Sodium Chloride Crystallization by Electric Discharge in Brine

The plasma-liquid interaction is complex, where parameters such as electric field, ion charges and other species present are important. In order to understand the mechanism of crystallization, mother liquor (saturated solution of NaCl, MgCl2 and KCl) was used to study the effectiveness and selectivity of the crystallization caused by the application of plasma.

Discharge was applied with the solution at room temperature or during cooling. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and chemical analysis was used to evaluate the structure and composition effects on crystal structure and composition. It was observed that the discharge induces selectively crystallization, and when compared to crystals obtained conventionally by cooling, were smaller and more uniform.