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

زمین شناسی اقتصادی

Volume 16, Issue 1 - Serial Number 40, 2024, Pages 133-144   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/econg.2023.81390.1070

Authors

Adnan Khan^{* 1}; Muhammad Tajuddin²; Umair Majeed³; Muhammad Faizan Rahim⁴

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

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

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

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

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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