Figure 52 
U.S. PRODUCTION OF CHEMICALS THAT CAN BE OBTAINED 
FROM SEA WATER! 
I Sea Water 
: U.S. Annual ee 
Production (million tons) Baecent Annual Value Seren. 
= from W as Value of 
P Total rom Sea Water BLet CULES 
ee > Sea Water ($ million) | 10%! World Value 
Sele. 6 & 4m 4 |) So 1.4? 4 i, 8 5 
Magnesium Metal. . 0.09 0.0813 90 57 76 
Desalinated Water. 60.6 22.9 38 8 16 
Bromine... . 0.14 0.068° 50 30 67 
Magnesium 
Compounds* . . 1.37 0.47° 34 32 78 
= Total L | 135 5 35 
Mostly 1966 figures. 
5 
“Includes solar sea salt and other solar salt. 
3The only U.S. sea water magnesium facility is at Dow in Freeport (1965 figures). 
4 includes magnesium chloride which, in turn, is used for magnesium metal. 
5 Includes sea salt-bittern. 
quite early that salt helped prevent decay in many 
foods. Present chemical usage for sodium com- 
pounds is so extensive that salt is one of the 
primary raw materials upon which the chemical 
industry rests. About two-thirds of the salt con- 
sumed in the United States is by the chemical 
industry. Salt is produced from the ocean in 
commercial quantities in about 60 countries. More 
than 29 per cent of total world production is from 
sea water. In the United States, the production 
from sea water is centered in California and 
accounts for only about four per cent of the U.S. 
grand total. 
c. Magnesium Metal Magnesium is the third most 
abundant element found in sea water. Over 90 per 
cent of magnesium metal produced in the United 
States is obtained from sea water. It is estimated 
that a cubic mile of sea water contains roughly six 
million tons of magnesium. However, this is 
equivalent to about only one-sixth ounce per 
gallon, worth about 0.4 cent.?? The first U.S. 
magnesium metal from sea water was produced in 
23 Spangler, M.B., “A Case Study Report on the 
Extraction of Magnesium from Sea Water,’ National 
Planning Association Report to the National Council on 
Marine Resources and Engineering Development, Sept. 
115 1967- 
VI-192 
1941, extracted from the Gulf of Mexico by the 
Dow Chemical Company. The process was adapted 
and improved from a Dow Chemical metallic 
magnesium extraction plant near Midland, Michi- 
gan, using brine from inland wells. Some 65 per 
cent of the world’s production comes from the 
only two magnesium metal plants that process sea 
water. These are the Texas Division of Dow 
Chemical at Freeport, Texas, and the facilities of 
Norsk Hydro-Elektrisk in Norway. 
In order to furnish the needs of Dow plants and 
the adjacent bromine plant of the Ethyl-Dow 
Chemical Company, almost two million gallons per 
minute of sea water are pumped, an amount equal 
to that pumped by all other process users of sea 
water in the world combined. Since this figure 
includes water required for cooling, it may be said 
that the Dow plants pump approximately one 
cubic mile of sea water per year, equivalent to 
almost three billion gallons per day. This is 
approximately equal to what would have been 
pumped by the Bolsa Island dual purpose power 
and 150 mgd desalination facility had it been 
approved and constructed. 
Demand for magnesium is high during wartime, 
as it is used extensively in airplane construction 
and also is employed in incendiary bombs. Magne- 
sium is Outstanding in its use asa sacrificial anode 
