Salt, the white and flawless crystal, has long become an indispensable condiment in our lives. Whether it's cooking delicacies or pickling delicacies, it plays a pivotal role. But have you ever wondered how this seemingly ordinary salt was born? What kind of natural mysteries and industrial wisdom are hidden behind it? This article will take you into the world of salt and uncover its mysteries together.
1. Overview of answers
Salt is mainly composed of chlorine and sodium, and its production methods are varied, which can be roughly divided into two categories: natural evaporation and industrial processing. The natural evaporation method mainly relies on salt water in natural salt lakes or salt wells, which naturally evaporates and crystallizes into salt under the action of sunlight and wind. The industrial system is made by manually extracting the salt in salt ore or seawater, and then evaporating, crystallizing, drying and other processes.
2. Natural evaporation method
Natural salt lakes and salt wells
In the long geological time of the earth, lakes in some areas have gradually evolved into salt lakes due to their special geographical environment. These salt lakes are rich in salt and are important for natural evaporation to produce salt**. In addition, salt wells exist in some areas, and the brine in these salt wells is also rich in salt.
Natural evaporation process
In salt lakes or salt wells, the brine gradually evaporates under the combined action of sunlight and wind. As the water evaporates, the salt concentration in the brine gradually increases, and finally it reaches a saturated state. At this point, the salts begin to crystallize and precipitate, forming our common salt crystals.
Harvesting and processing
When salt crystals accumulate to a certain extent, people can collect them. The collected salt crystals usually need to go through simple processing, such as removing impurities, screening, etc., and finally obtain white and flawless edible salt.
3. Industrial law
Extract salt
The first step in the industrial process is to extract salt from salt mines or seawater. For salt mines, people usually use excavation to mine the ore body, and then extract salt through crushing, dissolution and other processes. In the case of seawater, the water is removed by evaporation, leaving behind concentrated salt.
Evaporation and crystallization
The extracted salt solution needs to be further evaporated to concentrate the salts. This process is usually done in an evaporation pond and uses high temperatures and low pressure conditions to accelerate the evaporation of water. With the continuous evaporation of water, the salt concentration gradually increases, and finally reaches a saturated state and begins to crystallize and precipitate.
Crystallization and drying
The precipitated salt crystals require further crystallization treatment to improve purity. This is usually achieved by controlling crystallization conditions such as temperature, pressure, etc. The crystallized salt crystals also need to be dried to remove residual moisture and impurities.
Screening & Packaging
After the dried salt crystals are screened to remove particles and impurities that do not meet the requirements, they can be packaged. The packaging process needs to ensure the hygiene and safety of the product in order to finally enter the market.
Fourth, the types and uses of salt
According to different production methods and **, salt can be divided into various types such as sea salt, rock salt, and well salt. They are basically the same in terms of chemical composition, but there are certain differences in trace element content, taste, etc. In addition to being used as a condiment, salt is also widely used in food processing, chemical industry, medicine and other fields. For example, in food processing, salt can be used for pickling, seasoning, preservation, etc.; In the chemical industry, salt can be used as a raw material to produce chlorine, caustic soda and other important chemicals; In the field of medicine, salt also has certain medicinal value, such as for the preparation of normal saline.
5. Summary and outlook
The process of making salt contains not only the miraculous power of nature, but also the wisdom and diligence of human beings. From natural salt lakes to industrial production methods, the birth of salt has gone through a long and complex process. Nowadays, with the continuous progress and innovation of science and technology, the salt production process is also constantly optimized and improved, providing us with more high-quality and diversified salt products. In the future, with the improvement of environmental awareness and the rational use of resources, the production of salt will pay more attention to sustainable development and green production, and contribute more to human health and quality of life.