Abstract:
Salt (sodium chloride) is a food flavoring and seasoning agent, which plays a
considerable role as an essential nutrient, texture provider, and color enhancer.
However, the production of salt is insufficient to the nation, since between
10,000 and 40,000 metric tons of salt are imported annually. By examining
the causes, it was identified that only a few companies are operating in Sri
Lanka and using the solar evaporation method to produce salt. This research
aims to make an improvement in salt production to meet the annual demand
by identifying the key evaporation factors and making it more efficient by
reducing time duration up to (20% -30%). Several crystallizer pools have been
experimented with modifications; a pool covered with heat-absorbing
material; a pool with a greenhouse model; a pool edge with a reflective panel;
a pool with an instant roof system; and a sample of a salt plant pool was used
as a reference to compare the improvement of salt production. The
improvement rate in salt production of the above mentioned methods were
found to be 7.66%; 21.42%; 22.74% and 36.69%, respectively, when
compared with the reference crystallizer pool. Further temperature, humidity,
wind speed, and brine concentration have been recorded on the daily basis.
