Suitability Assessment of Pab Sandstone for Industrial Applications, Southern Pab Range Pakistan

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Adnan Khan ¹
• Muhammad Tajuddin ²
• Umair Majeed ³
• Muhammad Faizan Rahim ⁴

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan

² M.Sc., Department of Geology, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan

³ Ph.D. student, Geological Survey of Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan

⁴ M.Sc., Kohat Cement Company Limited, Kohat, Pakistan

10.22067/econg.2023.81390.1070

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the Physio-chemical characteristics of Pab sandstone of the Cretaceous age for its value added uses and industrial applications. For this purpose, sandstone samples (n = 25) were collected from Southern Pab Range in Kirthar fold belt for petrography and chemical analysis. Petrography shows that the sandstone is mainly composed of coarse to fine, sub rounded to angular, and moderately sorted quartz. Chemical analysis shows that the mean content of SiO₂ is about 93.57% and Al₂O₃ is only about 1.65% suggesting the dominance of quartz. On the other hand, the mean concentration of Fe₂O₃, Na₂O and K₂O, CaO and MgO are found to be 1.54%, 0.11% and 0.05%, 2.26% and 0.45% respectively while SO₃ content is found to be 0.02% as an average. Chemical analysis and petrography suggest that Pab sandstone is suitable for the production of glass products such as Egyptian glass, glass fiber, soda lime silica container glass, and Roman glass as it contains more than 90% silica. The silica content can further enhanced up to 99% by the removal of impurities (CaO and Fe₂O₃), making it suitable for foundries, ceramics, and silica gel. Beneficiation is required for the production of other types of glass, as well as for other industrial applications.

Keywords

• Pab Sandstone
• Pab Range
• physic-chemical properties
• Industrial application

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