The installation of technological and auxiliary equipment is being completed on the iodine producing enterprise with a capacity of up to 150 tons of crystals per year in the Bereket etrap of the Balkan region near the settlement of Danatar. Specialists of chemical company "Chemistry - Senagat" plan to put it into operation in the summer.
The equipment for the production of a reactive non-metal belonging to the halogen group was delivered to the construction site from Turkish, Iranian and Ukrainian companies. The automated process will be based on the air-desorption method of obtaining iodine crystals, which will ensure high quality products and save energy.
Iodine at the plant will be extracted from underground natural waters, which will be lifted along the drilled wells from the Cretaceous sediments at a depth of 500 meters. Taken samples showed a high iodine content of 200 milligrams per liter.
Specialists of chemical company "Chemistry - Senagat" are completing the construction of another plant in Primorye - in Eckerem - to extract iodine, but from the associated waters of oil fields. The Iranian equipment for processing industrial waters has already been installed, which will make it possible to produce up to 60 tons of crystals per year at the initial stage.
Currently, Turkmenistan ranks fifth in the world in the production of iodine - the country produces 500-520 tons of valuable raw materials annually. It is planned to raise this figure to 1,000 tons, which will be done by developing new deposits of iodine-containing solutions and building high-tech enterprises.