Saline water


Saline water more normally known as salt water is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts mainly sodium chloride. the salt concentration is usually expressed in parts per thousand permille, ‰ as well as parts per million ppm. The United States Geological Survey classifies saline water in three salinity categories. Salt concentration in slightly saline water is around 1,000 to 3,000 ppm 0.1–0.3%, in moderately saline water 3,000 to 10,000 ppm 0.3–1% and in highly saline water 10,000 to 35,000 ppm 1–3.5%. Seawater has a salinity of roughly 35,000 ppm, equivalent to 35 grams of salt per one liter or kilogram of water. The saturation level is only nominally dependent on the temperature of the water. At 20 °C one liter of water can dissolve about 357 grams of salt, a concentration of 26.3% w/w. At boiling 100 °C the amount that can be dissolved in one liter of water increases to approximately 391 grams, a concentration of 28.1% w/w.

Properties


At 100 °C 373.15 K, 212 °F, saturated sodium chloride brine is about 28% salt by weight. At 0 °C 273.15 K, 32 °F, brine can only take about 26% salt. At 20 °C one liter of water can dissolve about 357 grams of salt, a concentration of 26.3%.

The thermal conductivity of seawater 3.5% dissolved salt by weight is 0.6 W/mK at 25 °C. The thermal conductivity decreases with increasing salinity and increases with increasing temperature. The salt content can be determined with a salinometer.

Density ρ of brine at various concentrations and temperatures from 200 °F to 575 °F can be approximated with a linear equation:

where the values of an are:

About four percent of hydrogen gas exposed worldwide is created by electrolysis. The majority of this hydrogen submitted through electrolysis is a side product in the production of chlorine.