Recycling of siliceous by-products to reduce their impacts on the environment

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15587/2706-5448.2023.277784

Keywords:

Tamazert raw kaolin, siliceous by-products, mineral processing, silica, glass

Abstract

Currently, there is a tendency to use less silica rich ores given the depletion of high-quality resources. The raw kaolin treatment of Tamazert (Eastern Algeria) produces, by hydrocyclone process, approximately 80 % of siliceous by-products. These siliceous wastes, which are stored in the open air, constitute a significant environmental problem. This research work aims to improve the quality of siliceous by-products, more particularly, to a process for the elimination of iron oxides and aluminum to make this raw material usable industrially as well as solving environmental issues. The collected by-products, were characterized by different techniques, such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRF confirmed that the by-products east siliceous, with content going up to 82 % of SiO2. The by-product resulted from the raw kaolin treatment, mainly contains varying amounts of impurities such as iron oxide, titanium oxide and alumina. In all cases, the presence of these impurities affects the color and the physical properties of the mineral, and so lowers the economic value and limits the industrial application. In this framework, the classified fraction (–500)–(+100) µm was directed to attrition scrubbing followed by magnetic separation technique and chemical treatment by sulphuric acid with different concentrations. The results of the beneficiation tests of by-product indicate that using the attrition scrubbing alone not provides a suitable product for glass manufacture. The magnetic separation was tested with attrition on the useful fraction ((–500)–(+100) μm). The non-magnetic attritional fraction concentrates less than 0.45 % of Al2O3 and 0.05 % of Fe2O3. This low content coupled with a remarkable percentage in silica of 97.98 %.The tests by attrition and leaching with 40 % of sulphuric acid show, on the one hand, significant results with a high percentage of silica (>98.5 %) against 0.04 % Fe2O3 and 0.66 % Al2O3 ,and on the other hand, that the enriched product meets the standards required by glass making.

Author Biographies

Soufiane Bouabdallah, Abderrahmane Mira University

PhD, Lecturer

Abdeslam Chaib, Badji Mokhtar University

PhD, Head of Department

Department of Mining

Mohamed Bounouala, Badji Mokhtar University

Professor, Head of Laboratory

Laboratory of Valorization of Mining Resources and Environment

Department of Mining

Nadiia Dovbash, National Scientific Centre «Institute of Agriculture of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences»

Researcher

Aissa Benselhoub, Environmental Research Center (C.R.E)

Associate Researcher

Environment, Modeling and Climate Change Division

Stefano Bellucci, INFN Frascati National Laboratories

Senior Reasearcher

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Recycling of siliceous by-products to reduce their impacts on the environment

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Published

2023-04-28

How to Cite

Bouabdallah, S., Chaib, A., Bounouala, M., Dovbash, N., Benselhoub, A., & Bellucci, S. (2023). Recycling of siliceous by-products to reduce their impacts on the environment. Technology Audit and Production Reserves, 2(3(70), 31–36. https://doi.org/10.15587/2706-5448.2023.277784

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 3(70) (2023): Chemical engineering

Section

Ecology and Environmental Technology

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Copyright (c) 2023 Soufiane Bouabdallah, Abdeslam Chaib, Mohamed Bounouala, Nadiia Dovbash, Aissa Benselhoub, Stefano Bellucci

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