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High Purity Magnesium Oxide

Due to increases of significantly cheaper foreign sources of magnesium oxide and a widely fluctuating steel market (the biggest user of refractory grade MgO), the focus of major magnesium oxide producers in the United States has turned to improved quality rather than supplying commodity quantities.

In order to meet the specialized needs of customers, magnesium oxide is further refined and purified. Usually the magnesium oxide is rehydrated (mixed back with water) to form magnesium hydroxide:

2MgO + 2H ₂O ----> 2Mg(OH) ₂ (slurry)

The slurry form of magnesium hydroxide allows for easier addition of other elements or compounds (in either gaseous or liquid form) to remove contaminants such as calcium, sulfur, and any excess chlorides that may have remained in the original reaction and thereby increases the purity of the product.

Using relatively simple chemistry it is also possible to add certain ingredients to magnesium oxide to generate a broad range of new magnesium based compounds. As in the high purity magnesium oxide process, magnesium hydroxide slurry is a convenient medium for these additions. Examples of typical reactions include:

Next: Industrial Uses for MgO

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