Process Optimisation in a Salt Production Facility in Borno State

This research investigates process optimisation opportunities at a salt production facility in Borno State, North East Nigeria. Salt production from brine wells and natural salt deposits in the Lake Chad basin region of North East Nigeria has a long economic history, but many existing facilities operate with inefficient evaporation processes, high waste ratios, and inconsistent product purity, limiting their competitiveness against refined imported salt. This study applies process analysis and optimisation methodology, combining mass and energy balance calculations across the evaporation, crystallisation, washing, and drying stages with systematic identification of process losses and quality failures. Data were collected through plant metering, sampling and laboratory analysis of brine and product streams, and structured interviews with process supervisors over a ten-week period. Mass balance analysis reveals a salt recovery efficiency of fifty-eight percent, with the principal loss occurring through brine spillage during open-pan evaporation. Energy balance calculations show that the drying stage consumes forty-one percent of total process fuel energy against a theoretical minimum of twenty-four percent, indicating significant heat recovery opportunity. Optimisation recommendations include closed-pan evaporation retrofits for two high-volume production trains, installation of a condensate heat recovery system on the drying stage, and adoption of a brine concentration optimisation protocol. Keywords: process optimisation, salt production, mass and energy balance, Borno State, evaporation efficiency