ISSN: 2157-7617

Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Our Group organises 3000+ Global Conferenceseries Events every year across USA, Europe & Asia with support from 1000 more scientific Societies and Publishes 700+ Open Access Journals which contains over 50000 eminent personalities, reputed scientists as editorial board members.

Open Access Journals gaining more Readers and Citations
700 Journals and 15,000,000 Readers Each Journal is getting 25,000+ Readers

This Readership is 10 times more when compared to other Subscription Journals (Source: Google Analytics)
  • Research Article   
  • J Earth Sci Clim Change 2019, Vol 10(1): 506

Physical - Mechanical Characterization of the Limestones of the Merfeg Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian) in Central Tunisia and their Industrial Valorization

Ikram Jabli*, Tahar Aloui, Houda Khaled and Fredj Chaabani
Laboratory of Mineral Resources and Environment, Department of Geology, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
*Corresponding Author : Ikram Jabli, Laboratory of Mineral Resources and Environment, Department of Geology, Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences of Tunis, University of Tunis, El-Manar, 2092 - Tunis, Tunisia, Tel: +223 71 99 02 82, Email: mjabligeologie@gmail.com

Received Date: Dec 09, 2018 / Accepted Date: Jan 10, 2019 / Published Date: Jan 18, 2019

Abstract

This paper investigates the suitability of the Campanian-Maastrichtian reef limestones from Merfeg Formation in Central Tunisia for a potential of use in the painting industry. Samples were milled to a specific surface area of approximately 3500 ± 250 cm2/g. Physical and mechanical behavior, including (chemical-mineralogical composition, particle size distribution, optical performance, thermal behavior, density, Los Angeles abrasion tests and Micro-Deval and oil absorption) for raw material and the physical and mechanical behavior including (pH, viscosity, density and dry extract, visual glossiness wet film thickness and Wet abrasion resistance) for the paint films were carried these tests meet all standard requirements. The results show that the middle (second class) limestone of the Merfeg formation is marked by a high degree of purity, low levels of harmful oxides such as Fe2O3, MgO and SiO2, brightness high (more than 86.5, 95.2 on average) with relatively low chromaticity (a*<3.3, b*<9.1), low oil consumption (18 ml/100 g of limestone on average), good grindability and acceptable abrasion range (10-17) and improved rheological properties. The calcium from the Merfeg formation appears to be suitable filler for the paint when mixed with water. On average, the formulated emulsion paint was composed of 58.8% calcium carbonate as filler, 28.9% water, 6% acrylic styrene, 4.5% TiO2 as pigment and additives currents (1.8% in total). The formulated paint films meet all standard requirements, in that they have very good opacity, high luminescence (L*=96.4), good pH buffering (close to 9), appearance and washability (wet abrasion resistance less than 5 μm). The performances of the films are similar to those based on the Barre de Ghoumrassene Member and El Garia Formation in Southeast and Northeast Tunisia respectively; however, they are slightly lower than the Abiod Formation (a lateral equivalent of Merfeg Formation) from the Feriana Hill in West-Central Tunisia and the Aşıgediği Formation in South Central Turkey. Henceforth, the studied carbonate, calcium might be valorized in paint industry, which are eco-friendly and easy to apply.

Keywords: Limestones; Merfeg formation; Raw material; Physicochemical characterization; Valorization; Paint film

Citation: Jabli I, Aloui T, Khaled H, Chaabani F (2019) Physical - Mechanical Characterization of the Limestones of the Merfeg Formation (Campanian- Maastrichtian) in Central Tunisia and their Industrial Valorization. J Earth Sci Clim Change 10: 506.

Copyright: © 2019 Jabli I, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Top