Geoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha El Melah, southeastern Tunisia

This work aimed to study the formation of salt through a progressive evaporation of sebkha El Melah brine. The precipitated salt in the case of sebkha El Melah is variable along the progressive evaporation. Weights of salt after each phase of precipitation indicate a heterogeneous evaporation proces...

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Autores principales:	Elhoucine Essefi, Mohamed Ali Tagorti
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	IWA Publishing 2021
Materias:	el melah geochemistry mineralogy progressive evaporation southeastern tunisia Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/3306600cadfc411caf8d23614f783c8a
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3306600cadfc411caf8d23614f783c8a2021-11-05T21:09:17ZGeoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha El Melah, southeastern Tunisia1751-231X10.2166/wpt.2021.004https://doaj.org/article/3306600cadfc411caf8d23614f783c8a2021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttp://wpt.iwaponline.com/content/16/2/633https://doaj.org/toc/1751-231XThis work aimed to study the formation of salt through a progressive evaporation of sebkha El Melah brine. The precipitated salt in the case of sebkha El Melah is variable along the progressive evaporation. Weights of salt after each phase of precipitation indicate a heterogeneous evaporation process cumulating at 315 g L−1. With an increasing evaporation of El Melah brine, the number of precipitated mineral species increased. The cumulative number of species along the evaporation process reached 20, including principally: Halite (NaCl) (73–95%), epsomite (MgSO4·7H2O) (7–14%), bischofite (MgCl2:6H2O) (1%), Kieserite Mg(SO4)(H2O) (0–2%), magnesite (MgCO3) (1–4%), polyhalite (K2Ca2Mg(SO4)4,2H2O). Also, the thermodynamic theoretical modeling of the El Melah brine shows convergence with geochemical and mineralogical experimental data. At an evaporation rate of 60%, the sebkha of El Melah annually provides with 315,000 tons of salt. The majority of salt (80%) is halite. The remaining 20% contains different species having a huge economic interest. From an industrial viewpoint, our study shows that the purity of halite is guaranteed at low rates of evaporation. Evaporation between 50 and 75% produces a mixture dominated by halite. Evaporation higher than 75% needs further studies to find the mineralogical composition and the phase of each mineral precipitation. The saline system of El Melah represents a geoeconomic interest due to the cheap natural process of production, its large quantity of halite with varieties of other accessory minerals, and cheap procedure of exportation. Highlights The cumulative number of species along the evaporation process reaches 20: Halite (NaCl) (73–95%), epsomite (MgSO4·7H2O) (7–14%), bischofite (MgCl2:6H2O)(1%), Kieserite Mg(SO4)(H2O)(0–2%), magnesite (MgCO3) (1–4%), polyhalite (K2Ca2 Mg(SO4)4, 2H2O).; The purity of halite is guaranteed at low rates of evaporation. Evaporation between 50 and 75% produces a mixture dominated by halite.;Elhoucine EssefiMohamed Ali TagortiIWA Publishingarticleel melahgeochemistrymineralogyprogressive evaporationsoutheastern tunisiaEnvironmental technology. Sanitary engineeringTD1-1066ENWater Practice and Technology, Vol 16, Iss 2, Pp 633-647 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	el melah geochemistry mineralogy progressive evaporation southeastern tunisia Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066
spellingShingle	el melah geochemistry mineralogy progressive evaporation southeastern tunisia Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Elhoucine Essefi Mohamed Ali Tagorti Geoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha El Melah, southeastern Tunisia
description	This work aimed to study the formation of salt through a progressive evaporation of sebkha El Melah brine. The precipitated salt in the case of sebkha El Melah is variable along the progressive evaporation. Weights of salt after each phase of precipitation indicate a heterogeneous evaporation process cumulating at 315 g L−1. With an increasing evaporation of El Melah brine, the number of precipitated mineral species increased. The cumulative number of species along the evaporation process reached 20, including principally: Halite (NaCl) (73–95%), epsomite (MgSO4·7H2O) (7–14%), bischofite (MgCl2:6H2O) (1%), Kieserite Mg(SO4)(H2O) (0–2%), magnesite (MgCO3) (1–4%), polyhalite (K2Ca2Mg(SO4)4,2H2O). Also, the thermodynamic theoretical modeling of the El Melah brine shows convergence with geochemical and mineralogical experimental data. At an evaporation rate of 60%, the sebkha of El Melah annually provides with 315,000 tons of salt. The majority of salt (80%) is halite. The remaining 20% contains different species having a huge economic interest. From an industrial viewpoint, our study shows that the purity of halite is guaranteed at low rates of evaporation. Evaporation between 50 and 75% produces a mixture dominated by halite. Evaporation higher than 75% needs further studies to find the mineralogical composition and the phase of each mineral precipitation. The saline system of El Melah represents a geoeconomic interest due to the cheap natural process of production, its large quantity of halite with varieties of other accessory minerals, and cheap procedure of exportation. Highlights The cumulative number of species along the evaporation process reaches 20: Halite (NaCl) (73–95%), epsomite (MgSO4·7H2O) (7–14%), bischofite (MgCl2:6H2O)(1%), Kieserite Mg(SO4)(H2O)(0–2%), magnesite (MgCO3) (1–4%), polyhalite (K2Ca2 Mg(SO4)4, 2H2O).; The purity of halite is guaranteed at low rates of evaporation. Evaporation between 50 and 75% produces a mixture dominated by halite.;
format	article
author	Elhoucine Essefi Mohamed Ali Tagorti
author_facet	Elhoucine Essefi Mohamed Ali Tagorti
author_sort	Elhoucine Essefi
title	Geoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha El Melah, southeastern Tunisia
title_short	Geoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha El Melah, southeastern Tunisia
title_full	Geoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha El Melah, southeastern Tunisia
title_fullStr	Geoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha El Melah, southeastern Tunisia
title_full_unstemmed	Geoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha El Melah, southeastern Tunisia
title_sort	geoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha el melah, southeastern tunisia
publisher	IWA Publishing
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/3306600cadfc411caf8d23614f783c8a
work_keys_str_mv	AT elhoucineessefi geoeconomicinterestofmineralsassemblageofsebkhaelmelahsoutheasterntunisia AT mohamedalitagorti geoeconomicinterestofmineralsassemblageofsebkhaelmelahsoutheasterntunisia
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Geoeconomic interest of minerals assemblage of sebkha El Melah, southeastern Tunisia

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