Recovery of molybdenum, nickel and cobalt by precipitation from the acidic leachate of a mineral sludge.

The objective of this study was to investigate the recovery potential of molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) from synthetic and real acidic leachate of a mineral sludge from a metal recycling plant by sulfide precipitation. The operational parameters (metal sulfide (M/S) ratio 0.1-1, agitation speed 0-100 rpm, contact time 15-120 min and pH 1-5) were optimized in batch conditions on synthetic metal leachate (0.5 M HNO3, Mo = 101.6 mg L(-1), Ni = 70.8 mg L(-1), Co = 27.1 mg L(-1)) with a 0.1 M Na2S solution. Additionally, recovery of the target metals was theoretically simulated with a chemical equilibrium model (Visual MINTEQ 3.0). The optimized Na2S precipitation of metals from the synthetic leachate resulted in the potential selective recovery of Mo at pH 1 (98% by modeling, 95% experimental), after simultaneous precipitation of Ni and Co as sulfide at pH 4 (100% by modeling, 98% experimental). Metal precipitation from the real leachate (18 M H2SO4, Mo = 10,160 mg L(-1), Ni = 7,080 mg L(-1), Co = 2,710 mg L(-1)) was performed with 1 M Na2S, and resulted in a maximal Mo recovery at pH 2 (50%), while maximal recoveries of Ni and Co were observed at pH 4 (56% and 60%, respectively). Real leachate gave a lower metals recovery efficiency compared with synthetic leachate, which can be attributed to changes in the pH, nature of leachant, co-precipitation of Zn and competition for S(2-) ions.

Acid extraction of molybdenum, nickel and cobalt from mineral sludge generated by rainfall water at a metal recycling plant.

This study investigated the leaching yields of Mo, Ni and Co from a mineral sludge of a metal recycling plant generated by rainfalls. The investigated mineral sludge had a complex heterogeneous composition, consisting of particles of settled soil combined with metal-bearing particles (produced by catalysts, metallic oxides and battery recycling). The leaching potential of different leaching reagents (stand-alone strong acids (HNO3 (68%), H2SO4 (98%) and HCl (36%)) and acid mixtures (aqua regia (nitric + hydrochloric (1:3)), nitric + sulphuric (1:1) and nitric + sulphuric + hydrochloric (2:1:1)) was investigated at changing operational parameters (solid-liquid (S/L) ratio, leaching time and temperature), in order to select the leaching reagent which achieves the highest metal leaching yields. Sulphuric acid (98% H2SO4) was found to be the leachant with the highest metal leaching potential. The optimal leaching conditions were a three-stage successive leaching at 80 °C with a leaching time of 2 h and S/L ratio of 0.25 g L(-1). Under these conditions, the achieved mineral sludge sample leaching yields were 85.5%, 40.5% and 93.8% for Mo, Ni and Co, respectively. The higher metal leaching potential of H2SO4 in comparison with the other strong acids/acid mixtures is attributed to the fact that H2SO4 is a diacidic compound, thus it has more H(+) ions, resulting in its stronger oxidizing power and corrosiveness.

Mineralogy and metals speciation in Mo rich mineral sludges generated at a metal recycling plant.

In France, more than 250 million metric tons of sludges need to be treated each year. These sludges are either dumped on the landfills or reused as secondary resources in order to preserve natural resources. A large portions of these sludges are mineral sludges, originating from metal recycling plants. In order to estimate their metal recovery potential, these mineral sludges were characterized. Four types of mineral sludge samples were collected from a metal recycling plant (3 from the recycling plant storage areas (bulk storage, barrel storage and storage shed) and 1 from the collection basin). The sludges were characterized, wherein the Mo, Ni, Cr, Co, Zn and W content and speciation were quantified. The samples had pH values between 5.9 and 10.3 with organic matter contents varying between 6.3% (storage shed) and 29.5% (bulk storage) (loss on ignition at 500 °C). Based on their leaching properties, the four mineral sludge samples (in the case of Mo) and the bulk storage sludge (in the case of Ni and Zn) were classified as potentially hazardous regarding the EN 12457-1 and EN 12457-2 method. Mineralogical results reveal that both bulk storage and the storage shed give the highest contributions to the metal content of the collection basin sample. Sequential extraction of the collection basin samples indicated that Mo is bound to the oxidizable and residual fraction, while Ni, Cr and Co were bound to the residual fraction, and Zn to the soluble acid fraction, respectively. W tends to be equally distributed among all extracted fractions. A strong correlation existed between Mo and Co, as well as between Ni, Zn and Cr, respectively.