Optimisation of alkaline fusion process for decomposition of monazite concentrate

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Date
2019-07
Authors
Muhamad Azizul Hakim Bin Hasim
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In this study, characterization and decomposition of monazite concentrate have been done with a few processes. The purpose of this study is to improve the degree of decomposition of monazite by alkaline fusion process. The raw sample was subjected to sampling technique in order to obtain the representatives of the samples for the experimental work. Then, particle size distribution by sieve analysis is done to observe the size range of ground monazite. The representative samples were subjected to characterization techniques such as Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF). Based on the characterization results, the details chemical composition in the monazite samples and surface structure of REEs were obtained. The monazite concentrate undergoes alkaline decomposition with several parameters such as fusion temperature, fusion time, weight ratio of sodium hydroxide to monazite and particle size of raw monazite. Then, water leaching of fused product and filtration process were carried out in order to obtain the solid residues of rare earth oxides. The degree of monazite decomposition which is correlated with the percentage of phosphorus removal is calculated based on the composition of phosphorus in the product. Statistical analysis of the data was done by Design of Experiment (DOE) in order to identify the dominating variables and their interactions. This thesis investigates the best parameter for alkaline fusion process to decompose monazite concentrate so that further REEs recovery process would be easier.
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