Recovery of potash values from feldspar

ABSTRACT

India does not possess any soluble potassium (K) sources but an abundant resource of alumino-silicate rock such as feldspar is available. In the present work, an attempt has been made to unlock the potassium values from feldspar sample by mechanical milling, roasting and leaching and delineating the underlying mineral phase changes. CaCl₂ was found to be effective flux for K release with valuable by-products such as quartz and anorthite. The roasting kinetics follows the product layer diffusion model with an activation energy of 49.50 kJ/mol. It is found that the planetary ball milling has a significant effect on enhancing K-dissolution. With the combination of different treatments, it is possible to recover more than 95% K from feldspar.