Technology of Perm Polytechnic University will help to obtain raw materials for the medical and food industries from potash waste

When receiving potash fertilizers, millions of tons of solid salt waste are formed, which cause significant environmental damage to the environment. With proper processing, they can become raw materials for the medical, food and household industries, as well as for oil refining and glass production, scientists at the Perm Polytechnic University believe. Chemists have developed a technology that allows them to be safely disposed of by removing insoluble impurities. Salt waste processing method has no analogues and does not require expensive reagents.

– The accumulation of halite waste can lead to salinization of soils, surface and groundwater due to the presence of a large amount of sodium chloride in their composition. But from this substance in the process of processing it is possible to obtain soda ash and caustic soda. The first is used as a raw material for the production of pharmaceuticals, in the production of glass, cast iron, paints and varnishes, detergents and household products, and with the help of the second one can neutralize acidic industrial effluents, produce catalysts, paper, batteries, biofuels and other products. However, it is difficult to use salt waste without additional enrichment due to the fact that they contain a significant amount of insoluble impurities: clay and calcium sulfate, - says Olga Nisina, Ph.D.

Currently, expensive reagents are used to treat salt waste, and processing processes take a rather long time. To solve this problem, Olga Nisina and Professor of the Department of Chemical Technology and Ecology, Doctor of Technical Sciences Sergey Lanovetsky carried out ultrasonic cleaning of salt waste suspension from insoluble impurities. Its mechanism is based on acoustic effects, which helped to separate large waste into parts and destroy the surface of the crystals, separating clay and calcium sulfate. For the experiments, the scientists used a laboratory setup for ultrasonic processing of halite suspension.

“Tests have shown that our technology provides waste treatment from calcium sulfate by 80%, and from insoluble residue by 35-50%. At the same time, it does not require the use of expensive reagents, unlike other processing methods, and is quite simple to implement, the researcher explains.

Technology for the production of technical salt and technical solution of sodium chloride with a reduced content of calcium sulfate and insoluble residue

Salt waste processing technology has no analogues yet, but such methods are successfully used to clean quartz sand from iron oxides, to enrich gold-bearing ores and remove sludge from the surface of diamonds.

Chemists have created a unique technological scheme for the production of raw materials with a reduced content of calcium sulfate and insoluble residue, which can already be used in production. According to scientists, Russian and foreign enterprises of the chemical industry can become consumers of the technology. Now the scientists are looking for funding for the project.

Source: Scientific Russia portal https://scientificrussia.ru/