What can be cooked from squid: quick and tasty
Salt is by no means the basis of life, but it has long been an important component of it. Once it was even used as money. A person can do without salt if his diet includes various meat products. But society still stubbornly makes a cult out of her. Psychoanalyst E. Jones even wrote about this essay, calling the obsession with this substance sexual. The places where salt is mined in Russia do not experience problems with overproduction even today. And this is even despite the fact that since the end of the 20th century, NaCl has turned from friend to enemy, and the basis of a healthy diet has become the refusal or at least limitation of its consumption.
History of salt production in Russia
The development of sodium chloride deposits began in the Iletsk Zashchita. The salt dome could go 1000 meters deep. In a Russian geographical work dating back to 1672, a deposit is mentioned.More accurate information about this deposit is contained in the records of academician Pallas, who visited it in 1796. Salt was originally mined directly from the surface or small holes were dug. At the end of the 19th century, special pits began to be made, but sewage got there.
Therefore, in 1889, in the Iletsk Defense, a mine was first laid for the extraction of salt. Initially, convicted convicts worked here, who broke out huge blocks with axes in the light. Salt was delivered to the lifting cage with the help of horses raised underground. In 1906, the first case of a mine flooding occurred, because of the chains, most of the convicts could not escape.
Salt types
In the Russian Federation, there are old traditions of NaCl production, since the reserves of this substance are the largest in the world. If we consider the cities where salt is mined in Russia, then we can pay attention to the fact that there are four main stone, evaporated, cage and self-deposited. A special GOST R 51574-2000 has even been developed for this product. mined by quarry or mine, it contains a high percentage of sodium chloride. It contains the minimum amount of impurities and moisture. Evaporator is prepared by evaporation of earth from places where salt is mined in Russia. The cage is produced in a similar way, only the water from the sea or lake is processed. The process usually takes place in specially equipped swimming pools. Self-precipitated salt is naturally deposited to the bottom of certain lakes. The place where salt is mined in Russia by this method is about. Baskunchak.
Cost and grade
How salt is mined largely determines its quality. The higher the grade, the better it was processed and ground. Many people are keen to buy the whitest salt, which is often more expensive. In fact, this is fundamentally wrong. Coarse salt contains more impurities. According to nutritionists, they have a positive effect on the digestive system by reducing the negative effects of sodium chloride itself. Depending on the size of most crystals, five types of salt are distinguished: extra, No. 0 (0.8 mm), No. 1 (1.2 mm), No. 2 (2.5 mm), No. 3 (4 mm). For the prevention of various diseases, potassium, magnesium and iodine can be added to it. The presence of food additives and their concentration are necessarily regulated on the packaging.
NaCL + K
The main field where they are mined in Russia is located in the Perm Territory. Extraction here is easy and cheap. The ores of the Verkhnekamskoye deposit contain about 18% of K 2 O. About 15% of all world reserves are located here. The East Siberian potassium basin remains not fully developed. Experts believe that its deposits are huge (60% of all Russian). Also, salt production in Russia is carried out in the Carpathian basin. It is believed that the mined from the Eltonskoye and Gremyachinskoye fields is of the highest quality.
How salt is mined today
Currently, NaCl is mined mainly by the mine method. Everything underground is illuminated with electricity. Crystals look extraordinarily beautiful in the light of spotlights. Most processes are not performed by humans, but by machines. The mined lumps are loaded onto a conveyor, ground in special mechanical mills, and then delivered to the freight cars to the surface. Salt is still being mined in Russia at the Iletskoye field; about 1.25 tons of products are produced here annually.
The uniqueness of Lake Baskunchak
But salt production in modern Russia is carried out not only by the mine method. For many centuries, a self-precipitated mineral has been collected on Lake Baskunchak. The atmosphere here fascinates many artists, and the directors do not get tired of filming films in these places. The lake is located at the top of a salt mountain, layers of minerals go thousands of meters deep. They began to extract it back in the VIII century, sending the resulting product along the Great Silk Road. Since then, practically nothing has changed, only the production volume has grown to several million tons per year. But Lake Baskunchak is not only an industrial territory, but since 1997 a reserve with an area of 53.7 hectares.
Health benefits and harms
Salt is an essential ingredient that no grocery counter can do without. Therefore, now it is difficult to believe that before it was only available to the upper class. Salt is a part of lymph and blood, but because of its excess, a huge number of diseases can develop: osteoporosis, joint problems, calcium metabolism disorders, increased blood pressure, nephritis and many others.
Normally, a person should receive 5-8 grams per day, but you need to keep in mind that it is also found in meat, fish and other products. A "salt-free" diet is also beneficial for those wishing to lose weight, as this mineral promotes fluid retention in the body. But it is better not to carry out such experiments in the summer, because at this time of the year a significant amount of water is lost, and with it trace elements, which can lead to weakness and rapid fatigue. Thus, salt is, although not the basis of life or a necessary object of worship, but an important element of the metabolic process. And a healthy lifestyle is not a refusal to eat anything, but a balanced diet that includes all the necessary substances.
Man and other living organisms cannot exist without salt. It contains chlorine ions necessary for the production of hydrochloric acid, which is an important component of gastric juice. Salt imbalance can cause various diseases, this also applies to excess salt and its lack in the body.
Salt products used by humans are a multi-species product category, including coarse, fine, lump, iodized, ordinary, sea salt. The most common product is sodium chloride, with which we salt our food. But how is salt obtained?
Ancient ways of mining salt
Previously, people extracted salt from the ash formed after burning some types of plants. Sea water was added to the ash, then the mixture was dried and became a product suitable for salting food.
Over time, this option was replaced by a cage method or pool method, based on the creation of artificial reservoirs on the seashore, where water was poured. After a while, the suspension in the form of sand, clay and other contaminants settled to the bottom, the water was poured into the second reservoir, and after the evaporation of some of the water, a new portion of water was added to it and people were waiting for its complete evaporation. As a result of these actions, a layer of salt was formed at the bottom, which was collected for food and other purposes.
Related materials:
How amber is mined?
On the shore of the pool, the salt mass was piled up in a mountain and left for natural washing. The rains did the job. The self-depositing method is still used, with the only difference that all processes are mechanized, their duration is reduced to a minimum and the volumes obtained are much higher than with manual labor.
Modern mining methods
The property of salt is its precipitation. This process takes place without human help. In nature, it is present in sedimentary rocks in sufficient quantities. Geologists call it rock salt, it really is a rock conglomerate. But if this monolith is influenced by high temperatures and pressure, then it softens, and becomes such in consistency that it can be selected from rocks with salt combines. If the salt layers lie shallow from the surface, then the development is carried out in a quarry way. This method is the lowest cost and is used in salt deposits around the world.
Related materials:
How is coal mined?
Another mining method is used when salt strata occur at a depth from the surface. Its principle is to drill a well and pour water into it to dissolve the salt. The resulting brine is pumped to the surface, then the salt is boiled out of the brine. This method is called vacuum, with its help, finely ground salt of the "Extra" type is obtained.
At the unique, created by nature, Iletsk deposit, rock food table salt is being mined.
The first scientific study of the Iletsk salt was carried out by M.V. Lomonosov, he wrote: “ Iletsk natural salt of all other salts is harder and, when crushed, gets a very white color and does not accept moisture from the air. For such properties, this salt must be preferred to other salts.". Iletskaya salt is a natural crystalline mineral, an environmentally friendly product of the early drying stage of ancient seas. A very long time ago, there was a huge sea on the territory of the Orenburg region, which dried up after many millennia. The result is a very valuable and useful product "Iletskaya salt", consisting of environmentally friendly crystalline minerals more than 270 million years old. The salt contains biologically active macro- and microelements in a balanced ratio. Salt Iletskaya was recognized as the best in the world and was awarded the European Gold Prize at an exhibition in Paris in 1996.
The Iletsk rock salt deposit is a salt dome with a salt core brought to the surface. In the horizontal section, the salt body has a shape close to an ellipse, the dimensions of which, according to geological exploration data, are 160 m along the long axis of 1850 m on the horizon, 825 m along the short axis, 215 m along the long axis of 1920 m on the horizon, and 840 m. To a depth of 600 m, the dimensions of the main deposit increase to 2150 mx 880 m.
Up to 1889 The Iletskoye rock salt deposit was mined in an open pit mine. WITH 1889 on 1926 gg salt was mined underground in " Old camera»At a depth of 140 meters from the surface of the earth. During this time, 60 million poods (or 960 thousand tons of salt) were mined. WITH 1924 year, the excavation of reserves of mine No. 1 was carried out before it was flooded in 1979 year. During its operation, 12 million tons of salt were mined.
WITH 1964 In addition to the developed mine No. 1, the extraction of reserves from mine No. 2 at a depth of 280 meters began. WITH 2004 2008, mining operations began at a depth of 330 meters with recoverable reserves of 20 million tons.
In the post-war years, the construction of a new highly mechanized mine began at the mine. In December 1964, it entered service and is still in operation today.
Currently, the deposit is being developed by mine No. 2, which has an annual capacity of 1,250,000 tons per year. Explored balance reserves - 568 406 000 tons of salt.
Baskunchakskoye field
The basin of Lake Baskunchak represents the western, most deeply submerged wing of the inner Baskunchak depression, located between the northern and southern domes of the Baskunchak salt massif. The formation of the basin began in the Quaternary and continues to this day.
The upper salt deposit, which is the object of the extraction of table salt, is attributed to the modern sediments on Lake Baskunchak. It has the shape of a lens wedging out towards the shores of the lake, fills the entire vast area of the Baskunchak depression and lies directly on the surface of the earth. The salt deposit is composed of cemented halite crystals. The intercrystalline spaces in the deposit are filled with silt and sodium chloride solution, the so-called intercrystalline or bottom brine. Average composition of brine in g / l: K + Na - 104.6; Ca - 7.72; Mg 12.27; HCO 3 - 0.14; SO 4 - 0.98; Cl - 204.45. The top of the deposit is an almost perfectly horizontal plane.
The process of formation of the Baskunchak salt deposit cannot be considered complete. Salt planting in the lake continues. This is facilitated by the continuous sagging of the basin, its drainlessness, active feeding by underground and surface waters carrying sodium chloride in a sufficiently large amount, a hot and dry climate that provides an excess of evaporation over atmospheric precipitation, which is one of the main conditions for the deposition of salts from lake brines. The continuous release of sodium chloride into the solid phase determines the amazing ability of the deposit to replenish reserves as they are developed, which ultimately characterizes the natural resources of table salt as inexhaustible.
The technological scheme of salt extraction includes the processes of formation destruction, collection of destroyed salt, beneficiation, dehydration, loading and transportation. All processes, except for transport, are combined into a single production line and are carried out using a salt mining combine mounted on a railway platform with an autonomous power supply.
The development of the salt layer by the miner is carried out by successive runs. After the entry, a trench (breakout) is formed, filled with brine. To reduce the loss of destroyed salt and ensure normal conditions for the suction of salt pulp, pillars with a width of 0.15-0.20 m are left between the trenches.
After the salt is excavated in one trench to the full depth, they move to the next trench, for which the railway tracks are moved to a step corresponding to the width of the entry of the salt-combining machine and the inter-trench pillar.
Usolskoye field
Usolskoe rock salt deposit (eastern part), which is part of the vast Angara-Lena basin, covers the territory of modern river basins of the upper and middle reaches of the river. Angara, headwaters of the river. Lena and Lower Tunguska.
In the geological structure, the Usolskoye field is composed of the Lower Cambrian, Jurassic and Quaternary deposits, which are represented by the Usolskaya, Belskaya, Budayskaya and Angarskaya suites. The Usolskaya Formation is the main production target for the Usolye CDPS and is represented by rock salt layers, the thickness of which ranges from 11.5 m to 84.8 m. Salt strata occur in the Usolskaya suite in the range of 880-1400m.
The history of the development of salt extraction technology at the Usolskoye deposit is more than three hundred years old. So, in 1669, salt mines were formed in Eastern Siberia by Anisim Mikhalev. Until the end of the 17th century, several owners changed at the salt factory, it was alternately owned by merchants, then princes, then a man's monastery.
The prime cost of the final product in those years was very high, the productivity of the salt breweries was extremely low. The brines had a low salt concentration, about 9-12%. They were obtained from the first well drilled to a depth of 190 meters. Until 1862, salt production was carried out in 8 black brews, located in a chaotic manner, until the labor of workers was recognized by the manager of the plant Tarasov as harmful and "uncomfortable for health."
The path to improving expensive and complex technologies for the production of evaporated salt was long and arduous. Specialists were sent to Eastern Siberia, to the Usolsk springs, with the aim of "establishing more optimal methods of salt production." So, in 1875 the Ministry of Finance sent a mining engineer L. Pershke to get acquainted with the state of affairs at the Usolsk salt-making plant, from whom many rationalization proposals were received to improve the technology. It was he who came up with the idea of re-saturation of brine in cooling towers, which was used in 1910, as a result, the salt content in them reached 15-18%.
The first well, which produced a saturated brine, was drilled in 1924, its depth was 692 meters. But she also exposed only the top layer of salt.
At present, brines are being extracted in the eastern section of the Usolskoye field, located on the left bank of the river. Angara in close proximity to Usolye-Sibirskoye, Irkutsk region, adjoining it from the northwest.
The deposit's reserves today amount to more than 4 billion tons of salt; it is one of the largest in the country.
Field location
However, salt is not only a cooking ingredient, but also a valuable ingredient in a large number of industries.
Salt mining is a large production segment that can be put on a par with the extraction of minerals such as coal and oil.
Where does the salt come from?
In ancient times, salt was mined by soaking plants in sea water, and then the plants were burned at the stake, and the resulting ash was used as a seasoning.
Later, people began to evaporate, boil seawater to obtain a dry residue. This is where the name table salt comes from.
In the south of Russia there are many salt pans that were built in the VI century.
In the modern world, salt is mined industrially:
- Salt Mine Mining - Rock Salt
- Basin mining - sea salt
- Quarry Mining - Salt Lakes and Quarries
- Vacuum extraction
The main reserves of salt
Large reserves of salt are concentrated underground - it is from them that groundwater flushes dissolving salt, and feeds its seas and oceans
They can be found in the North German and Dnieper-Donetsk depressions, in the Caspian region, etc. Many salt mines use powerful electric excavators, cutters, self-propelled drilling rigs, roadheaders (the most reliable mining equipment) and electric locomotives.
For the extraction of rock salt, a salt mine is being built up to a depth of 5 km. and the development of the salt reservoir is underway
More than 25 million years ago, major large salt deposits were formed. These deposits are located in the Caspian lowland, in the Urals and in the Donbass region. For example, salt layers, the thickness of which is 50 meters, can be found at the Artyomovskoye field (Donbass). It is in this zone that the salt production is one of the largest in the world. And after the extraction of salt, high and spacious caves begin to form underground, which are very reminiscent of fabulous crystal halls.
A large amount of salt is extracted from the seas and salt lakes - in the salt pans
Types of mined salt
Basically, all mined salt has a large amount of impurities
- In sea salt it is organic
- In stone mineral deposits
Therefore, the initially mined salt is technical - gallite
However, during the extraction, a unique technological process can be used, which makes it possible to extract high quality salt - this is vacuum extraction.
Fresh water is pumped into the thickness of the salt layer, which lies underground, using wells that are drilled to the place of salt occurrence (salt cave or layer). As a result of the water supply, the salt dissolves, and the brine is pumped upward. The brine is cleaned of impurities, and then sent to the chambers, in which a vacuum (reduced pressure) is created. Under low pressure conditions, the brine starts to boil at a low temperature. The water evaporates and the salt crystals begin to precipitate. The concentrated salt solution is separated from the water using a centrifuge. And thus, table salt is mined, which has a fine grinding, known to us as "Extra"
This produces a salt of the "Extra" class
Salt is an essential component for water treatment systems,
Modern society is so accustomed to the fact that you can buy salt completely freely, and its cost is so imperceptible to the family budget that it takes this fact for granted. But quite recently, only the most prosperous people had salt on the table, since its production was distinguished by its extraordinary laboriousness and cost.
Salt is mined in various parts of the world. For example, salt deposits are being developed not only in Russia, but also in India, Iraq, Mexico, France, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, etc. With the development of the technological process, the extraction of this substance has become much easier, but not in all countries. Thus, a number of countries still practice traditional mining.
Extraction of salt by liquid evaporation
For example, in Uganda there is Lake Catwy, which has no run-off at all. In addition, it is a crater lake, and the combination of these two factors leads to the fact that prolonged heat with a minimum amount of precipitation contributes to an increase in the amount of salt in stagnant water.
In order to stimulate the process of evaporation of water, workers create so-called "salt pits". Moreover, each worker zealously follows his own pit, since he is paid a percentage of the sale of the salt he mined in this place.
Their working conditions are incredible, because both women and men are forced to spend many hours in very salty water. This undoubtedly has a negative effect on their health. And the presence of hydrogen sulfide gas, to which ammonia is mixed, makes the air unusually saturated with the smell of rotten eggs.
As soon as the water in the pit evaporates, workers remove it from there and transfer it to a sunny place, where it will dry out in the shortest possible time.
Extraction of salt by the mine method
For a very long time, mankind discovered that salt can be found not only in water, but also underground. This is how the idea of extracting salt in the mines came about.
The mine is a long tunnel with many corridors, the walls of which were created by nature from salt. Therefore, workers use special saws with which they cut huge pieces of this mineral. To facilitate the transportation of large pieces, they are most often cut into smaller pieces, after which they are loaded onto trolleys, which rise to the surface along the mine railway.
There is also another option for mining salt in mines, which is due to the characteristics of its deposits. Its main principle is drilling wells into which water is poured, and at a high temperature. As a result, the salt rock melts and becomes a very salty liquid, which is pumped out. For these purposes, modern slurry pumps are used, the peculiarity of the production of which is the use of materials that are really durable to mechanical and chemical action. This is due to the fact that such brine contains many sharp and hard particles of rocks, and it becomes a very aggressive environment due to the high concentration of salt in it.
The brine enters huge reservoirs, where pressure is created, significantly below atmospheric pressure. This leads to the fact that the brine begins to actively evaporate at lower temperatures than under normal conditions. As a result of the evaporation of water, the salt settles to the bottom of the tank, and the centrifuge crushes the salt. This is how the Extra salt is born, which is known for its fine grinding.
Extraction of salt with a salt miner
Technological progress has given life to one invention that greatly facilitates the process of salt production - this is the creation of a special combine. The most famous area where this unit is used is Lake Baskunchak.
The lake is considered a completely unique natural object, because it is capable of giving the world several million tons of salt annually, besides, it is a self-renewable source, because Baskunchak is located on top of a huge salt dome.
The salt mining harvester is similar in appearance to an electric locomotive, as it moves along the surface of the lake by rail. A cutter is placed on the lower part of the combine, which is able to quickly loosen the dense structure of the salt, which allows the mineral to mix with the lake water. Then the pumps are turned on, which pump out the brine and send it to a specialized chamber.
This chamber contains a number of devices that allow you to separate the salt from the liquid and rinse it out. After that, wagons drive up to the combine, onto which the mined mineral is loaded. By the way, the salt-mining harvester at Baskunchak is distinguished by its amazing performance, because in one hour it can not only extract almost 300 tons of salt, but also load it into wagons.