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EFFECT OF LIQUID TO SOLID RATIO ON LEACHING OF METALS FROM MINERAL PROCESSING WASTE
Citation:
AlAbed*, S R., J. Purandare, AND D Allen*. EFFECT OF LIQUID TO SOLID RATIO ON LEACHING OF METALS FROM MINERAL PROCESSING WASTE. Presented at 227th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Anaheim, CA, March 28 - April 01, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Various anthropogenic activities generate hazardous solid wastes that are affluent in heavy metals, which can cause significant damage to the environment an human health. A mineral processing waste was used to study the effect of liquid to solid ratio (L/S) on the leaching behavior of metals. Leaching tests in the form of column and batch studies were carried out to investigate liquid to solid ratios ranging from 0.7 to 50. Although the waste passed the limits regulated under the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), a high concentration of metals was found to leach by the two leaching tests. The leaching of As, Cu and Zn were all highly dependent on the L/S ratio. Higher concentrations of metals were leached at the lower L/S ratios. The leaching of all the three metals was found to stabilize beyond an L/S of about 10. Approximately 70% of the copper measured by acid digestion leached during the batch test. Copper was found at concentrations as high as 300 mg/l at an L/S ratio of about 1.5 as obtained from the column study.