The first tentative experiments on the production of carboxylic acids and their derivatives from balkhashite and Barzas sapromixites by oxidation for use as flotation reagents were carried out in 1932. These experiments, naturally, led to the idea of applying oxidation reactions to obtain these products to sapropel material. Results of the work: 1. The easy oxidability of sapropel material has been established, with a large yield (from 30 to 60%) of oxidation products extracted with organic solvents and alkalis. 2. The oxidation products of sapropel material (a mixture of carboxylic acids and their saponified derivatives) are characterized by high molecular weights and saponification numbers, low hydrogen content and insignificant iodine numbers. 3. The formation of acids soluble in petroleum ether has been established during the secondary oxidation of compounds soluble in sulfuric ether and a mixture of alcohol-benzene, which in their chemical properties are close to the acids of the petroleum fraction of primary oxidation. 4. The most effective oxidizing agent at this stage of work is nitric acid. 5. It has been established that the oxidation products of sapropels are flotation active, especially substances of primary and secondary oxidation, soluble in petroleum ether.
The flotation enrichment method, which has made a complete revolution in the use of minerals in recent years, apparently has not yet been used to separate water-soluble salts into their component components, since there is no literature data on this issue. The application of a very rational flotation method, at least to a separate case, to simplify and shorten the long and cumbersome method of fractionated crystallization, would give impetus to the further development of research in this area, the results of which could greatly simplify the technological process for the separation of salts.
