Rock salt - uses

Besides food processing, rock salt is used primarily by the chemical industry for the production of chlorine gas, caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), calcined soda (sodium carbonate), hydrochloric acid, chlorides and other chemicals. Globally, over 60% of the total rock salt production is used up by the chemical industry.

Less important quantities of rock salt are used for oil refining, in textile, tanning, paper and dyeing industries, as well as for the production of pharmaceuticals, beauty products, in metallurgy, agriculture and many other industries.

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Some North American and European countries (including Poland) use rock salt for winter road conditioning.

Curative properties of the salt are used in spas where special graduation towers having beneficial health effects are built.

Abandoned salt mines are sometimes converted to underground spa resorts. Underground trails are offered to tourists, as is the case of “Wieliczka”, “Bochnia” and „Kłodawa” salt mines in Poland.

Specific rock salt properties, such as plasticity and absence of chemical reactions with oil derivatives, make some post-production excavations in salt deposits ideal for use as underground hydrocarbon storage facilities. Commonly the special underground workings (salt caverns) are made for this purpose. Several facilities for underground storage in salt formations are operated in Poland. They are located in both salt stratiform deposits (e.g. Kosakowo) and salt diapirs (e.g. in Góra and Mogilno). This is now the safest and most effective fuel storage method, free of any risks to the environment.

The above mentioned properties make salt formations a good choice for safe underground storage of hazardous wastes, including radioactive wastes.

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Surface transmission infrastructure – “Kosakowo” Underground Gas Storage Facility
Source: PGNiG