• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.27-34
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• 2021

In this study, the leaching behavior of vanadium (V) was investigated through CaO roasting and sulfuric acid leaching from domestic V-bearing titanomagnetite (VTM). Changes in the phase according to the amount of CaO added and roasting temperature were analyzed. Regardless of the roasting conditions, perovskite (CaTiO₃) was preferred to form. When the CaO content was increased, the calcium ferrite (CaFeO_x) phase was formed; otherwise, ferrite (Fe₂O₃) was preferred. After CaO was roasted, leaching was performed for 6 h with 1M sulfuric acid at 50℃ and a 10% solid-liquid ratio. Results of leaching revealed that when the roasted product was sintered, V was not sufficiently oxidized, and the leaching efficiency decreased. In addition, when the roasting temperature was low, the leaching efficiency of V decreased due to the influence of unreacted excess CaO. To lower the leaching efficiency of iron and titanium in VTM concentrates, suppressing the formation of CaTiO₃ and CaFeO_x was necessary by minimizing the amount of CaO added. Consequently, a leaching efficiency of 86% V, 4.3% Fe, and 6.5% Ti was obtained when the roasted product of 1150℃ and 10 wt% CaO was leached.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.40-48
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• 2022

In waste lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, the cathode material contains approximately 4% lithium. Recycling the constituent elements of batteries is important for resource circulation and for mitigating the environmental pollution. Li contained in the waste LFP cathode powder was selectively leached using persulfate-based oxidizing agents, such as sodium persulfate, potassium persulfate, and ammonium persulfate. Leaching efficiency and waste LFP powder properties were compared and analyzed. Pulp density was used as a variable during leaching, which was performed for 3 h under each condition. The leaching efficiency was calculated using the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis of the leachate. All types of persulfate-based oxidizing agents used in this study showed a Li leaching efficiency over 92%. In particular, when leaching was performed using (NH₄)₂S₂O₈, the highest Li leaching percentage of 93.3% was observed, under the conditions of 50 g/L pulp density and an oxidizing agent concentration of 1.1 molar ratio.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2022

Nd-Fe-B waste permanent magnet contains about 20~30% rare earth elements and about 60~70% iron elements, and the rare earth and iron components were recovered through sulfuric acid leaching and fractional crystallization. Oxidation roasting was not performed for separation and recover of the rare earth and iron elements. The leaching characteristics were confirmed by using as variables the sulfuric acid concentration and the mineral solution concentration ratio. Sulfuric acid leaching was carried out for 3 hours for each sulfuric acid concentration. The leached solid phase was characterized for its crystalline phase, composition, and quantitative components by XRD and XRF analysis, and the filtrate was analyzed for components by ICP analysis. With sulfuric acid leaching at 3M sulfuric acid concentration, neodymium compounds were formed, the iron content was the least, and the recovery rate was high. After the filtrate remaining after sulfuric acid leaching was subjected to fractional crystallization through evaporation and concentration, the neodymium component was found to be concentrated 7.0 times and the iron component 2.8 times. In this study, the recovery rate of waste permanent magnets through sulfuric acid leaching and a fractional crystallization method without an oxidation and roasting process was confirmed to be about 99.4%.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.231-242
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• 1976

The effects of temperature and pressure of leaching water on the leaching of radionuclides from bitumen-waste products were studied. The principal results are as follows: The fraction of $^{90}$ Sr and $^{137}$ Cs leached for periods of up to 120 days at 8atm was 2.1$\times$10$^{-6}$ ($\textrm{cm}^2$/g)$^{-1}$ , day$^{-1}$ and 6.02$\times$10$^{-5}$ ($\textrm{cm}^2$/g)$^{-1}$ day$^{-1}$ respectively and at 5$^{\circ}C$, 1.7$\times$10$^{-5}$ ($\textrm{cm}^2$/g)$^{-1}$ day$^{-1}$ and 4.01$\times$10$^{-5}$ ($\textrm{cm}^2$/g)$^{-1}$ day$^{-1}$ respectively. These values were lower than those in atmospheric pressure and room temperature. No diffence in the leaching rate with sea and distilled water was observed for the bitumen-waste products containing 40wt% salts. It appears that these results could be saved by improving safety in the dumping of sea. The effect of the softening point of pure asphalt or bitumen-waste product by $^{60}$ Co irradiation was increased with increasing total dose. Irradiation of asphalts at a total dose of 5.8$\times$10$^{8}$ rad showed no evidence of volume and caused no swelling. The functional groups of blown asphalt by infrared spectra are also identified.

• Clean Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.258-264
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• 2010

This study estimated the possibility of phosphate removal characteristics to utilize EAF(electric arc furnace) slag as submarine cover material. The major phosphate removal mechanism was a certain formation of HAP precipitation occurred by the ionization reaction between $Ca^{2+}$ and $OH^-$, which were leached from the EAF Slag. Another phosphate removal mechanism was the adsortion of EAF slag surface. As a result of $PO_4{^-}-P$ removal characteristics using continuous column reactor, $PO_4{^-}-P$ concentration decreased rapidly after 3 days and 10 days later, it show under 0.5 ppm. The result as applied in real sea water, shows that the phosphate removal effects were 93~98% by the subaqueous sediment removal using the EAF slag. In conclusion, EAF slag is useful in $PO_4{^-}-P$ removal and control and it is possible to use without additional process like crush and selection.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2023

Herein, we selectively recovered Zn and produced ZnSO₄ from electric arc furnace dust using a hydrometallurgical process. The analysis of the properties of the electric arc furnace dust revealed that the Fe content (9.9%) was relatively low while the Mn content (19%) was high as compared to the composition of general dust. Therefore, an appropriate hydrometallurgical process was designed based on the properties of the raw materials. In the leaching process involving the use of 1.6 M sulfuric acid and 20% solid-liquid ratio at 60℃ for 1 h, 85% of the Zn and Mn got dissolved while the Fe was not leached. To selectively recover Zn, a solvent extraction process using D2EHPA as the extractant was chosen, and 99% of the Zn was extracted using 0.8 M D2EHPA with 32% saponification and an O/A ratio of 2 using counter-current 3-stage extraction. Mn was entirely scrubbed with an aqueous sulfuric acid solution of pH 1.5. Finally, Zn was concentrated and stripped using 1.5 M sulfuric acid at an O/A ratio of 4 using counter-current 4-stage stripping. The stripping solution contained 40 g/L of Zn, and 99.9% of ZnSO₄∙H₂O was obtained by vacuum distillation.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2023

The recovery of valuable metals from waste lithium-based secondary batteries is very important in terms of efficiently utilizing earth's limited number of resources. Currently, the cathode material of a LiFePO₄ battery, a type of battery which is widely used in automobiles, contains approximately 5% lithium. After use, the lithium in these batteries can be used again as a raw material for new batteries through lithium recycling. In this study, low-concentration sulfuric acid, a commonly used type of inorganic acid, was used to selectively leach the lithium contained in a waste LiFePO₄ cathode material powder. In addition, in order to compare and analyze the leaching efficiency and separation efficiency of each component, the optimalleaching conditions were derived by applying a two-step leaching process with pulp density being used as a variable during leaching. When leaching with pulp density as a variable, it was confirmed that at a pulp density of 200 g/L, the separation efficiency was approximately 200 times higher than at other pulp densities because the iron and phosphorus components were hardly leached at this pulp density. Accordingly, the pulp density of 200 g/L was used tooptimize the leaching conditions for the selective leaching and recovery of lithium.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.9-17
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• 2023

Efforts are currently underway to develop a method for efficiently recovering lithium from the cathode material of waste lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP). The successful application of lithium battery recycling can address the regional ubiquity and price volatility of lithium resources, while also mitigating the environmental impact associated with both waste battery material and lithium production processes. The isomorphic substitution leaching process was used to recover lithium from spent lithium iron phosphate batteries. Lithium was leached by the isomorphic substitution of Fe²⁺ in LFP using a relatively inexpensive ferric chloride etching solution as a leaching agent. In the study, the leaching rate of lithium was compared using the ferric chloride etching solution at various multiples of the LFP molar ratio: 0.7, 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6 times. The highest lithium leaching rate was shown at about 98% when using 1.3 times the LFP molar ratio. Subsequently, to eliminate Fe, the leachate was treated with NaOH. The Fe-free solution was then used to synthesize lithium carbonate, and the harvested powder was characterized and validated. The surface shape and crystal phase were analyzed using SEM and XRD analysis, and impurities and purity were confirmed using ICP analysis.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.745-764
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• 2023

In the Republic of Congo, Banded iron formations (BIFs) occur in two areas: the Chaillu Massif and the Ivindo Basement Complex, which are segments of the Archean Congo craton outcropping in the northwestern and southwestern parts of the country. They show interesting potential with significant mineral resources reaching 2 Bt and grades up to 60% Fe. BIFs consist mostly of oxide-rich facies (hematite/magnetite), but carbonate-rich facies are also highlighted. They are found across the country within the similar geological sequences composed of amphibolites, gneisses and greenschists. The Post-Archean Australian Shale (PAAS)-normalized patterns of BIFs show enrichment in elements such as SiO₂, Fe₂O₃, CaO, P₂O₅, Cr, Cu, Zn, Nb, Hf, U and depletion in TiO₂, Al₂O₃, MgO, Na₂O, K₂O, Sc, Th, Ba, Zr, Rb, Ni, V. REE diagrams show slight light REEs (rare earth elements; LREEs) compared to heavy REEs (HREEs), and positive La and Eu anomalies. The lithological associations, as well as the very high (Eu/Eu^*)_SN ratios> 1.8 shown by the BIFs, suggest that they are related to Algoma-type BIFs. The positive correlations between Zr and TiO₂, Al₂O₃, Hf suggest that the contamination comes mainly from felsic rocks, while the absence of correlations between MgO and Cr, Ni argues for negligeable contributions from mafic sources. Pr/Pr^* vs. Ce/Ce^* diagram indicates that the Congolese BIFs were formed in basins with redox heterogeneity, which varies from suboxic to anoxic and from oxic to anoxic conditions. They were formed through hydrothermal vents in the seawater, with relatively low proportions of detrital inputs derived from igneous sources through continental weathering. Some Congolese BIFs show high contents in Cr, Ni and Cu, which suggest that iron (Fe) and silicon (Si) have been leached through hydrothermal processes associated with submarine volcanism. We discussed their tectonic setting and depositional environment and proposed that they were deposited in extensional back-arc basins, which also recorded hydrothermal vent fluids.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.765-779
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• 2023

The Daum Vent Field (DVF) was newly discovered in the Central Indian Ridge during the hydrothermal expedition by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST) in 2021. In this paper, we describe the detailed mineralogy and geochemistry of hydrothermal chimney and mound to understand the nature of hydrothermal mineralization in the DVF. The mineral assemblages (pyrite±sphalerite±chalcopyrite) of dominant sulfides, FeS contents (mostly <20 mole %) of sphalerite, and (Cu+Zn)/Fe values (0.001-0.22) of bulk compositions indicate that the DVF has an strong affinity with basaltic-hosted seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposit along the oceanic ridge. Combined with the predominance of colloform and/or dendritic-textured pyrite and relatively Fe-poor sphalerite in chimneys, the fluid-temperature dependency of trace element systematics (Co, Mn, and Tl) between chimney and mound indicates that the formation of mound was controlled by relatively reducing and high-temperature fluids compared to chimney. The δ³⁴S values (+8.31 to +10.52‰) of pyrite reflect that sulfur and metals were mainly leached from the associated basement rocks (50.6-61.3%) with a contribution from reduced seawater sulfur (38.7-49.4%). This suggests that the fluid-rock interaction, with little effect of magmatic volatile influx, is an important metal source for the sulfide mineralization in the DVF.