Researchers from the Ural Federal University have discovered how lignosulfonates help non-ferrous metals get into solution. The researchers published the results of their study in the journal Langmuir.
Currently, industrial companies are faced with the problem of processing weak refractory ores to extract non-ferrous metals. One solution is to use surfactants for leaching.
Lignosulfonates are a waste product of pulp and paper production, are inexpensive and non-toxic. The researchers studied all stages of the action of surfactants during the filtration of concentrates in autoclaves, hermetic apparatus for heating under high pressure. The scientists were able to identify why lignosulfates behave differently at different stages. This allows you to control the process of removing metals into a solution, making it more efficient and less expensive. In addition, knowledge of how lignosulfonates work will help them be used in a “cocktail” of several surfactants, which will further increase extraction efficiency, notes one of the researchers, a senior researcher at the Advanced Technologies Laboratory for Integrated Processing. Mineral and Technogenic Raw Materials of Non-Ferrous and Ferrous Metals, Ural Federal University Tatiana Lugovitskaya.
Source: Ferra
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