Magnesium carbonate: Overview, Benefits and Versatile Applications

General Description

Magnesium carbonate, a vital nutritional supplement, offers numerous benefits for digestive health, weight management, and overall vitality. Its balanced composition and mild acidity make it an effective medium-term laxative and a versatile solution for various ailments. From combating fatigue to promoting tissue and bone health, regulating intestinal flora, and serving as a stomach protector and antacid, magnesium carbonate has wide-ranging applications. Magnesium carbonate is also essential for muscle function, athletic performance, and improving sleep quality. While obtaining magnesium through a balanced diet is ideal, supplements can provide a necessary dose for optimal bodily function, especially in cases of inadequate nutrition intake. However, it's crucial to adhere to recommended daily doses and consult with a healthcare professional.

Figure 1. Magnesium carbonate

Benefits

Magnesium is an essential mineral to the metabolism of dairy cows because it is a cofactor for many vital enzymes. The most used magnesium source in dairy cow diets is magnesium oxide. Magnesium oxide has been shown to have alkalizing effects in the rumen and to increase milk fat synthesis in dairy cows.

Because MgO is an expensive Mg source, other sources, such as calcium-magnesium carbonate [CaMg(CO3)2] and calcium-magnesium hydroxide [CaMg(OH)4], have been studied in relation to ruminal fermentation and dairy cow performance as potential alternatives to MgO. Calcium-magnesium carbonate is a potential source for replacing MgO with no differences in dairy cow performance and in vitro ruminal nutrient digestibility.

Magnesium sources also have effects in controlling ruminal pH because of their alkalizing capacity. Teh et al. observed that dairy cows in early lactation supplemented with 0.8% MgO had a similar pH of cows supplemented with NaHCO3, which was a greater ruminal pH than in cows supplemented with 0.4% of MgO. In addition, Thomas and Emery observed that cows fed with a roughage-restricted diet, supplemented with 181 g/d of MgO, had a greater ruminal pH than cows fed with 136 g/d; however, they did not observe additional effects of combining MgO supplementation with NaHCO3. On the other hand, Erdman et al., feeding dairy cows in early postpartum combining 0.8% of MgO and 1% of NaHCO3 supplementation, observed that the association of both components had a greater effect in increasing NDF digestibility than either component individually.²

Versatile Applications

First ideas of applications design using magnesium carbonates mixed with silica gel for day/night and seasonal thermal energy storage are presented by R. Zevenhoven and Rickard Erlund. The application implies using solar (or another) heat source for heating up the thermal energy storage (dehydration) unit during daytime or summertime, of which energy can be discharged (hydration) during night-time or winter. The applications can be used in small houses or bigger buildings. Experimental data are presented, determining and analysing kinetics and operating temperatures for the applications. In this paper the focus is on the hydration part of the process, which is the more challenging part, considering conversion and kinetics. Various operating temperatures for both the reactor and the water (storage) tank are tested and the favourable temperatures are presented and discussed. Applications both using ground heat for water vapour generation and using water vapour from indoor air are presented. The thermal energy storage system with mixed nesquehonite (NQ) and silica gel (SG) can use both low (25–50%) and high (75%) relative humidity (RH) air for hydration. The hydration at 40% RH gives a thermal storage capacity of 0.32 MJ/kg while 75% RH gives a capacity of 0.68 MJ/kg.³

Reference

1. Magnesium Carbonate. National Center for Biotechnology Information. 2024; PubChem Compound Summary for CID 11029.

2. Agustinho BC, Ravelo A, Vinyard JR, et al. Effects of replacing magnesium oxide with calcium-magnesium carbonate with or without sodium bicarbonate on ruminal fermentation and nutrient flow in vitro. J Dairy Sci. 2022;105(4):3090-3101.

3. Hydration of Magnesium Carbonate in a Thermal Energy Storage Process and Its Heating Application Design. doi: 10.3390/EN11010170

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