CHAPTER - VI

ARTIFICIAL EVAPORATION OF DIFFERENT BRINES

6.1 Introduction

Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs from the surface

of liquid into the gaseous phase that is not saturated with the evaporating substance.

Evaporation is an essential part of the water cycle and it normally occurs when the

surface of the liquid is exposed. The sun drives evaporation of water from oceans,

lakes, moisture in the soil and other sources of water.

For molecules of a liquid to evaporate, they must have sufficient kinetic

energy to overcome liquid phase intermolecular forces. When only a small proportion

of molecules meet these criteria, the evaporation is low. Since the kinetic energy of a

molecule is proportional to its temperature, evaporation proceeds more quickly at

higher temperatures. As the faster moving molecules escape, the remaining

molecules have lower average kinetic energy and the temperature of the liquid

decreases. The three important parameters which govern evaporation are heat,

atmospheric pressure and air movement.

Evaporation is the chief process involved in the concentration of

weak brine to saturation followed by crystallization in solar salt manufacture. The

process of obtaining common salt and other marine chemicals from the brine is

entirely by gradual evaporation and fractional separation of solids at different

densities. Evaporation is affected by a number of physical factors like vapour

pressure, temperature, wind velocity, humidity, the extent of the surface exposed

156
and salinity.135,136 It is also highly affected by meteorological factors. Because of the

complicated relationship between these factors, it is difficult to assess the relative

importance of each factor and so the combined effect of these factors on the rate of

evaporation is taken into consideration.137

(i) Temperature

The higher the temperature greater is the kinetic energy of the molecules at the

surface and therefore the faster the rate of evaporation. The ideal range of temperature

is between 200C and 45 0C.

(ii) Dissolved substances

The rate of evaporation depend upon the quantities of substances dissolved in

it. More the quantities of the dissolved substances, lesser is the rate of evaporation.138

According to earlier findings, evaporation proceeds with greater difficulty with rise in

salinity.139 As the depth decreases, the rate of evaporation increases despite rise in

salinity where light can penetrate easily into the bottom brine accelerating

evaporation.140

Normally solar salt-works are designated on the basis of their output. They

range in size from 500 tons to 6 million tons per annum.141 The yield potential of an

area depends on the net brine evaporation, intake brine salinity and seepage losses.140

(iii) Intermolecular forces and Surface area

The stronger the forces keeping the molecules together in the liquid state, the

more energy one must get to escape.A substance that has a larger surface area will

evaporate faster, as there are more surface molecules per unit of volume that are

potentially able to escape.

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(iv) Wind velocity

A desirable range of wind speed which aids evaporation is in excess of

1.34m/s142. Usually wind blowing from northeast and northwest directions in India is

very much helpful in increasing the rate of evaporation.

(v) Rainfall

The net evaporation rate in a particular area depends on the total rainfall

during a year. In calculating net evaporation, the expression used is

Net evaporation = Gross evaporation x Evaporation factor - Rainfall

Excessive rainfall makes solar salt production impractical.

(vi) Humidity

The capacity of atmosphere to take up more water vapour from the

evaporating body decreases with an increase in humidity.As humidity increases, the

rate of evaporation dimensionally decreases.

(vii) Absorption of solar energy

Suitable dyes or black sand are used to increase the rate of absorption of solar

energy and thereby increase the evaporation rate. Suitable soil stabilization is

necessary for the open brine condensers and crystallizers to reduce seepage and

increasing their bearing strength for mechanical harvesting of salt crystals. In modern

salt farms, soil is stabilized by blending the soil with salt, gypsum, betonite and lined

with bricks, bituminous plaster and plastic films.

158
The various methods used for concentrating the brine are

1. Solar Evaporation

2. Artificial Evaporation

3. Freezing method.

1. Solar Evaporation

It is the best and cheapest method of manufacturing salt from the brines. In

tropical countries like India where prolonged dry weather exists, manufacture of salt

by solar evaporation is followed and salt of very good quality and quantity has been

produced.137

Brine having density between 3 and 3.5 0 Be is conveyed to the reservoir bed

through channels to store brine, remove suspended impurities and to concentrate the

brine to about 100 Be by solar energy. The reservoir is usually kept at a certain height,

where brine flows under gravity. The brine at 10o Be is again concentrated to 250 Be

brine by solar evaporation by passing it to condenser bed through channels. Due to

evaporation of water from brine, the solution gradually gets concentrated and different

chemical impurities separate out at different concentrations as follows.

At 7.5 0 Be, ferrous ion separates out as ferric oxide.

At 10 0 Be, calcium carbonate precipitates out.

At 12-25 0 Be, gypsum precipitates out.

The brine from the condenser is now passed on to the crystallizer bed, where

common salt crystallizes from 25.40 Be to 300 Be and other chemical impurities also

start separating. The mother liquor which is left-out after the separation of sodium

chloride is the ‘bittern’ and this bittern is having a cluster of chemical compounds.

159
2. Artificial Evaporation

In cold countries, where solar evaporation is impossible on a large scale,

artificial evaporation method is followed. Combination of solar evaporation as well as

artificial evaporation method is normally adopted in European countries like France

and Germany.

In olden days, artificial evaporation was carried out in open pans but now

vacuum pans are used and so it is known as vacuum evaporation methods. In this

method, brine is boiled under reduced pressure in vacuum pans to get cubical grains

of salt.

Brine is first aerated to remove H2S and addition of chloride removes the last

traces of H2S and oxidizes ferrous ion to ferric ion. Then the brine is passed to settling

tanks where it is treated with dilute solution of caustic soda and soda ash to remove

most of calcium, magnesium and ferric ions. Purified brine is pumped to the vacuum

pans where calcium sulphate is removed as a result of counter current flow and

hydraulic washing with brine. The vacuum pan evaporations are usually triple effect

evaporations made of cast iron steel sheets and copper tubes. Salt slurry is

continuously drawn from each evaporator through the salt leg at the bottom. The salt

slurry is then conveyed to a cone shaped tank from where it passes to feed tank for de-

watering and drying. The filtered and partially dried salt from the feeding tanks finally

goes to a rotary drier for final drying. The salt is then conveyed to storage bins, where

it is screened, sized and packed. Free flowing table salts are made by blending 0.5 to

2% magnesium carbonate, hydrated calcium silicate or tricalcium phosphate with the

salt. Iodized salt after blending contains 0.01% potassium iodide, 0.1% sodium

carbonate as stabilizer and also 0.1% sodium thio sulphate.

160
3. Freezing method

Salt is also manufactured by freezing the brine in some countries. Generally

this method is not quite common to produce the maximum quality of salt.

6.2 Materials and methods

In order to study the evaporation of back water, subsoil and sea brines using

artificial pans, brine samples were collected from different salt-pans like

Swamithoppu where back water brine is used, from Puthalam where subsoil brine is

utilized and from Kovalam which uses sea brine for the production of salt.

Ten litres of brine samples were collected from the source stage of different

salt-pans like Swamithoppu, Puthalam and Kovalam separately. The atmospheric

0
temperature in C and the brine density in 0Be were noted. The samples were then

transferred to wide mouth plastic buckets and exposed to sunlight. The buckets were

labelled and the density of different brines and the reduction in volume of the

corresponding brines were recorded daily.

When the density of samples reached 100 Be, gypsum ( CaSO4.2H2O) began to

crystallize and it continued till 250 Be. The gypsum formed from the three different

samples were collected seperately, dried and weighed. Likewise,when the density

began to increase above 250 Be, sodium chloride started to crystallize and it continues

till it reached 29.50 Be. The formed sodium chloride crystals were also collected,

dried and weighed.

The chemical parameters of the formed salt samples during the course of

artificial evaporation were determined using standard procedures.143 A comparative

study on the chemical parameters of salt samples obtained from the natural pans to

161
that of artificial pans were also made. Specimen samples of brine were separated at 50

Be, 10o Be, 150 Be, 200 Be, 250 Be and 30 0 Be during the course of evaporation and

they were also analyzed. Parameters such as temperature of the brine, atmospheric

temperature, pH, Electrical conductivity, percentage of chloride, sulphate, sodium,

potassium, calcium and magnesium were determined using standard procedures.

6.3 Results and discussion

A study on the rate of artificial evaporation using backwater, subsoil and sea

brines was carried out. During the course of evaporation, gypsum gets crystallized

between 160Be and 250Be and sodium chloride crystallized between 250Be and

29.50Be. The formed gypsum and the crystallized sodium chloride were collected

separately, dried and weighed.

The amount of gypsum formed during the evaporation of brines was

28.511gms for the backwater brine, 25.564 gms for subsoil brine and 35.941 gms for

sea brine (Table 6a).

Table 6-a
Yield of salts from artificial pans

Source Volume of Weight of Weight of

brine sample gypsum (gms) Sodium
(litres) Chloride (gms)
Backwater 10 28.511 285.518
(Swamithoppu)

Subsoil brine 10 25.564 293.930

(Puthalam)

Sea Brine 10 35.941 346.870

(Kovalam)

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 Table 6-b
Evaporation rate of backwater brine (Swamithoppu)

Brine Density Brine Volume

(Be0) (litres)
4.5 10.000
5.0 9.450
5.5 7.200
6.0 6.500
6.5 6.200
7.0 5.600
8.0 5.000
8.5 4.550
9.0 4.350
10.0 4.100
11.0 3.600
12.0 3.150
13.0 2.850
13.5 2.700
14.5 2.425
15.0 2.350
16.0 2.150
17.5 1.900
18.5 1.800
20.0 1.625
20.5 1.500
21.0 1.450
21.5 1.400
22.5 1.300
24.0 1.175
25.0 1.075
25.5 0.975
26.0 0.875
27.5 0.400
28.0 0.350
28.5 0.275
30.0 0.200

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 Table 6-c
Evaporation rate of subsoil brine (Puthalam)

Brine Density Brine Volume

4.5 10
5.0 9.100
5.5 6.950
6.5 6.100
7.5 5.350
8.0 4.800
8.5 4.700
9.0 4.500
9.5 4.300
10.0 3.950
10.5 3.800
11.0 3.600
11.5 3.300
13.0 2.825
13.5 2.625
15.0 2.400
15.5 2.300
16.5 2.200
17.0 2.000
17.5 1.950
18.0 1.950
18.5 1.900
19.5 1.725
20.5 1.625
21.0 1.500
22.0 1.450
24.0 1.275
24.5 1.250
25.0 1.050
25.5 0.925
26.0 0.600
26.5 0.550
27.5 0.400
28.0 0.325
30.0 0.200

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 Table 6-d
Evaporation rate of sea brine (Kovalam)

Brine Density Brine Volume

4.5 10
5.0 7.950
5.5 6.800
6.0 5.800
6.5 5.000
7.0 4.750
7.5 4.400
8.0 4.200
8.5 3.950
9.5 3.500
10.0 3.400
10.5 3.100
11.0 2.900
11.5 2.700
13.0 2.400
14.0 2.200
15.0 2.100
15.5 1.950
16.0 1.825
17.5 1.600
19.0 1.450
19.5 1.375
20.0 1.350
21.5 1.225
22.0 1.100
23.5 1.000
25.0 0.925
25.5 0.850
26.0 0.625
26.5 0.475
27.0 0.425
27.5 0.300
28.0 0.250
28.5 0.200
29.0 0.175
30.0 0.150

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 Fig.6.1.a
Evaporation rate of backwater brine (Swamithoppu)




 

       
   
 


Fig.6.2.a
Evaporation rate of subsoil brine (Puthalam)


Fig.6.3.a

Evaporation rate of sea brine (Kovalam)





Table-6e

Physico – chemical parameters of backwater brine at varying



       

 


166
 Fig.6.3.a
Evaporation rate of sea brine (Kovalam)
























        
 


The amount of sodium chloride crystallized was 285.518 gms for the

backwater brine, 293.930 gms for the subsoil brine and 346.870 gms for the sea brine

(Table 6a).This shows that the sea brine had more sodium chloride than the other two

brines as expected.

As evaporation continued, there was a gradual decrease in the volume of brine.

At 30 Be0 , i.e. at bittern stage, the volume of backwater, subsoil and sea brines were

reduced to 200ml, 200ml, and 150ml respectively (Tables 6b, 6c and 6d, Fig 6.1.a,

6.2.a and 6.3.a).

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6.3.1 pH

The pH of all the three different brines were almost similar with varying

densities. As the brine density increased to 10 0 Be, there was a gradual rise in pH. For

backwater brine, the pH was found to be 7.5, for subsoil and sea brines, the values of

pH were 7.6 and 7.4 respectively. When the brine density became 150 Be, backwater

and sea brines had the similar value of 7.6 while that of subsoil brine, it was 7.7. At

200 Be, a small decrease in pH was noted in all the three different brines. Most of the

iron oxide and calcium carbonate gets precipitated before 200 Be and so the reduction

Table-6e
Physico – chemical parameters of backwater brine at varying
densities(Swamithoppu)

Parameters Brine Density (oBe)

5 10 15 20 25 30

Temperature of brine (oC) 28.5 28.5 29 29.4 30 31

Atmospheric temperature (oC) 29 29.5 31 31.7 32 32.3

pH 7.3 7.5 7.6 7.4 7.2 7.1

Electrical conductivity (dsm-1) 48 76 98 103 107 102

Chloride (%) 3.4 5.2 8.1 13.8 18.1 22.5

Sulphate (%) 0.34 0.48 0.83 1.08 1.42 3.58

Calcium (%) 0.04 0.12 0.14 0.08 0.07 0.06

Magnesium (%) 0.34 0.58 0.93 1.47 1.78 3.5

Sodium (%) 0.69 1.25 1.63 1.75 1.89 1.54

Potassium( %) 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.06 0.06 0.08

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 Table-6f

Physico – chemical parameters of subsoil brine at varying densities(Puthalam)

Parameters Brine Density (oBe)

5 10 15 20 25 30

Temperature of brine (oC) 28.5 29 29 29.5 30 32

Atmospheric temperature (oC) 29 29 30.5 31 32 32

pH 7.4 7.6 7.7 7.5 7.3 7.2

Electrical conductivity (dsm-1) 52 74 101 105 108 104

Chloride (%) 3 4.8 8.9 13.6 17.2 21.6

Sulphate (%) 0.38 0.52 0.88 1.14 1.58 3.56

Calcium (%) 0.53 0.13 0.19 0.08 0.06 0.06

Magnesium (%) 0.42 0.73 0.95 1.52 1.85 3.84

Sodium (%) 0.68 1.14 1.52 1.68 1.86 1.5

Potassium( %) 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.06 0.06 0.08

in pH values were observed in all the pans. The pH was 7.4 in backwater brine and

7.6 in subsoil and sea brines. Then at 250 Be, the values of pH decreased even further

and the value was 7.2 for backwater brine, 7.3 for subsoil brine and 7.4 for sea brine.

The minimum values observed at 300Be in all the three different brines were

7.1,7.2 and 7.2 respectively. In general, the pH value increases gradually and once the

brine density reached 20o Be, then a gradual decrease was observed till 30 o Be (Tables

6e,6f and 6g)

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 Table-6g

Physico – chemical parameters of sea brine at varying densities (Kovalam)

Brine Density (oBe)

Parameters
5 10 15 20 25 30

Temperature of brine (oC) 29 30 31 31.5 31.5 32

Atmospheric temperature (oC) 30 31 32 32 32 32

pH 7.3 7.4 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.2

Electrical conductivity (dsm-1) 62 80 102 108 112 106

Chloride (%) 4 5.6 9.4 14.8 18.4 21.4

Sulphate (%) 0.76 1.3 1.74 2.2 2.46 4.96

Calcium (%) 0.04 0.13 0.19 0.07 0.06 0.06

Magnesium (%) 0.28 0.42 0.84 1.34 1.6 2.93

Sodium (%) 0.74 1.29 1.65 1.78 1.94 1.58

Potassium( %) 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.06 0.07 0.08

6.3.2 Electrical Conductivity(dsm-1)

Regarding the electrical conductivity at 50Be, the backwater brine had the

value of 48, subsoil brine had 52 and for sea brine it was 62 dsm-1. The values

increased to 76,74 and 80 dsm-1 at 10 0Be respectively for the three different brines.

When the brine density became 150Be, the values were 98, 101 and 102 dsm-1 and the

values further increased to 103, 105 and 108 dsm-1 at 20 0Be for backwater, subsoil

and sea brines respectively. As the density of the brine gets increased, the electrical

conductivity values also increased and reached the maximum when the brine

density was 250 Be. The maximum electrical conductivity values were recorded for

170
backwater, subsoil and sea brines and were 107, 108 and 112 dsm-1 respectively. This

was due to the fact that as evaporation proceeds, the concentration of various ions

increase and thereby there is an increase in electrical conductivity in all the three

different artificial pans. But a reduction in electrical conductivity value at 30 0 Be

was observed due to the removal of about 70% sodium chloride before 30 0 Be which

led to reduction in the concentration of ions. The electrical conductivity values at 300

Be were 102,104 and 106 dsm-1 for backwater, subsoil and sea brines respectively.

(Tables 6e, 6f and 6g)

6.3.3 Chloride (%)

As the density of brine increased, there was a steady increase in the percentage

of chloride and the maximum value was observed at 300Be. Initially the percentage of

chloride for backwater, subsoil and sea brines were 3.4, 3.0 and 4.0 respectively and

then there was a gradual increase in the values as brine density increased and the

values at 100Be were 5.2, 4.8 and 5.6 for backwater, subsoil and sea brines

respectively. The values increased to 8.1,8.9 and 9.4 at 150Be for the three different

brines and when the density reached 20 0Be, the percentage of chloride further

increased to 13.8, 13.6 and14.8respectively. When the density was 250Be, the values

were 18.1 for backwater,17.2 for subsoil brine and 18.4 for sea brine. The maximum

values of 22.5, 21.6 and 21.4 were observed at 30 0Be for backwater, subsoil and sea

brines respectively. The percentage of chloride at 300Be was found to be minimum in

the sea brine when compared to subsoil and backwater brines and this being a result

of more amount of sodium chloride that got separated before 300 Be i.e. the bittern

stage (Tables 6e, 6f and 6g).

171
6.3.4 Sulphate (%)

The percentage of sulphate showed an increasing trend with increase in the

density of different brines. Maximum values were recorded at 300 Be for all the three

different brines. Despite gypsum got separated before 300 Be, there was a gradual

increase in the sulphate content. This is mainly due to the presence of magnesium

sulphate and potassium sulphate which got separated only after 300 Be.

The percentage of sulphate at 50Be were found to be 0.34, 0.38 and 0.76 for

backwater, subsoil and sea brines respectively. The values gradually increased to

0.48, 0.52 and 1.30 at 100Be for the three different brines. The percentage of

sulphate increased to 0.83, 0.88 and1.74 at 150 Be for backwater, subsoil and sea

brines respectively. At 200 Be, the values observed were 1.08, 1.14 and 2.20 for the

three brines. The percentage of sulphate increased to 1.42, 1.58 and 2.46 for

backwater, subsoil and sea brines at 250 Be. The values gradually increased and

reached a maximum of 3.58, 3.56 and 4.96 at 300Be respectively. Sea brine had the

maximum sulphate content due to the presence of sulphates of magnesium and

potassium. (Tables 6e, 6f and 6g)

6.3.5 Calcium (%)

The percentage of calcium was found to increase with the brine density up to

150 Be and then decreases gradually and the minimum values were observed at 300

Be. This is mainly due to the separation of gypsum before 20 0 Be. The percentage of

calcium was initially observed to be 0.043, 0.053 and 0.043 respectively for

backwater, subsoil and sea brines respectively. The percentage of calcium was found

to be 0.118, 0.130 and 0.126 at 10 0Be for back water, subsoil and sea brines

172
respectively. The values increased to 0.143, 0.193 and 0.188 for the three different

brines at15 0 Be. Then the values were found to decrease gradually and at 20 0 Be, the

values were found to be 0.084 for backwater and subsoil brine and 0.072 for sea brine.

At 250Be, the percentage of calcium was found to be 0.070, 0.062 and 0.063

respectively for the three brines. The values observed at 300 Be were 0.058, 0.058

and 0.056 for the three brines respectively and also the values were almost similar at

300 Be. (Tables 6e,6f and 6g)

6.3.6 Magnesium (%)

The percentage of magnesium for backwater, subsoil and sea brine at 50 Be

were found to be 0.34, 0.42 and 0.28 respectively. At 100 Be, the values observed

were 0.58, 0.73 and 0.42 for the three different brines. The values further increased to

0.93, 0.95 and 0.84 at 150Be.The percentage of magnesium increased to 1.47, 1.52

and 1.34 for the three brines at 200Be. The values were found to be 1.78, 1.85 and

1.60 at 250 Be for backwater, subsoil and sea brines respectively. The maximum

value of 3.50, 3.84 and 2.93 were observed at 300 Be. It was found that the percentage

of magnesium was maximum for subsoil brine and minimum for sea brine. (Tables

6e, 6f and 6g).

6.3.7 Sodium (%)

The percentage of sodium at 50 Be was maximum as expected for sea brine

with a value of 0.74 while that of back water and subsoil brine, the values were 0.69

and 0.68 respectively. The values gradually increases as the density of brine

increased and it continues up to 250 Be. At this stage, as maximum sodium chloride

gets separated, there was a reduction in the values at 300 Be. Initially, the values were

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0.69, 0.68 and 0.74 for backwater, subsoil and sea brine at 50 Be. The values at 100 Be

were found to be 1.25, 1.14 and 1.29 for the three brines. The values then increased to

1.63, 1.52 and 1.65 for the three different brines at 15 0Be. The percentage of sodium

at 200Be was found to be 1.75, 1.68 and 1.78 for the three different brines. But at 250

Be, the values were found to be 1.89, 1.86 and 1.94 for backwater, subsoil and sea

brines respectively. At 300 Be, the values were found to decrease and was recorded as

1.54, 1.50 and 1.58. This high percentage revealed that a considerable amount of

sodium chloride remains in the brine even after the separation of salt. (Tables 6e, 6f

and 6g).

6.3.8 Potassium (%)

The percentage of potassium had a steady increase from 50 Be to 300 Be

because of the reason that potassium salt gets separated only after 300 Be and so a

gradual increase in the values were recorded till 300Be. At 50 Be, the values of

potassium in back water, subsoil and sea brine were observed as 0.024, 0.026 and

0.024 respectively. The values did not differ much in the various densities in all the

three different brines.The values were 0.030 , 0.032 and 0.031 at 100 Be and the

values increased to 0.038, 0.040 and 0.039 at 15 0 Be for the three brines. The

percentage of potassium was found to be 0.058, 0.057 and 0.059 for the three brines at

200 Be. The values observed at 250 Be were 0.062, 0.064 and 0.065 for back water,

subsoil and sea brines respectively. The maximum values of 0.079, 0.078 and 0.076

were recorded at 30 0 Be for back water, subsoil and sea brines respectively. (Tables

6e, 6f and 6g).

174
6.4 Chemical parameters of salt samples from artificial pans

The common salt that was crystallized was collected, dried and weighed

during the artificial evaporation of backwater, subsoil and sea brines and were

subjected to various studies involving the percentage of moisture, insoluble

impurities, calcium sulphate, magnesium sulphate, magnesium chloride and sodium

chloride and the results are presented in table 6 h.

Table-6 h
Chemical parameters of salt samples from artificial pans

Nature of Brine
Chemical parameters
Back Subsoil Sea
water brine brine

Moisture (%) 0.91 0.94 0.96

Insoluble impurities (%) 0.48 0.54 0.54

Calcium sulphate (%) 1.35 1.52 1.4

Magnesium sulphate (%) 1.12 1.32 1.17

Magnesium chloride (%) 1.06 1.08 1.07

Sodium chloride (%) 85.24 87.04 94.52

6.4.1 Moisture (%)

The percentage of moisture in the salt samples of backwater, subsoil and sea

brines were found to be 0.91, 0.94 and 0.96 respectively. The values were almost

similar revealing the fact that the moisture content is independent of the nature of

brines. From the above values, it was clear that the inherent moisture of the three

different salt samples definitely differ.(Table 6h)

175
6.4.2 Insoluble impurities (%)

The percentage of insoluble impurities of the three different salt samples

obtained from backwater, subsoil and sea brines were found to be 0.48, 0.54 and 0.54

respectively. As the values were found to be almost similar, it was known that there

were no remarkable differences in the percentages of insoluble impurities.(Table 6h)

6.4.3 Calcium sulphate (%)

The percentage of calcium sulphate in the salt samples obtained from

backwater, subsoil and sea brines were 1.35, 1.52 and 1.40 respectively. The almost

similar values revealed that the calcium content is somewhat similar in all the

crystallized salt samples. (Table 6h)

6.4.4 Magnesium sulphate (%)

The percentage of magnesium sulphate in the salt samples obtained from

backwater, subsoil and sea brines were 1.12, 1.32 and 1.17 respectively. The values

were almost similar for backwater and sea brine salt samples but was found to be

higher for the salt sample obtained from the subsoil brine. This indicated that the

sample from subsoil brine has more amount of magnesium sulphate. (Table 6h)

6.4.5 Magnesium chloride (%)

The percentage of magnesium chloride in the salt samples collected from

backwater, subsoil and sea brine were 1.06, 1.08 and 1.07 respectively indicating that

all the three different salt samples obtained from the various brines contain almost the

same quantity of magnesium chloride. (Table 6h)

176
6.4.6 Sodium chloride (%)

A vast difference in the percentage of sodium chloride was observed in the salt

samples of the three different brines. The percentage of sodium chloride was found to

be 85.24, 87.04 and 94.52 for the samples of backwater, subsoil and sea brine

respectively. As expected, the percentage of sodium chloride was higher in the sample

from sea brine compared to that of the samples from backwater and subsoil brines.

The study on the chemical parameters of the salt samples obtained from back

water, subsoil and sea brines revealed that the salt sample obtained from sea brine had

higher percentage of sodium chloride than back water and subsoil salt samples while

all the other parameters differ only marginally. (Table 6h)

6.5 Comparison of salt samples of different brines from natural and artificial

pans.

The salt samples obtained from the back water, subsoil and sea brines by

artificial methods were compared with that of the salt samples obtained from the

corresponding natural pans. Backwater brine from Swamithoppu, subsoil brine from

Puthalam and sea brine from Kovalam were collected separately and used for the

study of artificial evaporation. The common salt crystallized from the three different

brines were collected separately, dried and weighed. Simultaneously, the mean value

of the parameters of salt samples obtained from the natural pans of Swamithoppu,

Puthalam and Kovalam were compared with those obtained from that of the

corresponding artificial pans. The various parameters taken into consideration are

percentage of moisture, insoluble impurities, calcium sulphate, magnesium sulphate,

magnesium chloride and sodium chloride and the values are presented in the table 6i.

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6.5.1 Moisture (%)

The percentage of moisture obtained from the artificial pans of three different

brines were found to be almost similar while that obtained from the natural pans were

found to be higher. The values for the three different salt samples obtained from the

artificial pans were found to be 0.91, 0.94 and 0.96 for backwater, subsoil and sea

brines respectively. But the values obtained from natural pans were found to be 1.78 ,

1.82 and 1.97 for back water, subsoil and sea brines respectively. The higher value

recorded for the salt samples from the natural pans was mainly due to storage of salt

in heaps which could lock and inherent the moisture (Table 6 i).

Table-6 i
Comparison of salt samples from natural and artificial pans.

Natural pans Artificial pans

Back Subsoil Sea Back Subsoil Sea
Parameters
water brine brine water brine brine
Moisture
1.78 1.82 1.97 0.91 0.94 0.96
content (%)
Insoluble
1.26 1.34 1.42 0.48 0.54 0.54
impurities (%)
Calcium
1.30 1.48 1.42 1.35 1.52 1.40
sulphate (%)
Magnesium
1.10 1.29 1.14 1.12 1.32 1.17
sulphate(%)
Magnesium
1.04 1.10 1.07 1.06 1.08 1.07
chloride(%)
Sodium
87.1 88.2 92.39 85.24 87.04 94.52
chloride(%)

6.5.2 Insoluble impurities (%)

The percentage of insoluble impurities for the salt samples of artificial pans

were found to be almost similar with the values of 0.48, 0.54 and 0.54 for back water,

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subsoil and sea brines respectively. But higher values were observed for the samples

collected from natural pans and the values were found to be 1.26, 1.34 and 1.42 for

backwater, subsoil and sea brine samples respectively. As artificial evaporation was

performed in small buckets having lesser area of exposure, the contamination by

dusty particles was found to be lesser. On the other hand, in natural pans, strong dusty

winds could load impurities in the pans which is impossible to prevent as the area is

highly vast and exposed. (Table 6 i)

6.5.3 Calcium sulphate (%)

The percentage of calcium sulphate in the salt samples from the artificial

pans were found to be 1.35, 1.52 and 1.40 for backwater, subsoil and sea brines

respectively which were almost similar to those obtained from that of the samples

from natural pans and the values recorded were 1.30, 1.48 and 1.42 for backwater,

subsoil and sea brine samples respectively. So, it was clear that the percentage of

calcium sulphate was unaffected despite the method of salt production gets

varied.(Table 6 i)

6.5.4 Magnesium sulphate (%)

The percentage of magnesium sulphate observed for the samples of natural

pans as well as artificial pans did not differ much. The values for the samples from

artificial pans were 1.12, 1.32 and 1.17 for backwater, subsoil and sea brine samples

respectively whereas the values for that of the samples from natural pans were 1.10,

1.29 and 1.14 for backwater, subsoil and sea brine samples respectively. This showed

that the percentage of magnesium sulphate is not at all affected by the different

methods of salt making. (Table 6 i)

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6.5.5 Magnesium chloride (%)

The percentage of magnesium chloride for the salt samples obtained from

natural and artificial pans were also found to be almost similar. In the samples of

artificial pans, the values observed were 1.06, 1.08 and 1.07 for backwater, subsoil

and sea brine samples respectively. But in the case of natural pans, the values were

found to be 1.04, 1.10 and 1.07 for backwater, subsoil and sea brines respectively

which showed that the percentage of magnesium chloride is unaltered by the method

in which salt is being made.(Table 6 i)

6.5.6 Sodium chloride (%)

The percentage of sodium chloride determined for the salt samples from

artificial pans were found to be 85.24, 87.04 and 94.52 for back water, subsoil and sea

brine samples respectively. The values observed for that of the samples from natural

pans were 87.10, 88.20 and 92.39 for back water, subsoil and sea brine samples

respectively. Among the different pans, as expected the sea brine sample had the

maximum values of sodium chloride when compared to back water and subsoil

samples. (Table 6 i)

From the above, it was observed that the parameters like percentage of

calcium sulphate, magnesium sulphate, magnesium chloride and sodium chloride for

the samples from back water, subsoil and sea brines were almost similar, irrespective

of the mode of evaporation. The study unfolds the fact that the percentage of moisture

content and insoluble impurities of the salt samples from natural and artificial pans

only show a marked difference and is also because of the mode of evaporation.

180
 PLATE SHOWING ARTIFICIAL PANS

PLATE SHOWING CRYSTALLIZATION OF SODIUM CHLORIDE

IN ARTIFICIAL PANS

181
PLATE SHOWING GYPSUM COLLECTED FROM ARTIFICIAL PANS

SWAMITHOPPU PUTHALAM KOVALAM

PLATE SHOWING GYPSUM COLLECTED FROM ARTIFICIAL PANS

SWAMITHOPPU PUTHALAM KOVALAM

PLATE SHOWING SODIUM CHLORIDE FROM ARTIFICIAL PANS

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