CONTRIBUTION TO CHARACTERIZATION OF NATURAL DIATOMITE
Hazem MERADI1, L’Hadi ATOUI2,Kotbia LABIOD1
1Research Center in Industrial Technologies CRTI, P.O. Box 64, Cheraga 16014, Algiers, Algeria; Tel. 00 213 6697553, meradi213@yahoo.com
2Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, University Badj-Mokhtar, Annaba, Algeria; Tel. 00 213 773834534, atouilhadi@yahoo.fr
1Research Center in Industrial Technologies CRTI, P.O. Box 64, Cheraga 16014, Algiers, Algeria; Tel. 00 213 38455336, labiodkotbia@yahoo.fr
Abstract— With the complex examination of raw material from a Sig deposit in Algeria in the region of Mascara area, physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of diatomite have been defined. It has been found that it is a dominantly amorphous material, sedimentary rock of the type silica- diatomite. The raw material consists of approximately 60% SiO2. Of the physical properties, more significant is porosity, which is higher than 60%. The raw material has a wide spectrum of possibilities for practical application: intensive absorbent for several types of liquids and chemical properties of the soil, natural insecticide, and filter water etc. For determination of the chemical contents, properties and origin of the raw material the following methods have been used, such as, chemical analysis, XRD analysis, optical microscopy and thermal analysis.
Keywords—: Diatomite, X-Ray, XRD, Sig.
1. INTRODUCTION
Natural diatomite was obtained from the Sig area of Mascara in Algeria. Diatomite is a well-known natural product, it carries several name; namely: kieselguhr, diatomaceous earth, diatomite, diatomaceous earth, tripoli, and diatomaceous flour. This is a clear colored rock consisting primarily of silica and impurities (organic compounds, sand, clay, calcium carbonate and magnesium, salts, ...) [1]. Diatomite used for the manufacture of cements, clay diet, bricks [2], adsorbents, filter powders, fillers, and catalysts [3-8]. As a siliceous rock made up largely from diatoms, diatomite has a unique combination of physical and chemical properties, making it applicable for the removal of heavy metals and organic pollutants, and as a filtration medium in a number of industrial uses [9-10]. For its high permeability, high porosity and chemical inertness, many studies [11-14] have recently been attempted to take diatomite as a cheap absorbent for dyes removal. These applications include filter
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I I n n s s t t i i t t u u t t i i o o n n L L O O G G O O
The International Conference on Water, Environment, Energy and Society ICWEES’2018
08-11th May 2018, Djerba Island, Tunisia
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aid, functional filler, insulation, catalysis support, and carrier application, [15-24]. Most efforts were focused on the research of adsorption properties of diatomite. However, an application of diatomite on the wastewater treatment depends mightily on its origin and a few more efforts should be attempted to enhance its adsorption capability. Porous ceramics supports are, generally needed for membranes. For the development of hight quality supports, it’s very important to have pore size distribution, total porosity ratio, surface quality, good mechanical properties and chemical stability [26]. The use of ceramic membranes has many advantages such as higher thermal and chemical stability, pressure resistance, long lifetime and catalytic properties from their intrinsic nature [27].
The Sig diatomite deposit as presented on Figure 1, is located 5 km south-east of the town of Sig, 50 km from the city of Oran and 40 km from the town of Mascara.
Figure 1: Geographical localization of the layer of diatomite [28].
2. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES:
X-ray powder diffraction patterns were obtained by using ULTIMA IV Rugaku powder diffractometer, and employing Cu Kα (λ=1.54093 A°) filtered radiation.
The X-ray spectrum of the raw diatomite sample shows in figure 2, the existence of calcite CaCO3, SiO2 Quartz, amorphous silica SiO2 and Ankerite.
Figure 2 : XRD pattern of diatomite
The chemical composition of the diatomite in weight percentages of oxides is given in Table 1, is obtained by X-ray Fluorescence. It reveals that the diatomite powder is essentially formed of large amount of silica and lime with alumina and iron oxide in lower proportion.
Elements Concentration (%)
Al2O3 2,65
SiO2 60,28
P2O5 0,07
SO3 0,12
K2O 0,67
CaO 5,50
Fe2O3 0,91
Table 1: Chemical analysis of diatomite.
3. MAIN RESULTS:
The X-ray diffraction spectra displayed that silica was the major component.
Typical composition of diatomite, it’s found that the diatomite powder contains a major amount of SiO2 and a few oxides of Al, Fe, and Ca.
It was found to be essentially amorphous but also contained a small amount of quartz, Calcite and Ankerite. The XRD patterns of the diatomite are given in figure 2. The Sig natural diatomite was essentially amorphous.
.
4. CONCLUSION
Diatomite is an inexpensive source of amorphous hydrated silica with the calcite, quartz and Ankerite crystalline phase. Its major chemical components are SiO2, Al2O3 , CaO and Fe2O3. The presence of these compounds can improve the diatomite mechanical strength.
The type of silica presented in the natural
diatomite is a poorly-ordered opal A type and a
small amount of quartz.
From the results of the investigation carried out it can be concluded that the natural diatomite from the Sig deposit may find application for obtaining of ceramic membranes for water filtration
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