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Sustainable and clean utilization of coal gangue: activation and preparation of silicon fertilizer

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Abstract

Coal gangue, a by-product produced during the coal processing, has a serious impact on the environment. Using coal gangue as a fertilizer has been proven helpful in potentially reducing its environmental impact and improving its value. In this study, the formation mechanism and influencing factors of coal-gangue-based silicon fertilizer was studied using XRD and FT-IR measurement technologies. The results showed that the layered structure of coal gangue was severely damaged above 600 ℃, where the kaolin began to transform into metakaolin. When CaCO3 alone was added, CaCO3 mainly played a catalytic role, forming only a small amount of calcium silicate with available-Si content below 12.60%. When corn stalk powder alone was added, the oxides of the corn stalk ash participated in the chemical reaction involving coal gangue, forming nepheline (K(Na, K)3Al4Si4O16) and other silicates with available-Si content of 14.56%. When coal gangue, CaCO3, and corn stalk powder were mixed and calcined, the available-Si content was as high as 22.97% under the synergistic effect of CaCO3 and corn stalk powder; the concentration of toxic metals and ions was below 52.87 mg/kg. The prepared silicon fertilizer can reduce the pollution of coal gangue and meet the agricultural needs of China.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51774283, No. 51974306), the research fund of Henan Key Laboratory for Green and Efficient Mining & Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Resources (Henan Polytechnic University) (KCF202005), the research fund of Henan Key Laboratory of Coal Green Conversion (Henan Polytechnic University) (CGCF201906), the Program for Science & Technology Innovation Talents in Universities of Henan Province (21HASTIT008), the open foundation of State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing (BGRIMM-KJSKL-2022-24), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Universities of Henan Province (NSFRF220428).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China

    Bo Lv, Zeya Zhao, Xiaowei Deng, Chaojun Fang & Bobing Dong

  2. State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing, Beijing, 100260, China

    Bo Lv, Xiaowei Deng, Chaojun Fang & Bobing Dong

  3. Henan Key Laboratory for Green and Efficient Mining and Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Resources, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China

    Bo Lv & Xiaowei Deng

  4. Collaborative Innovation Center of Coal Work Safety and Clean High Efficiency Utilization, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China

    Xiaowei Deng

  5. Key Laboratory of Coal Processing and Efficient Utilization of Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Bo Zhang

Authors
  1. Bo Lv
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  2. Zeya Zhao
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  3. Xiaowei Deng
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  4. Chaojun Fang
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  5. Bobing Dong
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  6. Bo Zhang
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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by BD, CF and ZZ. The first draft of the manuscript was written by BL. The review and editing of the manuscript were written by XD and BZ, and all the authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Bo Lv.

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Lv, B., Zhao, Z., Deng, X. et al. Sustainable and clean utilization of coal gangue: activation and preparation of silicon fertilizer. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 24, 1579–1590 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-022-01426-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-022-01426-5

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