Hydrometallurgical Ni/Co/Mn alloy dissolution from spent catalyst tailings

Abstract

This research paper describes the efforts conducted for the recovery of Ni, Co, Mn, and V from tailings of spent catalyst recycling operations. The spent catalysts are solid wastes and contain many valuable metals and in quantities that are feasible to extract. Laboratory testwork was conducted for the smelting of alumina concentrate (AC) tails using coke and lime to improve the ratio of valuable metals to AC tails. After smelting, leaching of the alloy was conducted in sulphuric acid solution using hydrogen peroxide, which offers a relatively economical method for metal extraction from the alloy. The laboratory tests performed on several alloys showed that battery metals can be extracted with high recoveries; however, the kinetics of dissolution were slow. OLI modeling tools were used to compare the leaching results.