Amorphous Silica Production from Serpentine and its Techno-Economic Analysis

Abstract

The production of silica from the reaction of serpentine mineral with sulfuric acid has been investigated. Silica production process was developed by using optimum parameters of 67.3 °C temperature, 4.8 M acid concentration and 57.1 min. reaction time. Techno-economic analysis of the silica production process was made using a SuperPro Designer software (Version 9.0). Simulation has been performed for different annual plant capacities between 4,000 t and 16,000 t. The optimum production cost of silica was obtained for an annual plant capacity of 12,000 t. The total capital investment and operating costs for silica production facility designed was calculated as US$40,247.000 and US$4.24/kg, respectively. The payback period of the facility investment was determined as 4.8 years. The tailing waste of chrome ore could be used as raw material to produce silica and magnesium sulfate in an economic way.