The preparation of silica from the olivine process and its possible use as a catalyst support

The production of silica from the dissolution of olivine in sulphuric acid has been studied. Variations in grainsize of the olivine result in different specific surface areas of the silica. The microporosity of the silica supports an aggregative growth model responsible for the increasing particle size. The silica is used in the preparation of a nickel catalyst. The performance of the produced catalyst is equal to a nickel catalyst based on commercially available silica