Pyrometallurgical Removal of Arsenic from Electrostatic Precipitators Dusts of Copper Smelting

This work describes the experimental results of pyrometallurgical removing of arsenic from the dust collected in the electrostatic copper precipitators within the gas cleaning system of a Copper Flash Smelting Furnace. The generation of dust in the copper smelting worldwide ranges from 2 - 15 wt% per ton of a copper concentrate. In Chile, copper smelters produce approximately 110 kt/y of dust with a concentration of arsenic between 1 and 15 wt%. The dust is a complex of metals oxides and sulfurs with copper concentrations greater than 10 wt% and relatively high silver concentrations. Since its high arsenic concentration, it is difficult to recover valuable metals through hydrometallurgical processes or by direct recirculation of the dust in a smelting furnace. Thus, the development of pyrometallurgical processes aimed at reducing the concentration of arsenic in the dust (<0.5 wt%) is the main objective of this study, giving particular attention to the production of a suitable material to be recirculated in operations of copper smelting. The work provides a detailed characterization of the dust including the Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscopy (QEMSCAN), Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (SEM/EDS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), the elemental chemical analysis using Atomic Adsorption (AAS), and X-Ray Fluorescence (X-RF). By considering that arsenic volatilization requires a process of sulfidation-decomposition-oxidation, this work seeks to explore the roasting of mixtures of copper concentrate/dust, sulfur/dust, and pyrrhotite/dust. By the elemental chemical analysis of the mixture after and before the roasting process, the degree of arsenic volatilization was determined. The results indicated the effects of parameters such as roasting temperature, gas flow, gas composition, and the ratio of mixtures (concentrate/dust, sulfur/dust, or pyrrhotite/dust) on the volatilization of arsenic. According to the findings, the concentration of arsenic in the roasted Flash Smelting dust can be reduced to a relatively low level (<0.5 wt%), which allows its recirculation into an smelting process.

Solar Oxidation and Removal of Arsenic from Groundwater Utilizing a Semicircular Section Tubular Photoreactor

A semicircular section tubular photoreactor has been constructed, characterized and applied to the treatment of groundwater contaminated with As（V） by means of the SORAS （solar oxidation and removal of arsenic） technique, using ferrous and citrate salts. The solar concentrator was built with recyclable waste materials： glass tubes from fluorescent lamps and 6-inch diameter PVC pipes cut in half and covered by aluminum foil. The reactor concentrates solar radiation up to 2.8 times its natural intensity. Batch irradiation experiments followed by controlled agitation （shear rate = 30-33 s^-1; 20 min agitation period） showed that the photoreactor accelerates the formation of settleable floccules （Dp 〉 0.5mm）, compared with a fluorescent lamp glass tube alone and a 2 L PET （polyethylene terephthalate） bottle. Irradiation times necessary for floccule formation in the photoreactor, the fluorescent lamp tube and the PET bottle were 15 min, 25 min and 60 min, respectively. Continuous flow experiments using a photoreactor with a photo-collection area of 0.9 m^2 and a hydraulic retention time （equal to the irradiation time） of 15 rain showed that immediate formation of floccules of good settleability occurs when the solution is subjected to moderate agitation （33 s^-1）. An efficiency of 98.36% for As（V） removal was obtained with a final concentration of 16.5 ktg/L in decanted waters. In accordance to these results, the photoreactor is able to treat approximately 130 L/m^2 within a 5-h period with UVA irradiation intensities of 50-70 W/mE.

Characterization and Pyrometallurgical Removal of Arsenic from Copper Concentrate Roasting Dust

This paper describes the experimental results of removing arsenic from the dust collected in electrostatic precipitators of a fluidized bed roasting furnace (RP dust). The fluidized bed roasting process generates 600 kilotons of copper concentrate per year with 3 - 6 wt% of concentration of arsenic, producing a roasted product with a low content of arsenic below 0.3 wt%. The process generates 27 kilotons of RP dust per year with a concentration of arsenic of the order of 5 wt% and copper concentration of around 20 wt%. Subsequently, the dust collected in the electrostatic precipitators is treated by hydrometallurgical methods allowing the recovery of copper, and the disposition of arsenic as scorodite. This work proposes to use a pyrometallurgy process to the volatilization of arsenic from RP dust. The obtained material can be recirculated in copper smelting furnaces allowing the recovery of valuable metals. The set of experiments carried out in the roasting of the mixture of copper concentrate/RP dust and sulfur/RP dust used different ratios of mixtures, temperatures and roasting times. By different techniques, the characterization of the RP dust determined its size distribution, morphology, and chemical and mineralogical composition. RP dust is a composite material of small particles (<5 μm) in 50 μm agglomerates, mostly amorphous, with a complex chemical composition of sulfoxides. The results of the roasting experiments indicated that for a 75/25 weight ratio of the mixture of the copper concentrate/PR dust under 700℃, 15 minutes of roasting time with injection of air, the volatilization of arsenic reached 96% by weight. The arsenic concentration after the roasting process is less than 0.3% by weight. For a 5/95 mixture of sulfur/RP dust, at 650℃, the volatilization of arsenic reached a promissory result of 67%. Even that this study was carried out for a particular operation, the results have the potential to be extended to dust produced in the roasting of concentrates of nickel, lead-zinc, and gold.