Alkaline leaching of metal melting industry wastes and separation of zinc and lead in the leach solution

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Lin, Min

Affiliations: Tongji University Science and Technology Development Co. Ltd., Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

Abstract: In this work, a thorough examinations on the extractability of zinc and lead present in the steelmaking dusts using alkaline leaching process and the effectiveness of the zinc and lead separation in the resultant leaching solutions using sulfide precipitation method were made. It was found that only about 53% of zinc and over 70% of the lead could be leached out of the dusts, while the other 47% of zinc and 306 of lead were left in the leaching residues. The zinc and lead in the resultant leaching solution can be effectively and selectively separated. When the weight ratio of sodium sulfide (M. W. = 222-240) to Pb was kept at 1.8, the lead in the solution could be precipitated out quantitatively while all the zinc was remained in the solution. The zinc left in the solution can be further recovered by the addition of extra sodium sulfide with a weight ratio of sodium sulfide to the zinc over 2.6. The resultant filtrate can be recycled to the leaching of dust in the next leaching process.

Keywords: alkaline leach , leaching solutions, zinc, lead

Journal: Journal of Environmental Sciences, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 452-457, 2000