Leaching of gallium from corundum flue dust using mixed acid solution

In order to extract gallium from a high-silica-content flue dust generated in corundum production, a mixed acid solution of H2SO4 and HF was used for leaching, and test parameters of the leaching process were optimized. Experimental results show that the leaching rate of gallium was only 38% when H2...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China 2018-09, Vol.28 (9), p.1862-1868
Main Authors: WEN, Kang, JIANG, Feng, ZHOU, Xiang-yang, SUN, Zhao-ming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
corundum flue dust
gallium
hydrofluoric acid
leaching
silica
sulphuric acid
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Summary:In order to extract gallium from a high-silica-content flue dust generated in corundum production, a mixed acid solution of H2SO4 and HF was used for leaching, and test parameters of the leaching process were optimized. Experimental results show that the leaching rate of gallium was only 38% when H2SO4 was used as leaching agent. Composition analysis results of micro areas in this corundum flue dust indicate that the content of gallium in silica-enriched phases was high; this portion of gallium was insoluble in H2SO4 solution. The leaching rate of gallium increased significantly with addition of HF due to corrosion of silica. Effects of reaction time, temperature, and concentrations of HF and H2SO4 on leaching rates of gallium were investigated. The leaching rate of gallium reached 91% when this corundum flue dust was leached in a mixed acid solution of H2SO4 and HF for 4 h, at a temperature of 80 °C, with a liquid-to-solid ratio of 5:1 (mL/g). The optimal concentrations of H2SO4 and HF in the mixed acid solution were 1.5 and 6.4 mol/L, respectively.
ISSN:1003-6326
DOI:10.1016/S1003-6326(18)64831-9