Commercial production of salt from geothermal brine at reykjanes, iceland

Abstract

In the Reykjanes geothermal area in SW Iceland, the ground water is infiltrated by seawater. Due to interactions with basaltic volcanic rocks, the chemical composition of the geothermal brine differs somewhat from pure seawater. The most striking change is the increase of potassium and depletion of magnesium. A number of geothermal wells have been drilled in the area. Two of these wells are extremely powerful and have been utilized for commercial production of common salt for several years. The salt plant has recently been rebuilt and expanded considerably in order to produce common salt for domestic use and a new mineral salt product, “light salt” for export. The process is based on a vacuum evaporation technique where the geothermal well is the source of both salt-brine and process steam.