Uses
Chloride is used to form salts that can preserve food such as sodium chloride. Other salts such as calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride have varied uses ranging from medical treatments to cement formation.
An example is table salt, which is sodium chloride with the chemical formula NaCl. In water, it dissociates into Na and Cl ions.
Examples of inorganic covalently bonded chlorides that are used as reactants are:
- phosphorus trichloride, phosphorus pentachloride, and thionyl chloride, all three of which reactive chlorinating reagents that have been used in a laboratory
- disulfur dichloride (S2Cl2), used for vulcanization of rubber.
A chloride ion is also the prosthetic group present in the amylase enzyme.
Another example is calcium chloride with the chemical formula CaCl2. Calcium chloride is a salt that is marketed in pellet form for removing dampness from rooms. Calcium chloride is also used for maintaining unpaved roads and for fortifying roadbases for new construction. In addition, Calcium chloride is widely used as a deicer since it is effective in lowering the melting point when applied to ice.
In the petroleum industry, the chlorides are a closely monitored constituent of the mud system. An increase of the chlorides in the mud system may be an indication of drilling into a high-pressure saltwater formation. Its increase can also indicate the poor quality of a target sand.
Chloride is also a useful and reliable chemical indicator of river / groundwater fecal contamination, as chloride is a non-reactive solute and ubiquitous to sewage & potable water. Many water regulating companies around the world utilize chloride to check the contamination levels of the rivers and potable water sources.
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