A novel “green” solvent to deeply purify quartz sand with high yields: A case study

•A novel “green” leaching reagent proposed to replace traditional industrial strong acids.•The “green” reagent is an environment-friendly solution with little HCl acid.•The amount of HCl acid is as only 1/20–1/30 as usual and thereby reduces pollution greatly.•The reagent rewards for higher efficiency, simpler flowsheet and shorter leaching time.

A novel “green” solvent for removing iron and aluminum impurities simultaneously from quartz sand was presented to replace the outdated industrial strong acids. The solvent is a “green” mixture comprised nontoxic, renewable acids and a very diluted hydrochloric acid. The new solvent can significantly reduce the pollution caused by residual acids and remain the high efficiency in removing impurities and is harmless to the target product as well. The final optimum removing rate was up to 79.1% and 42.3% respectively if its leached residue was washed, then leached again in a 4 g/l Na2CO3 solution under ultrasound for 25 min.

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