Mineral recovery from Lake Katwe brines using isothermal evaporation

• Lake Katwe is a saline lake within the East African Rift system in Western Uganda, with a rich source of mineral salts. The present work aims at evaluating possibilities of future salt extraction from the lake deposit. An isothermal evaporation experiment was conducted on the lake brines. The precipitated salts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods. Various economic salts such as thenardite, gypsum, mirabilite, burkeite, hanksite, anhydrite, trona, halite, nahcolite, thermonatrite, and soda ash precipitate from the lake brines. The experiments also reveal the sequence of mineral salt precipitation in the order sulfates→chlorides→carbonates.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Kemiteknik -- Kemiska processer (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Chemical Engineering -- Chemical Process Engineering (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Lake Katwe

Brine

Isothermal Evaporation

Sulfate salts

Chloride salts

Carbonate salts

XRD

SEM

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