Synthesis, separation and characterization of glass microbubbles from coal ash of Zarand mine

Document Type : Research paper

Authors

1 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman

2 Department of Materials and Metallurgy Engineering,,Technical and Engineering Faculty,, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman

Abstract

Objective: Due to their very low density and acceptable hardness and strength, glass microbubbles are one of the options used to create hydraulic cracks and increase the efficiency of oil and gas wells, and as one of the materials used to strengthen light concrete. In this research, coal ash from Zarand mine has been used as a recycled material to prepare this category of materials.
Materials and methods: For the production of glass microbubbles, ground coal was heated in the temperature range of 700°C to 1100°C in an electric furnace in order to obtain the optimal temperature for the production of microbubbles, and then the separation operation was carried out with the help of deionized water based on the difference in surface density. Morphological, structural and elemental investigations were carried out with the help of XRD, XRF and SEM devices along with EDS analysis. Also, the density of the samples measured.
Results: The presence of Ca, K and Fe elements based on EDS analysis, which was also observed in the form of calcium and potassium oxide phases in XRD analysis, led to the formation of glass phases at low temperatures, and this problem has caused the agglomeration of ash particles to increase with the increase in furnace temperature.
Conclusions: This method was able to produce microbubbles with semi-spherical and lumpy morphology with low density in the range of 0.7-0.95 g/cm3 and the grinding operation led to a higher efficiency of small glass microbubbles with higher density. Also, with the increase in the synthesis temperature, the amount of mullite phase formed in the structure has increased, which leads to an increase in the strength of the particles

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Separation Science and Engineering
Volume 17, Issue 1
June 2025
Pages 1-12

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