Environmental analytical methods

Antimony smelting process generating solid wastes and dust:Characterization and leaching behaviors


Xuejun Guo , Kunpeng Wang , Mengchang He , Ziwei Liu , Hailin Yang , Sisi Li

DOI:10.1016/j.jes.2014.05.022

Received August 28, 2013,Revised December 10, 2013, Accepted , Available online July 09, 2014

Volume 26,2014,Pages 1549-1556

A large amount of solid waste has been produced by the antimony smelting process in the "World Capital of Antimony", Xikuangshan area in China. This study comprehensively investigated the physical and chemical characteristics of the various solid wastes, as well as the leaching behavior of the solid wastes, which included water-quenched slag, arsenic-alkali residue, desulfurized slag and blast furnace dust. These four types of waste were enriched in a variety of heavy metals and metalloids and more specifically with As and Sb levels up to 8.6 × 104 and 3.16 × 105 mg/kg, respectively, in arsenic-alkali residue. For desulfurized slag and water-quenched slag, the leaching concentration of Sb significantly exceeded the acceptable limits during the leaching tests using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure and the synthetic precipitation leaching procedure. In addition, As leaching in arsenic-alkali residue was extraordinarily hazardous, being three orders of magnitude higher than the regulatory level of As. According to the results of the extraction tests, all the tested wastes were classified as hazardous waste.

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