Recovery of Bischofite from Salt Lake Brine by Solar Evaporation and Organic Solvent Leaching

Bischofite is a hydrous magnesium chloride mineral with formula MgCl2.6H2O. Specific gravity of bischofite is 1.56 gram per cubic centimeter, and molecular weight of it is 203.31. Magnesium chloride is industrially useful and necessary in some agricultural applications. The aim of this study is recovery of Bischofite from Salt Lake brine. There are various methods for extraction Bischofite such as solar evaporation methods and ion exchange, but in this study has been used a new and innovative method for extraction Bischofite. This method is combined method of solar evaporation and leaching with organic solvents. The raw material was provided from Salt Lake brine in around Kashan. The impurities in brine were sodium chloride, sulfates and a little calcium chloride and potassium chloride. In this study, with several stages of solar evaporation and leaching was produced Bischofite with purity 99% and recovery 91.69% from brine Salt Lake Physico-chemical properties of the final product are determined using XRD, complexometry, ICP and gravimetry.