Abstract
Spent cathode carbon (SCC) is hazardous waste from the electrolytic aluminum industry due to its high levels of soluble fluoride, while brick-fired kiln provides the clay and heating conditions needed to immobilize fluoride. However, SCC reusing is still understudied, meanwhile co-processing and resource utilization of SCC in brick-fired kiln were still not reported in the literatures in addition to a Chinese patent of the authors. Here, the effects of firing temperatures, firing time, clay doses and calcium doses on the fluoride-immobilized performance of SCC co-processing were explored in a simulated brick-firing kiln, and their mechanisms were analyzed by SEM and XRD. The results indicated that clay-added co-processing in brick-fired kiln was a preferred choice without required additional additives or operations. The leached fluoride met Chinese standards by clay-added co-processing at ≥ 800 °C/ ≥ 40 g clay/ ≥ 120 min. Clay and calcium-added co-processing in brick-fired kiln was another alternative choice with higher fluoride-immobilization rates. The leached fluoride met Chinese standard (GB5085.3–2007) by clay and calcium-added co-processing at ≥ 500 °C/ ≥ 30 min/ ≥ 5 g clay/ ≥ 0.5 g CaCO3. SEM and XRD indicated that SiO2 in clay reacted with sodium in SCC and formed vitreous analog (Na1.55Al1.55Si0.45O4) to prevent fluoride ion migration and the newly-formed k-Feldspar (K2O.Al2O3.6SiO2) may adsorb fluoride ions in clay-added co-processing. Soluble fluoride NaF in SCC were converted into water-insoluble cuspidine in clay and calcium-added co-processing, in addition to the crystalline phase conversion in clay-added co-processing. Therefore, the risks of finished bricks to human health and the environment were greatly reduced after clay-added or clay and calcium-added treatments.
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Acknowledgements
This research is supported by the R&D Project on Hazard-Free Treatment and Recycling of Hazardous Waste from Aluminum Electrolysis (H15-075).
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This research is supported by the R&D Project on Hazard-Free Treatment and Recycling of Hazardous Waste from Aluminum Electrolysis (H15-075).
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Yimin Sang: resources, methodology, original draft writing, writing review and editing, funding acquisition, project administration, supervision.
Chang Liu: writing review and editing, experiment.
Huicong Yuan, Zhaoxu Chi, Ruiqi Cao: experiment.
Longjie Ji: writing review and editing.
Qingbao Gu: methodology, writing review and editing.
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Highlights
• Leached fluorides meet Chinese standards by clay-added co-processing at ≥ 800 °C/≥40 g clay/≥120 min.
• Leached fluorides meet Chinese standards by clay and calcium-added co-processing at ≥ 500 °C/≥30 min/≥5 g clay/≥0.5 g CaCO3.
• Fluoride encapsulated in vitreous analog in clay-added co-processing, insoluble cuspidine formed in clay and calcium-added co-processing.
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Sang, Y., Liu, C., Yuan, H. et al. Fluoride-immobilized co-processing and resource utilization of aluminum-electrolyzed spent cathode carbon in brick-fired kiln. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 87527–87533 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21713-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21713-w