Anhydrous Magnesium Chloride Dehydration Process Passes Appraisal

The research project on the bischofite advanced dehydration engineering technology and the research on the test of the low-consumption electrolytic technology that simultaneously undertaken by Qinghai Salt Lake Industrial Group Co., Ltd. and East China University of Science and Technology has passed the acceptance appraisal in Germu of Qinghai province.   The preparation of anhydrous magnesium chloride through bischofite dehydration is the core technology in the production of metal magnesium through electrolysis. In the research on the bischofite dehydration engineering technology, East China University of Science and Technology became the first unit in China that mastered the magnesium chloride hexahydrate reaction-crystallization coupling dehydration process and its commercialization technology that presented a major breakthrough in the systematic basic theory and key technology for its lab and pilot testing. There were also achievements in the electrochemistry for the production of magnesium through electrolysis, cost reduction in the production of anhydrous magnesium chloride through bischofite dehydration, and production of metal magnesium through electrolysis.   On the basis, Qinghai Salt Lake Industrial Group Co., Ltd., East China University of Science and Technology and a high-tech company in Ningxia joined together and invested RMB15 million to construct the first 1 500 t/a anhydrous magnesium chloride commercial demonstration unit in 2004. Products with a magnesium chloride content of 98.5% were produced in 2005.    The research achievement has laid a technical foundation for the development and utilization of rich magnesium resources in Qinghai Charhan Salt Lake. Anhydrous magnesium chloride is an important chemical product which used extensively in petroleum, chemical (industrial catalyst) and pharmaceutical sectors. It is also an excellent non-ferrous metal raw material that used extensively in the metal magnesium production through electrolysis.