Characterization of perlite and expanded perlite from West Sumatera, Indonesia
Didit Adi Darmawan, Agus Wahyudi, Hasudungan Eric Mamby, Ijang Suherman
Abstract
Abstract As a volcanic country, Indonesia is rich in natural mineral resources. One of them is perlite that is spread across several provinces in Indonesia. One of the companies with a mining business permit (IUP) for perlite is CV Abdi Bersaudara, located at Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatra Province. Perlite rock can be processed through comminution and heating method. Crushed perlite can be used as sandblasting, slag coagulant, source of silica, foundry and steel industry, special casting sand and metal finishing. Meanwhile, the expanded perlite is a product of heated perlite with a temperature of 700 ⁰ C-900 ⁰ C. This research aimed to investigate the characters of perlite and expanded perlite from West Sumatra. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted by laboratory experiments and testing, such as atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and optical microscope (OM). Based on the results of this study, West Sumatera perlite can be used as adsorbents, filter media, filler materials and planting media applications.