Author(s)

Tayyaba Jamil

Affiliation(s)

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Punjab 39161, Pakistan.

Corresponding Author

Tayyaba Jamil

ABSTRACT

Kaolinite is widely used in the paper, rubber, and paint industry. Global processing of kaolin is carried out by dry and wet processing. The dry processing provides lower yield and average product quality, than wet processing limiting their industrial applications. This study increases the kaolinite grade by developing a cheaper, simpler, and more efficient technique for utilization in the paper industry. The mineralogy of kaolin was analyzed by XRD, SEM, Size distribution, and XRF analysis. From these analyses, we found kaolin having kaolinite 59.6%, quartz 12% at 4.5% moisture content, was then beneficiated by dispersion and sedimentation. Kaolin was crushed, grounded, and screened through 325 mesh (44 um) then performed dispersion at different solid percentages and dispersant dosages using sodium tri-polyphosphate as dispersants. The dispersed solution was agitated at 800 rpm for 15 minutes and settled for 30 minutes in a measuring cylinder. The Central composite design was used to optimize parameters varying solid percentage (5-30) % and dispersant dosage percentage (0.1-0.3) % for kaolin recovery. Results showed that the maximum grade and recovery of kaolinite was 88.8% and 76.03% at a dispersant dosage of 0.3% and a solid percentage of 17.5%. Overall, the grade of kaolin was successfully increased from 59.6% to 88.8%. It is also recommended to use ball mill with rubber coated steel balls instead of pin mill for efficient grinding.

KEYWORDS

Kaolin; Wet processing; Dispersion; Sedimentation; Grade; Recovery

CITE THIS PAPER

Tayyaba Jamil. Optimization and modelling for wet beneficiation of kaolin by sedimentation. Frontiers in Environmental Research. 2025, 3(1): 8-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/fer3008.

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