Sea salt

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Dissolved ions in seawater over 1mmol/L
Concentration of cation in sea water Molarity Concentration of anion in sea water
0.535 Cl-
Na+ 0.459
0.009 SO4
Mg2+ 0.051
Ca2+ 0.009
K+ 0.009
0.002 HCO3-

Seawater contains just about every element in some small quantity. The materials over 1mmol/L is a shorter list.

Character

For seawater and many brines, the order of deposition is:[1]

  1. calcium carbonate
  2. calcium sulfate
  3. sodium chloride
  4. magnesium sulfate
  5. potassium magnesium chloride hexahydrate (KCl•MgCl2•6H2O)
  6. magnesium chloride

Purification

Removal of sulfate and bicarbonate

To remove the 0.011 mol of these, add a small amount soluble calcium. (0.5g/L calcium oxide or 0.75g/L of calcium hydroxide) This will cause calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate to precipitate.

Removal of calcium and magnesium

With Calcium and Magnesium combined for 0.06 mol/L, adding 0.06mol of soluble ash (7-8g/L) should precipitate most of the alkali earth metal content.

(Ca/Mg)Cl2(aq) + (Na/K)2CO3(aq) (Ca/Mg)CO3(s) + 2 (Na/K)Cl(aq)

This leaves sodium/potassium chloride/sulfate/carbonate in solution, which can be more easily separated by crystallization

See Also

References

  1. Hills, John M.; Wood, Frank Osborne (2019) "Salt: Salt Manufacture"
    Encyclopedia Britannica 
    link courtesy Encyclopedia Britannica.