Recovery of Iron from Pyrolusite Leaching Slag by a Lab-Scale Circulation Process of Oxalic Acid Leaching and Ultraviolet Irradiation

Pyrolusite leaching slag is a Fe-containing slag generated from pyrolusite leaching process with SO2. Recovery of iron from the slag not only has economic benefit, but also prevents the secondary pollution to the environment. A novel lab-scale cyclic process for recovering iron from pyrolusite leaching slag was introduced. The process contains two steps: (1) iron was leached with oxalic acid and [Fe(C2O4)n](3−2n)+ solution was generated; (2) the [Fe(C2O4)n](3−2n)+ solution was irradiated by ultraviolet and ferrous oxalate precipitation were obtained. The effect of operation parameter on leaching and irradiation process were studied separately. In the leaching process, the optimal solid/liquid ratio, oxalic acid concentration, leaching temperature, stirring rate, and leaching time are 1:50, 0.40 mol/L, 95 °C, 300 r/min, and 3 h, respectively. In the irradiation process, the best irradiation wavelength, Fe/oxalic acid molar ratio and irradiation time are 254 nm, 1:4, and 30 min. Besides, a test of 9 continuous cycles was carried out and the performance and material balance of the combined process were investigated. The results showed that the cyclic process is entirely feasible and prove to be stable producing, and ferrous oxalate of 99.32% purity. Material balance indicated that 95.17% of iron was recovered in the form of FeC2O4·2H2O, and the recovery efficiency of oxalic acid was 58.52%