DISSOLUTION KINETICS OF ULEXITE PREPARED UNDER DIFFERENT CALCINATION TEMPERATURES

Ulexite is one of the boron minerals used as a raw material in the production of boron compounds. It contains a substantial amount of hydration water. Using calcination methods, the B2O3 grade of ulexite can be increased. In this study, the effect of calcination temperature on dissolution kinetics of ulexite in ammonium chloride solutions was investigated in a batch reactor employing the parameters of concentration, solid-to-liquid ratio and reaction temperature. It was found that the dissolution rate increased with increasing concentration and reaction temperature and with decreasing solid-to-liquid ratio. The highest dissolution rate was obtained with the sample calcined at 413 K. It was determined that the dissolution rate fit to the second-order pseudo-homogeneous model. The activation energy of this dissolution process was found to be 64.3 kJ/moL.