Kinetic Properties of Nickel Leaching by ANOVA Method

Abstract

Hydrometallurgical extraction of nickel laterite is more efficient in terms of energy consumption, because it produces less exhaust gas compared to the pyrometallurgical method. Therefore, the hydrometallurgical method can increase the extraction yield of inferior nickel laterite more. In the calculation of the analysis of variance (ANOVA), three factors are used to determine the importance of the variables and the order of the most influential variables. ANOVA test is also a form of statistical hypothesis testing where we draw conclusions based on the inferential statistical data or groups. The ‘null’ hypothesis of the ANOVA test is that the data are simple random from the same population, so that they have the same expected mean and variance. In addition, a study of leaching kinetics is carried out using a shrinking core model to determine the reaction rate controller. The results show that the leaching time has an important role of acid, base, and monosodium glutamate in increasing the nickel extraction rate. Based on the ANOVA results, the two most influential factors are temperature and leaching time. The ANOVA-based calculation use is more accurate than using a conventional method, such as ‘excel’, and it needs more development for mineral extraction in the future.

Keywords

• leaching
• kinetics
• analysis of variance (anova)
• ni