Inorganic Chemicals Today

Inorganic chemicals are considered to come from mineral origin, not biological. Inorganic chemicals are one of the oldest chemical categories known and now it is not as significant as in the past days. The Organic and Inorganic disciplines overlap and there are sub disciplines that study both at the same time like organometallic chemistry.

Some of the most important inorganic chemical products in the chemical industry are salt, chlorine, caustic soda, acids, and hydrogen peroxide. They have several uses in the chemical industry and in other industries.

Salt is a mineral, also known as table salt or rock salt. It is composed primary of sodium chloride. It is essential for animals but in small amounts. The excess of salt is harmful for animals and plants. It have being used for thousands of years by human societies. Some historians talk about finding evidence of its use since the 6050 BC. It is the basic seasoning for food and was used as the most important food preservation method before the development of canning and artificial refrigeration.

Salt is produced in different forms. It can be obtained directly from sea water, it can be refined (table salt) or it can be iodized for increasing its nutritional value. It is used in industrial processes like gas and oil exploration, textile manufacturing, paper industry, metal processing, leather treatment and rubber manufacturing.

Oil and gas exploration use salt as part of the drilling fluids to increase its density. It is also used in the construction industry to increase the set rate of concrete in cemented casings. It is also used to process aluminum, copper, steel and other metals. Salt is used to bleach wood pulp in the paper industry and is used to make sodium Chlorate, which added to sulfuric acids and water, produces chlorine dioxide which is an excellent bleaching chemical.