The extraction of potassium from K-feldspar ore by low temperature molten salt method

Abstract

Abstract The low temperature molten salt method was used to extract potassium from K-feldspar ore, and some related factors including mass ratio between NaNO3, NaOH, H2O and K-feldspar ore, particle size of K-feldspar ore, reaction temperature and time were investigated, respectively. In addition, the optimum condition for this method was determined by a series of condition experiments. What was more, the K-feldspar ore and the leach residue after reaction based on the above optimum condition were analyzed by XRD, SEM and EDS, separately. The results of which indicated that the mechanism of extraction of potassium for this method was according to the ion exchange reaction between sodium ion and potassium ion, and the extraction ratio of potassium had an obvious improvement than that of traditional methods, which could reach up to 96.25%. Therefore, this method can be a feasible solution to extract potassium from K-feldspar ore for its low energy consumption and high efficiency.