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Alumina recovery from kaolin with mineral impurities

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Abstract

The alumina recovery from low grade kaolin (K-JS) treated through thermal and mechanical methods was investigated. High grade kaolin (K-SX) was used as comparison. The optimum calcination temperatures for K-JS and K-SX were both 600 °C, which resulted in 89.34wt% of alumina extraction from K-JS and 83.37wt% from K-SX. With the increase in calcination temperature, the chemical reactivity of calcined K-JS and K-SX to acid decreased. Mechanical treatment was much more effective in increasing the alumina extraction from activated kaolin. Around 99wt% of alumina was extracted from K-JS ground for 10 hours and 95wt% of alumina was extracted from K-SX ground for 20 hours. The IR results showed that the substitute of Al for Si occurred in calcined K-SX, however, the impurities in K-JS decreased this substitute. More alumina could be extracted from low grade kaolin than that from high grade kaolin under identical thermal or mechanical conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Peng Si  (司鹏) & Xiuchen Qiao  (乔秀臣)

  2. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Jianguo Yu

Authors
  1. Peng Si  (司鹏)
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  2. Xiuchen Qiao  (乔秀臣)
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  3. Jianguo Yu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiuchen Qiao  (乔秀臣).

Additional information

Funded by the National High-tech R&D Program of China (“863” Program) (SQ2007AA06Z129028), the Shanghai Pujiang Program (PJ200700339), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (10dz12004900), and the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commision(11CXY25)

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Si, P., Qiao, X. & Yu, J. Alumina recovery from kaolin with mineral impurities. J. Wuhan Univ. Technol.-Mat. Sci. Edit. 27, 1139–1143 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-012-0618-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-012-0618-9

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