Common name for a solution of
sodium chloride (NaCl) in water. Brines are used extensively in the food-manufacturing industry for canning vegetables, pickling vegetables (sauerkraut manufacture), and curing meat. Industrially, brine is the source from which
chlorine, caustic soda (
sodium hydroxide), and sodium carbonate are made.
The chlor-alkali industry is based on the
electrolysis of brine, which produces chlorine, hydrogen, and sodium hydroxide. In the Solvay process, sodium carbonate is produced from sodium chloride.
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