DISSOLUTION OF THERMALLY DEHYDRATED ULEXITE IN SULFURIC-ACID-SOLUTION

The present study concerns a work on the investigation of the effect o f the dehydration temperature on the dissolution process of a boron mi neral, ulexite, in sulfuric acid solution. In the experiments, the deh ydration temperature and dissolution temperature were chosen as the pa rameters. First, the dehydration of ulexite was performed isothermally in an oven, and DTA and X-ray analysis were carried out to observe th e structural changes in the mineral. The effect of the dehydration tem perature on the dissolution rate of ulexite in sulfuric acid solutions was then investigated, using a batch reactor made of glass. The kinet ic parameters of the dissolution process, frequency factor and activat ion energy, were evaluated using dissolution data.