Thermoacid Behavior of Serpentinite of the Zhitikarinsky Deposit (Kazakhstan)

Our plain-English summary of Thermoacid Behavior of Serpentinite of the Zhitikarinsky Deposit (Kazakhstan), by A. Auyeshov, K. Arynov, C. Yeskibayeva, et al (Molecules, 2024).

The study

• Authors: A. Auyeshov, K. Arynov, C. Yeskibayeva, K. Alzhanov, Y. Raiymbekov
• Journal: Molecules
• Published: 2024;29(16)
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Thermoacid behavior of serpentinite from the Zhitikarinsky field (g. Zhitikara, Kazakhstan). The character of dissolution of heat-treated serpentinite in a narrow temperature range of 600-750 °C is investigated, where the crystal lattice of the structural structure of chrysotile in sulfuric acid is destroyed. The X-ray and chemical analysis of the products of dissolution of heat-treated serpentinite at 600 °C, 725 °C and 750 °C in sulfuric acid solution show that the reason for the increase in the reactivity of heat-treated serpentinite at 725 °C and 750 °C with respect to the acidic medium and the degree of magnesium extraction into sulfate solution is the formation of periclase (MgO) in the serpentinite composition after heat treatment of them within a temperature range of 600-750 °C. The results were discussed using data obtained by conducting a thermodynamic evaluation of probable reactions during the thermoacid treatment of serpentinite, phase compressions of heat-treated serpentinite at 600-750 °C, and after its acid treatment at 1.0 M H2SO4.

In plain English

This was a laboratory chemistry study of ore samples. It did not study people or health. The authors examined serpentinite ore from the Zhitikarinsky deposit in Kazakhstan, which is mined for chrysotile asbestos and in which chrysotile was the main mineral. They heated samples in a furnace for one hour at 600, 725 or 750 degrees C, kept a sample dried only at 105 degrees C for comparison, and dissolved each in sulfuric acid at 80 degrees C to measure how much magnesium was extracted. The share of magnesium oxide that went into solution was 47.0% for the sample dried at 105 degrees, 73.2% at 600 degrees, 84.0% at 725 degrees and 87.5% at 750 degrees. A sample heated to 800 degrees gave 82.0%. In X-ray analysis, chrysotile was still detected at 725 degrees but not at 750 degrees, which the authors described as complete destruction of the chrysotile crystal structure. Iron, aluminum and calcium in the solution fell as heating temperature rose. The authors concluded that the greater reactivity with acid was most likely linked to periclase (magnesium oxide) forming during heating at 725 to 750 degrees C.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: laboratory experiment (heat treatment and sulfuric acid leaching of mineral ore, with thermal, X-ray and chemical analysis); no human or animal subjects
• Who was studied: Samples of serpentinite ore from the Zhitikarinsky (Zhitikarinskoye) deposit, Kazakhstan, the ore processed by the chrysotile asbestos plant JSC "Kostanay Minerals". The main phase in the original sample was chrysotile, with brucite, antigorite, magnetite, pyrope and almandine also detected. No sampling dates are given.
• Exposure: Serpentinite (chrysotile ore) heated for 1 hour at 600, 725 or 750 °C. An original sample dried at 105 °C served for comparison, and an 800 °C sample is reported in Table 1. Each was then treated with 1.0 M sulfuric acid (10 g of sample in 100 mL) at 80 °C.
• Main results:
  • Magnesium oxide transferred to the acid solution: original sample dried at 105 °C, 1.95 g of 4.16 g (47.0%)
  • Magnesium oxide transferred to solution: sample heated at 600 °C, 3.32 g of 4.53 g (73.2%)
  • Magnesium oxide transferred to solution: samples heated at 725 °C, 3.86 g of 4.59 g (84.0%), and at 750 °C, 4.08 g of 4.66 g (87.5%)
  • Magnesium oxide transferred to solution: sample heated at 800 °C, 3.80 g of 4.68 g (82.0%). The authors state that the higher treatment temperature reduced reactivity with acid.
  • By X-ray, the sample heated at 750 °C differed from the 725 °C sample by the absence of chrysotile
  • The authors describe 750 °C as the temperature of complete destruction of the chrysotile crystal lattice
  • Iron, aluminum and calcium impurities in the sulfate solution decreased as the heating temperature rose
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the increased reactivity of the heated serpentinite with acid is most likely associated with periclase (MgO) forming during heat treatment at 725 to 750 °C, as the serpentinite structure breaks down.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Serpentinite, Chrysotile.

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