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