry

The history of salt in Pakistan goes way back to when it got discovered by Alexander the Great. As he was passing by, his horse began to lick the rocks, and when he noticed they were salt rocks. That is how the salt in the subcontinent got discovered which is now in Pakistan. Salt is a major contributor to raising the exports of the country. Salt is manufactured from 2 sources in Pakistan. The one which all of us know about is through the salt mines. The other method is actually an extraction from the seawater or the saline lakes. The water-locked bodies are a more enriched source of salt than the water because they are denser in salt. 

There are a few companies in Pakistan that are expanding their productions and extracting units, which will make Pakistan the 2nd largest exporter of salt. The Salt industry is getting bigger and bigger because now salt rather than edible salt, other salt products are getting introduced into the market which is creating great influxes. These products are also exported across the globe and people around the world are loving them.

For instance, salt lamps are known to be beneficial for health. They purify the air and radicals emitted from the lamp are known to kill harmful substances from the environment. They are considered best for asthma patients and hypertensive patients as well. Other than that, steak platters made of salt are very much common. Restaurants serving steak on salt platters don’t season the steak while cooking as it gets seasoned when it is served on the salt platter. Lick salt chunks are exported in great numbers from Pakistan and people across the globe loves them. 

Pakistani Edible salt is enriched with lots of minerals. Because of its mineral content, it is eminent around the world. It provides calcium, iron, sodium, magnesium, iodine, and chloride as well.

Industrial Salt Details

We commonly know industrial salt as Sodium Chloride. It is manufactured either from salt mines or extracted from seawater or saline lakes. These salts get purified in the industry and then additives are added to them. They are used for chemical processing, water treatment, de-icing, agriculture, and oil & gas as well. Industrial salt in liquid soup is also used.

Types of Industrial Salt

• Sugar Salt

This salt is called sugar salt because its grains look very similar to those of sugar grain and they are crystalline in appearance which is why it is called sugar salt. It is an important salt in the salt industry and is used in seasonings of steaks and salads as well. It is also used as a topping seasoning in some caramel desserts to add a punch of flavor. 

• Fishery Salt

Fishery salt is also named after its appearance. When the rocks of the salts are added to the machine to be crushed, they are kept almost from 5 to 10 mm in size. They are larger and often appear like walnut pieces. That is why this type of industrial salt is called fishery salt. 

• Pea Salt

This type of salt is also called mesh 90. They are so named because they are the size of the chickpea and that is why they are named pea salt. 

• Powder Salt

When normal salt is refined to powdered salt industrially, it is called powdered salt.

Industrial Uses of the Salt

Here are some of the industrial uses of salt. 

• Chemical Processing

Industrial salt is the raw material for the production of various types of chemicals. For instance, the manufacturing of caustic soda, soda ash, and chlorine requires salt as a raw material. Caustic soda and chlorine are manufactured by the Chlor-alkali industries by the method of electrolysis of industrial-grade salt.

• Water Treatment

In water, salt is used as a water softener. It is a process that removes calcium, and magnesium salts from the water via the ion exchange method and turns the hard water into soft water. Industrial salts are used for resin regeneration, which would improve the performance of the resin as well as the system. Salts of different geometries such as coarse, granulated, or salt pellets are used for these purposes. Industrial salts are used for softening both the drinking water and the swimming water as well. As the demand for soft and clean water is raising, it is creating an influx in the industrial salt industry. 

• De-icing

A salt is a budget-friendly option for de-icing various roads, walkways, runways, and pathways. When the roads get covered with ice, in order to keep the traffic running smoothly, salt is used as a de-icing agent to melt the ice and clear the pathway. De-icing is also creating an influx in the market and providing various profits to the manufacturers. 

• Oil & Gas

In mud, industrial salt is used as an additive, for drilling floods. This mud lubricates and also acts as a coolant for the drilling head. Industrial salt obtained from solar evaporation, vacuum pan evaporation, or conventional mining processes is used for this application.

Wrapping It Up!

industrial salt companies are putting in more effort to level up the quality of salt. Salt manufactured in Pakistan has not only health benefits but the sodium chloride manufactured here is used in various industries around the world as well.