The Enhancing Effect of Microwave Irradiation and Ultrasonic Wave on the Recovery of Zinc Sulfide Ores

Abstract

A novel process for the treatment of zinc sulfide ores is discussed in this paper, which consists of two procedures: microwave roasting pretreatment and synergistic chelation. What’s more, the reaction mechanism also has been studied. By comparing XRD patterns before and after roasting, it can be concluded that microwave truly alleviates the reaction energy, and adding Na2O2 avoids the emission of SO2. % recovery of zinc can reaches 72.47 % on conditions of adding Na2O2 25 %, microwave activating temperature 500 °C, holding time 10 min, leaching temperature 40 °C, ultrasonic wave power 1,800 W, leaching time 4.5 h and solid to liquid ratio 10:1 in ammonium chloride solution whose total ammonium concentrate is 7.5 mol/L (c(NH3)T=7.5 mol/L). The molar ratio of NH4Cl and NH3·H2O is 1:1 (c(NH4Cl): c(NH3·H2O)=1:1). The effect of ultrasonic wave power in this process is to shorten reaction time.

Keywords

• zinc sulfide ores
• microwave roasting
• synergistic chelation
• % recovery of zinc
• 81.40.wx