| ARTICLES | Am. J. Inn. Res. Appl Sci. Volume 1, Issue 10, Pages 367-378 (December 2015)

Research Article PRODUCTION OF COATED CALCIUM CARBONATE FROM LOCALLY AVAILABLE LIMESTONE | Biniam Tefera Amdebrhan | Yeayneabeba Tadesse Mamo | Beteley Tekola Meshesha | and | Endrise Ali Mohemmed |. American Journal of Innovative Research and Applied Sciences. 2015; 1(10):367-378.      | PDF FULL TEXT |                                                                                     |Received | 23 October 2015|          |Accepted | 01 December 2015|         |Published | 22 December 2015|

ABSTRACT Background: Considering the situation in Ethiopia, most PVC pipe manufacturers use uncoated calcium carbonate filler due to the increased cost of coated calcium carbonate. But, improved mechanical, thermal and structural properties can be attained by using coated calcium carbonate. However, there are no local producers of coated calcium carbonate and the demand for this product is entirely meet through import. Objective: The primary purpose of this study is the production of coated calcium carbonate by using locally available deposit of limestone. Material and Methods: In this study, by varying the concentration of stearic acid and operating temperature 16 samples were examined. Result: The optimum parameter was obtained at 4 % w/w stearic acid concentration and at 80o C. In this operating condition degree of coating, pH, bulk density were 99.95%, 8.20, 1.09 g/ml respectively and the stearic acid coated calcium carbonate were in soluble in cold and hot water, 1% HCl, 2% HCl and found partially soluble in 65% concentrated HNO3 with 6.33% moisture content. Conclusion: The percentage purity of locally available limestone which is around 86.7% is high enough for plastic filler application. Best coating of limestone can be obtained at 4 % w/w stearic acid concentration and at 80o C. Keyword: limestone, stearic acid and bulk density.