The Third International Conference On Structure, Processing And Properties Of Materials SPPM2010

24-26 February 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh, SPPM2010 H 07

Optimisaion of Leaching of Zinc Dross in Sulphuric Acid Solutions

Sazzad Ahmad , ASW Kurny

MME Department, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology,

Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

Abstract
The results of a study on optimization of leaching parameters of galvanizing plant dross in dilute sulphuric
acid are presented. Effects of particle size, reaction temperature and time, volume of liquid, and acid
concentration in the leach liquor on the rate of dissolution were determined. The results obtained show that
dissolution of about 97.67 percent zinc is achieved using -140 + 200 mesh dross particles at a reaction
temperature of above 65 oC for reaction time with 20 percent acid concentration. The solid liquid ratio was
maintained at a constant value of 1:80g/ml. The nature and the extent of impurities in the leach liquor have
been determined and the leach solution has been purified with respect to dissolved impurities using
precipitation method.

Keywords: Kinetics, sulphuric acid leaching, purification of leach liquor, galvanising plant dross.

1. INTRODUCTION
Zinc is the most used non-ferrous metal after aluminium and copper. About 70 percent of all zinc produced
throughout the world is consumed in the galvanising of steels. About 15 percent of the total amount of the
used zinc are accumulated as wastes (dross, ash and dust). The possibilities of recycling zinc from such
wastes exist. As the uses of zinc increases the gap between demand and supply is widening (1,2).

In Bangladesh a significant quantity of zinc is imported for use in the galvanising plants. Since Bangladesh
has no known deposits of zinc ores from which production of primary zinc is possible, the total requirement
of zinc in Bangladesh is met through imports. A significant quantity of zinc wastes are generated in these
galvanising plants. A portion of such wastes are processed in the unorganised sector within the country for
the production of zinc sulphate for use as fertiliser and the remainder is exported at a nominal price to
countries that have the know how for extraction of zinc from such wastes.

Bangladesh is a net importer of zinc. As the gap between demand and supply is increasing gradually it is
important to use the locally available industrial wastes like the galvising plant wastes for the production of
zinc within the country. Recycling of zinc offers environmental benefits by reducing the volume of material
that end up on land filling and relieving environmental impacts on land and water.

Both pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes are practised worldwide to treat zinc wastes (3-
5). Hydrometallurgical methods are comparatively clean and can be adopted in small and medium scale
industries (SME). There are three main methods, namely the electrowinning process (3,4), the solvent
extraction-electrowinning process (3) and crystallisation for manufacture of zinc sulphate (5). Leaching is
the first step in the hydrometallurgical route and leaching kinetics is important from the economic point of
view. Extensive studies (6-10) on the kinetics and technological aspects of leaching of zinc bearing wastes
in different media has been performed. This paper presents the results of a study of leaching kinetics of
galvanising plant dross in dilute sulphuric acid.

2. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

Sample of zinc dross was collected from a galvanizing plant. The chemical composition of the dross, as
determined by Optical Emission Spectrophotometer, is given in Table 1.
 Table: 1. Chemical Composition (%Wt) of Dross (as received composition):

Zn Fe Pb Cu Sn Al
97.447 2.3862 0.16039 0.000 0.00502 0.000

The sample was ground in a ball mill and then sieved in to different size fractions by using a standard Tyler
sieve shaker. Four size fractions –70 + 100, – 100 + 140, – 140 + 200 and – 200 + 270 mesh were taken
for study.

The leaching of dross was conducted at room temperature in sulphuric acid diluted to different
concentrations. The leaching reaction is exothermic and therefore, a water bath was used to maintain
room temperature. Diluted acid was cooled to room temperature and then put to zinc dross. The effects of
time, concentration of acid, particle size, and temperature on the rate of leaching was determined.

Determination of zinc in the leach liquor was done by wet chemical analysis. The impurities particularly
iron, create trouble during titration. The leach liquor was therefore, purified of the impurities (3-5 ) before
the determination of zinc in solution.
2+ 2+
Iron is released into the solution mostly as Fe during leaching (1,9). Iron in solution as Fe was first
3+ 3+
converted into Fe by oxidation by blowing air in presence of MnO2. Fe was then precipitated by
controlling the pH between 4.5 and 5.2. Ca(OH)2 was used to control pH. The elimination of iron was
confirmed by adding a few drops of potassium ferricyanide solution. The other impurities were removed by
cementation technique in three different stages. The first stage was carried out by the addition of zinc dust
at ambient temperature. This stage removed copper and cadmium. The second stage was carried out at a
o
temperature of 85 C in the presence of potassium tartarate, which practically removed all of the impurities.
In the third and final step activated charcoal was to the purified solution to absorb unwanted organics, if
present. After each step the leach liquor was filtered to remove the impurities.

Effect of Time

The effect of time on leaching was studied at first. The powder size 200 mesh and sulphuric acid
concentration of 10% in 80ml solution was conducted for the maximum extraction of zinc to determine the
time after which zinc in the leach liquor does not increase at an appreciable rate. Four periods of time was
selected for this purpose viz., 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours.

Effect of Acid Concentration

The effect of concentration of leaching reagent was determined by leaching of samples of particle size of –
200, +270 mesh. Leaching was performed for a time period of 3h at room temp in a liquid volume of 80ml
for 1gm of sample. The concentrations of H2SO4 were 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%.. The best concentration
of H2SO4 regarding extraction of zinc was determined from plots of zinc concentration in solution versus
concentration of acid in the leaching solution.

Effect of Powder size

The powder samples were Particles of -70+100 mesh, -100+140 mesh, -140+200 mesh, -200+270 mesh
was leached with 20% H2SO4 at room temperature for 3rs. Concentration of zinc in solution was plotted
against particle sizes. The particle size that gave the maximum dissolution was decided from these plots.

Effect of Liquid Volume

The leaching was conducted in different volumes (60ml, 80ml, 100ml, and 120ml) of leach liquor of the
same acid concentration (20% H2SO4). 1gm solid sample was leached at room temperature for 3hrs. The
optimum solid-liquid ratio was ascertained from plots of zinc in solution versus volume of liquid.

Effect of Temperature

Samples of particle size that gave the maximum extraction was leached with H2SO4 of concentration that
gave the maximum extraction with a liquid volume that gave the maximum extraction at different
o o
temperature for 1hr to see the effects of temperature. The temperatures investigated were 35 C, 50 C,
65oC, 80oC. From a plot of zinc in solution at different temperatures, the temperature that gives the
maximum extraction during leaching was determined.
3. RESULTS and DISCUSSION
o
Results of leaching of zinc dross at room temperature (25 C) in 1.88M H2SO4 for different periods of time,
as determined by determining the content of zinc in the leach liquor, is shown in Fig.1. More than 85% of
zinc dissolved after only 1hr of leaching, further increase in time lead to only a slight increase in zinc
dissolution. Time of 3 hrs was selected as optimum retention time when ≈ 93% of zinc dissolved.

Fig 1: Effect of Time on the Extent of Zinc Dissolution

The effect of particle size on leaching of dross in 1.88M H2SO4 acid for a period of 3 h is shown in Fig. 2. It
can be seen that zinc in solution increases with a decrease in size of the particles. This is to be expected.
As the particle size decreases the surface area increases, and hence the rate of reaction increases.

Fig 2: Effect of Particle Size on Zn Dissolution

The effect of H2SO4 concentration on leaching is shown in Fig. 3. The leaching was conducted for 3hours
at room temperature. About 95% of zinc was recovered using 15% acid concentration H2SO4. At higher
acid concentration as 20%, the zinc recovery is slightly increased to 98.34%. Further increase in acid
concentration leads to negligible increase in zinc dissolution. Subsequent experiments were conducted at
20% H2SO4 concentration.
 Fig: 3. Effect of Acid concentration Variation on Zn recovery

The effect of liquid volume on the recovery of zinc from the mixed zinc sample is shown in Fig. 4. The test
was conducted at room temperature for 3 h with 20% H2SO4 concentration. The results reveal that the
recovery of zinc increased with increasing the liquid volume, i.e. increasing the amount of H2SO4 added.
Almost all of the zinc was dissolved at liquid volume 120ml, in which the recovery reached > 99%. Liquid
volume 120ml for 1gm solid was selected as the optimum condition and was applied to subsequent
experiments.

Fig: 4. Effect of Liquid Volume on Zn Dissolution

With increasing temperature, the dissolution rate of zinc is increased and thus %wt recovery of zinc from
o
solution also increased. At temperatures of 65 C or higher, the % wt recovery of zinc is leveled off. The
results are sown in Fig: 5. The reaction is exothermic and the temperature reached 75°C as soon as the
total amount of zinc sample was added to the sulfuric acid solution. It is worth mentioning that, sulfuric acid
was diluted to the required concentration and cooled down to room temperature before the leaching
experiment.
 Fig: 5. Effect of Temperature on Zn recovery

4. CONCLUSION

The study was aimed at determining the value of process variables that gives the best conditions for
leaching of zinc dross in sulphuric acid solutions. The effects of time of leaching, particle size,
concentration of leaching reagent, liquid volume and temperature of leaching, were investigated. The best
condition of leaching was found to be : particle size of dross: -200, +270 mesh, H2SO4 acid concentration
o
20%, Temperature above 65 C and leaching time of 1 hour.

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