Ultrasonic-assisted leaching kinetics in aqueous FeCl3-HCl solution for the recovery of copper by hydrometallurgy from poorly soluble chalcopyrite

• Published in: The Korean journal of chemical engineering Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 1748 - 1755
• Main Authors: Yoon, Ho-Sung, Kim, Chul-Joo, Chung, Kyung Woo, Lee, Jin-Young, Shin, Shun Myung, Kim, Sung-Rae, Jang, Min-Ho, Kim, Jin-Ho, Lee, Se-Il, Yoo, Seung-Joon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-06-2017; Springer Nature B.V; 한국화학공학회
• Subjects: Agitation; Ashes; Biotechnology; Catalysis; Chalcopyrite; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Copper; Density; Diffusion layers; Diffusion rate; Economic conditions; Hydrometallurgy; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Leaching; Materials Science; Reaction kinetics; Recovery; Separation Technology; Shrinking core model; Slurries; Sulfur; Thermodynamics; Ultrasonic testing; 화학공학; Poorly Soluble Chalcopyrite Mineral; Product and Ash Layer Diffusion; Ash Layer Diffusion; Shrinking Core Model; Basic Leaching; Ultrasonic-assisted Leaching; Ferric Chloride; Leaching Kinetics
• ISSN: 0256-1115; 1975-7220
• DOI: 10.1007/s11814-017-0053-x

We studied the ultrasonic effect on the leaching of copper from poorly soluble chalcopyrite (CuFeS
2
) mineral in aqueous FeCl
3
solution. The leaching experiment employed two methods, basic leaching and ultrasonic-assisted leaching, and was conducted under the optimized experimental conditions: a slurry density of 20 g/L in 0.1M FeCl
3
reactant in a solution of 0.1M HCl, with an agitation speed of 500 rpm and in the temperature range of 50 to 99 °C. The maximum yield obtained from the optimized basic leaching was 77%, and ultrasonic-assisted leaching increased the maximum copper recovery to 87% under the same conditions of basic leaching. In terms of the leaching mechanism, the overall reaction rate of basic leaching is determined by the diffusion of both the product and ash layers based on a shrinking core model with a constant spherical particle; however, in the case of ultrasonic-assisted leaching, the leaching rate is determined by diffusion of the ash layer only by the removal of sulfur adsorbed on the surface of chalcopyrite mineral.