Phosphate Mine Tailing Recycling in Membrane Filter Manufacturing: Microstructure and Filtration Suitability

Abstract

Ceramic membrane filters based on industrial by-products can be considered to be a valorization alternative of phosphate mine tailings, even more so if these ceramic membranes are used in the industrial wastewater treatment due to their good mechanical, chemical, and thermal resistance. The depollution of textile industry rejections with this method has not been studied in detail previously. In this work, ceramic membrane filters have been manufactured from natural clay and phosphate mine tailings (phosphate sludge). Blends of the abovementioned materials with a pore-forming agent (sawdust, up to 20 wt. %) were investigated in the range 900–1100 °C using thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and mercury porosimetry. Ceramic properties were measured as a function of firing temperature and sawdust addition. Filtration tests were carried out on samples with advantageous properties. The results showed that gehlenite together with diopside neoformed from lime decomposed carbonates and breakdown products of clay minerals, while calcium phosphate derived from partial decomposition of fluorapatite. Both quartz and fluorapatite resisted heating. The results of the experimental design showed that the variations of physical properties versus processing factors were well described by the polynomial model. Filtration results are quite interesting, allowing these membranes to be used in industrial effluent treatment.

Elaboration of TiO2 Ultrafiltration Membrane Deposited on Moroccan Sahara Clay

“…Finally, a thermal treatment was carried out in a programmable furnace at 950°C for 2 hours. [8][9][10][11].…”

Clay Ceramic Support Membrane Optimization Using Factorial Design Approach

“…The predicted R-squared (R 2 pred: 0,998 and 0,974 for Y1 and Y2 respectively) was also in reasonable agreement with adjusted R-squared and showed a good prediction of model. Factors that influence the porosity (%) and Mechanical strength (MPa) were evaluated by using factorials plots: main effect, interaction effects, Pareto and normal probability plots [19].…”

The effect of various surfactants on fatty acid for apatite flotation and their adsorption mechanism

“…However, the grade of phosphate ore is relatively low in China, with an average grade of 16.85% (P2O5). Phosphate ore resources with ω (quality percentage) (P2O5) ≥ 30% account for only 12%, and most of the rest are low-grade refractory ores, which can only be used economically after treated with mineral processing technologies (Li et al, 2016;Loutou et al, 2019).…”