Control of Silica Gel Formation in the Acidic Leaching of Calcium Aluminate Slags with Aqueous HCl for Al Extraction

Georgia Maria Tsaousi (), Aikaterini Toli, Amalia Bempelou, Dimitrios Kotsanis, Michail Vafeias, Efthymios Balomenos and Dimitrios Panias
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Georgia Maria Tsaousi: School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechneiou Str., 15780 Athens, Greece
Aikaterini Toli: School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechneiou Str., 15780 Athens, Greece
Amalia Bempelou: School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechneiou Str., 15780 Athens, Greece
Dimitrios Kotsanis: School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechneiou Str., 15780 Athens, Greece
Michail Vafeias: School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechneiou Str., 15780 Athens, Greece
Efthymios Balomenos: Mytilineos S.A., Metallurgy Business Unit, Ag. Nikolaos, 32003 Viotia, Greece
Dimitrios Panias: School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Iroon Polytechneiou Str., 15780 Athens, Greece

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 21, 1-13

Abstract: The present research article investigates the extraction of aluminum (Al) from an engineered CaO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 slag by leaching with aqueous HCl under atmospheric pressure conditions. The slag is the by-product of an aluminothermic reduction process to produce metallurgical-grade silicon (Si) in a more sustainable way compared to conventional carbothermic reduction. One major challenge in the acidic leaching of aluminosilicate materials, like the slag treated in this study, is the possibility of SiO 2 gel formation during the leaching process. Extensive SiO 2 gel formation can make the separation of pregnant leach solution (PLS) from the leached residue impossible. Consequently, any acid leaching of aluminosilicate materials must be optimized for avoidance of these gelation phenomena. The present study first explores the leaching behavior of the calcium aluminosilicate slag in relation to the S/L ratio, with all other hydrometallurgical factors remaining stable (20.2% wt. HCl solution, 80 °C, optimized stirring rate), to determine at which value of this parameter SiO 2 gelation occurs. After determining the optimum S/L ratio for this system, an analysis of the behavior of Si in the PLS is presented, and the mechanism of SiO 2 gelation is explained based on critical assessment of these results against data provided from the scientific literature. It was found that the value of the pH of the PLS and the concentration of dissolved CaCl 2 and AlCl 3 are critical factors for the formation of filterable amorphous SiO 2 . Under the optimum leaching conditions, PLS containing 37 g/L Al was obtained with concurrent avoidance of gelation phenomena.

Keywords: Al 2 O 3 leaching; calcium aluminate slag; HCl leaching; SiO 2 gelation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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