Mechanical Activation of Lizardite by Dry Grinding for Enhanced Mineral Carbonation

Abstract

Mechanical activation of Ca/Mg silicates by grinding is a pre-treatment of some mineral carbonization processes. In this study, the mechanical activation of lizardite ore from a chromite beneficiation plant waste by grinding in a stirred media mill was studied. For grinding studies, grinding times of 10-20-30 min and stirring speeds of 600-800-1000-1200 rpm were the parameters investigated, while the ball charge rate was 60% and the ore charge rate was kept constant at 40%. This way, the effects of grinding time and stirring speed on particle size distribution and energy consumption were investigated. At the end of the grinding studies, the stirring speed was determined as 1200 rpm, and the grinding time was 10 min for the finer particle size distribution (d10: 2,7 µm, d50: 13,6 µm, d90: 57.6 µm) with less energy consumption (130.4 kWh/ton). FT-IR analyses proved that the samples were dehydroxylated by the milling process. As a result, according to the analysis performed after grinding, it can be said that the finer product obtained can be used in mineral carbonation processes.