Recovery of Valuable Metals from Nickel Slag: A Descriptive Study| Chapter 5 | Research Developments in Science and Technology Vol.4

Nickel slag (NS) is a significant secondary resource that contains not only valuable metals like Ni, Cu, Fe, and Co, but also dangerous elements like As and Pb. It is created primarily during nickel (Ni) smelting and is categorised as a potentially toxic solid waste. As a result, instead of being thrown without treatment, NS should be submitted to additional recycling because to its potential economic and environmental advantages. The important metals Ni and Cu may be recovered from NS by flotation. However, the crystalline nature of Ni-bearing minerals and Cu-bearing minerals in NS makes flotation difficult, limiting Ni and Cu recovery. current researchTo increase the recovery of Ni and Cu from NS, the crystalline state of NS was improved using sulfurization–reduction. The mineralogical properties of NS were thoroughly investigated, and flotation recovery of Ni and Cu from raw and modified slag was tested. The thermodynamics and phase distributions of the elements were used to evaluate the sulfurization–reduction process. The NS includes 0.88 percent Ni and 0.31 percent Cu, according to mineralogical characteristic study. The metal minerals in the NS that include Ni or Cu are scattered among silicate minerals with micron-sized small particles, making flotation recovery of Ni and Cu challenging. Chemical phase study reveals that sulfurization–reduction modification can boost Ni and Cu distribution in metal and sulphide states while decreasing it in silicate. Ni and Cu flotation recoveries rose from 24.61 percent to 66.61 percent and 38.77 percent to 80.00 percent, respectively, as compared to direct flotation of raw slag. Overall, flotation is a good technique for recovering nickel and copper from NS, and sulfurization–reduction modification can increase nickel and copper flotation recovery.

Author(s) Details:

Runqing Liu,
School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR, China.

Qilin Zhai,
School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR, China.

Xiong Li,
School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR, China.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/RDST-V4/article/view/6853