Kinetic Analysis of Isothermal Leaching of Zinc from Zinc Plant Residue

Ali Reza Eivazi Hollagh, Eskandar Keshavarz Alamdari, Davooud Moradkhani, Ali Akbar Salardini

Faculty of Engineering, Zanjan University, Zanjan, Iran.
Materials and Energy Research Center, Tehran, Iran..
Mining & Metallurgical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
Mining & Metallurgical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran&Research Center for Materials and Mining Industries Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: 10.4236/ijnm.2013.21002                

Abstract

The sulfuric acid leaching of zinc plant residues was studied in an attempt to find a suitable hydrometallurgical method for zinc recovery. The parameters evaluated consist of reaction time, Solid-to-liquid-ratio, reaction temperature, agitation rate and pH. The results of kinetic analysis of the leaching data under various experimental conditions indicated that there is a reaction controlled by the solution transport of protons through the porous product layer with activation energy of about 1 kJ/mol for different constant solid to liquid ratios. Based on the shrinking core model (SCM), the following semiempirical rate equation was established:1-3(1-a)2/3+2(1-a)=0.001187×[H⁺]^0.016×[(S/L)]^-1.34×exp(-1/RT) ×t. On the other hand, activation energy was obtained from a model-free method using isothermal measurements. Values for activation energy were calculated as a result of the conversion function with an average of 2.9 kJ/mol. This value is close to that determined previously, using shrinking core model (SCM).

Keywords

Zinc; Hydrometallurgy; Kinetic Model; Zinc Plant Residue; Model-Free Method

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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