Improvement of the quartz sand processing at Hohenbocka

The raw sands from Hohenbocka (Germany) containing iron essentially in pyrite form is used for glass grade sands processing by dump leaching for several weeks followed by attrition and two-stage classification. The analysis of the sands by means of X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis (RFA) showed an average of about 420 ppm Fe. The objective of this investigation was to reduce the processing time and the total iron content below 105 ppm in the sand product for special glass applications. Due to the presence of sulfide and oxide iron at different ratios in raw sands, a combination of chemical and physical methods was investigated. Leaching was carried out at different acid concentrations, followed by surface cleaning by neutral and alkaline attrition, and gravity separation. Additionally, the effect of continuous addition of H2O2 during leaching to remove iron from sands was investigated. Only two days of leaching was required at the initial acid concentration to 25 g/L. After attrition and tabling of leached sands, a product with 84 ppm of iron was achieved. The continuous removal of dissolved metals by adsorption with active carbon could make it possible to reuse the regenerated sulphuric acid for leaching. With recirculation, the quantity of fresh sulphuric acid required was 0.4 kg/t of quartz sand.