The Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FTUI), once again held an Open Doctoral Promotion Session in the field of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering on January 5. During the session, Eni Febriana presented and defended her dissertation, which explores the utilization of ferronickel slag from Sulawesi as a value-added raw material through pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processing approaches.
The dissertation, entitled “Decomposition of Magnesium Silicate (MgSiO₃) from Sulawesi Ferronickel Slag Using Pyrometallurgical and Hydrometallurgical Methods to Obtain Magnesium, Silica, and Silicon,” was motivated by the large volume of ferronickel slag in Indonesia. Ferronickel slag is a solid waste generated from the smelting of nickel ore in the production of ferronickel.
“Ferronickel slag generally still contains valuable minerals such as magnesium silicate and silica. However, most of it has so far only been stockpiled and not optimally utilized, even though it contains important elements such as magnesium (Mg) and silica (SiO₂), which have great potential to be developed into high economic value products,” Eni explained in her presentation.
In this research, Eni Febriana examined a series of processing stages to separate and extract magnesium, silica, and silicon from ferronickel slag. The process begins with pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical treatments to extract magnesium, followed by acidic and alkaline hydrothermal processes to enhance the purity and quality of silica. In the final stage, the resulting silica is further processed into silicon using the magnesiothermic reduction method.
“The results show that this stepwise approach significantly enhances the utilization of ferronickel slag. The developed process not only successfully extracts magnesium but also produces high-purity nanosilica and silicon with yields approaching theoretical values. These findings demonstrate that ferronickel industrial waste has strong potential to be processed into strategic raw materials, while simultaneously supporting waste reduction efforts and sustainable industrial development,” she stated.
Dean of FTUI, Prof. Kemas Ridwan Kurniawan, expressed his appreciation for the research achievement. “This research demonstrates how industrial waste can be transformed into high-value materials through appropriate engineering approaches. Scholarly work such as this aligns with FTUI’s commitment to promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly research,” Prof. Kemas remarked.
Eni Febriana was officially declared to have passed and awarded the doctoral degree with the summa cum laude distinction and a perfect GPA of 4.00. She is recorded as the 81st Doctoral graduate of the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Study Program and the 639th Doctoral graduate of the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia.
The doctoral promotion session was chaired by Prof. Dr. Ir. Widodo Wahyu Purwanto, DEA, as Chair of the Session, with Prof. Dr. Ir. Johny Wahyuadi M. Soedarsono, DEA, serving as Promotor. The Co-Promotors were Prof. Dr. Ir. Rini Riastuti, M.Sc. as Co-Promotor I and Dr. Agus Budi Prasetyo, S.T., M.T. as Co-Promotor II. The board of examiners consisted of Dr. Badrul Munir, S.T., M.Eng.Sc., Dr.-Ing. Reza Miftahul Ulum, S.T., M.T., Dr.-Ing. Yudha Pratesha, S.T., M.T., and Dr. Ir. Yunita Sadeli, M.Sc.
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