Leaching and recycling of zinc from liquid waste sediments

The selective leaching and recovery of zinc in a zinciferous sediment from a synthetic wastewater treatment was investigated. The main composition of the sediment includes 6% zinc and other metal elements such as Ca, Fe, Cu, Mg. The effects of sulfuric acid concentration, temperature, leaching time and the liquid-to-solid ratio on the leaching rate of zinc were studied by single factor and orthogonal experiments. The maximum difference of leaching rate between zinc and iron, 89.85%, was obtained by leaching under 170 g/L H2SO4 in liquid-to-solid ratio 4.2 mL/g at 65 °C for 1 h, and the leaching rates of zinc and iron were 91.20% and 1.35%, respectively.