Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of silica leaching from Camden power station fly ash

Fly ash from a South African power station ash dam was used. The fly ash approximated Class F fly ash but had a loss on ignition greater than 6%. The leaching parameters investigated were leaching time, KOH concentration, agitation speed, fly ash particle size, leaching temperature and liquid solid ratio (L/S). It was found that the optimum leaching conditions were leaching time of 6 h, 3M KOH, 500 rpm agitation speed, 25 L/S ratio, leaching temperature of 100˚C. Silica leaching followed a modified Jander equation kinetics with an N value of 1.48 and an activation energy of 5.9 kJ/mol