Microwave and Ultrasound Augmented Leaching of Complicated Zinc Oxide Ores in Ammonia and Ammonium Citrate Solutions

oleh: Libo Zhang, Haoyu Li, Jinhui Peng, Chandrasekar Srinivasakannan, Shiwei Li, Shaohua Yin

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2017-06-01

Deskripsi

Recovery of zinc from low grade zinc oxide ore is attempted with ammonia and ammonium citrate solutions augmented by microwave roasting and ultrasound radiation. The influence of the ammonia-ammonium ratio, roasting temperature, ultrasound power, and leaching time were assessed on the recovery of zinc. A maximum zinc recovery of 88.57% could be achieved at a roasting temperature of 673 K, leaching temperature of 298 K, stirring speed of 300 rpm, total ammonia concentration of 5 mol/L with an ammonium citrate concentration of 1.2 mol/L, liquid to solid ratio of 5:1, the ultrasound power was 600 W and the leaching time was 120 min. The enhancement in recovery with increases in the roasting temperature up to 673 K was attributed to the conversion of ZnCO3 to ZnO. The phases of mineral samples and the reaction residues were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD).