Comparison of ultrasonic-assisted and regular leaching of germanium from by-product of zinc metallurgy

Abstract

A major source of germanium recovery and also the source of this research is the by-product of lead and zinc metallurgical process. The primary purpose of the research is to investigate the effects of ultrasonic assisted and regular methods on the leaching yield of germanium from roasted slag containing germanium. In the study, the HCl-CaCl2 mixed solution is adopted as the reacting system and the Ca(ClO)2 used as the oxidant. Through six single factor (leaching time, temperature, amount of Ca(ClO)2, acid concentration, concentration of CaCl2 solution, ultrasonic power) experiments and the comparison of the two methods, it is found the optimum collective of germanium for ultrasonic-assisted method is obtained at temperature 80 °C for a leaching duration of 40 min. The optimum concentration for hydrochloric acid, CaCl2 and oxidizing agent are identified to be 3.5 mol/L, 150 g/L and 58.33 g/L, respectively. In addition, 700 W is the best ultrasonic power and an over-high power is adverse in the leaching process. Under the optimum condition, the recovery of germanium could reach up to 92.7%. While, the optimum leaching condition for regular leaching method is same to ultrasonic-assisted method, except regular method consume 100 min and the leaching rate of Ge 88.35% is lower about 4.35%. All in all, the experiment manifests that the leaching time can be reduced by as much as 60% and the leaching rate of Ge can be increased by 3-5% with the application of ultrasonic tool, which is mainly thanks to the mechanical action of ultrasonic.

Improvement of Alumina Dissolution from the Mechanically Activated Dross Using Ultrasound-Assisted Leaching

“…These particles became smaller and looser with the ultrasonic leaching. These phenomena confirm that the ultrasonic energy can shatter solid particles and hinder the growth of solid grains, which is beneficial for the solidliquid reaction, and thus promotes the leaching of the components[10].…”

“…This may cause direct erosion on the surface of the particle, and the de-aggregation of particles, which can hinder agglomeration [9]. The use of ultrasonic energy has a number of benefits, including optical, electrical, mechanical, thermal, chemical and biological effects [10,11].…”

Roasting Pretreatment Combined with Ultrasonic Enhanced Leaching Lead from Electrolytic Manganese Anode Mud

“…It indicates that the introduction of ultrasonic waves can improve the leaching rate while reducing the liquid-solid ratio of the leaching process. A high liquid-solid ratio in the leaching process required more sophisticated apparatus [24]. Therefore, 10:1 was chosen as the parameter of the subsequent experiment by considering apparatus requirements and the efficiency of material processing.…”

Germanium: Current and Novel Recovery Processes

“…Several studies have been conducted on the behavior of Ge for the effectiveness of its recovering from by-products and residues of Zn processing [23,[42][43][44][45]. In 1987, a reductive SO 2 leaching process as an alternative for Ga and Ge recovery from Zn leaching residue was investigated [42].…”