Magnesium Hydroxide → Sodium Carbonate

Participants

Reaction Steps

In one embodiment, the invention relates to a process of producing magnesium metal in which the sodium hydroxide used as a reactant in an initial step of the process is recovered in a later step of the process and recycled. For example, steps 5-7 in FIGS. 1-4 illustrate this use and recovery of sodium hydroxide. The process comprises: (a) reacting a magnesium silicate with sodium hydroxide to produce magnesium hydroxide; (b) reacting the magnesium hydroxide with sodium bicarbonate to produce magnesium carbonate and sodium carbonate; (c) reacting the magnesium carbonate in one or more reactions to produce magnesium metal; (d) reacting the sodium carbonate with a metal hydroxide to produce sodium hydroxide; and (e) recycling the sodium hydroxide from step (d) into step (a). In one embodiment the metal hydroxide of step (d) is calcium hydroxide.

Provenance & Evidence