Complex Chemistry Based on Common Salt

Salt is the source of so many of the products that we depend on to make our lives easier. Chlorine and soda, both derived from the electrolysis of salt, are used to make myriad products for use in daily life.

From soda we treat water and make soap, shampoo, skin creams, and detergents. Chlorine is used to produce cleansers, purify water, disinfect floors and walls, bleach paper, and make white pigments.

The principal application of chlorine is PVC. PVC is used to make a wide range of products, mostly for the construction sector. The range of products that can be made with PVC resin is extensive: cable coatings, window frames, pipes that transport potable and sanitary water, toys, balls, packaging, hoses, chairs, decorative articles, houses, and much more. PVC can help save lives and bring new life into the world. For example, it is used to make catheters, bags for dialysis and blood storage, and breathing tubes for neonatal incubators.

PVC production requires a series of chemical processes. First, we extract gas from the earth and convert it into ethane. Then we combine the ethane with chlorine to produce the vinyl-chloride monomer known as VCM. VCMs are joined through a conversion process to form polymer chains that create PVC resins.

Chlorine Soda Chain Products

Vinyl Chain Products