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Desulfurization by Adding Sodium Nitrate in the Production of Alumina from High-Sulfur Bauxite

  • Reducing CO2 Emissions from Bauxite to Aluminum Reduction
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Abstract

The problem that sulfur causes in alumina production using the Bayer process can be eliminated by adding sodium nitrate, and, while the reaction mechanism is not perfect, this paper studies the reaction mechanism of sodium nitrate and different valence sulfurs in a sodium aluminate solution by combining thermodynamic calculations and experiments. Through thermodynamic analysis, it is deduced that sodium nitrate undergoes oxidation reactions with low valence sulfur (S2−, S2O32−, and SO32−) of different valence states in a sodium aluminate solution, while the oxidation effect of S2− is the most obvious. By studying the influence of the sodium nitrate dosage, oxidation time, and oxidation temperature on the different valence sulfurs in a sodium aluminate solution, it is concluded that S2− removal reaches 67.74% under the conditions of 3% sodium nitrate dosage, 260°Coxidation temperature, and 60-min oxidation time. However, the oxidation effect on S2O32− and SO32− is not obvious. The experimental results are consistent with the thermodynamic calculation results. Finally, the reaction mechanism of sodium nitrate with different valence sulfurs in a sodium aluminate solution is described in detail, which provides theoretical support for the desulfurization of high-sulfur bauxite in the production of alumina using the Bayer process.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support received from the National Natural Science Foundation of Chain (No. 22068021 and No. 52064030), Yunnan Major Scientific and Technological Projects (No. 202202AG050007), Yunnan Industrial Talent Project (YNQR-CYRC-2018-003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650031, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China

    Shuxin Liu, Zhanwei Liu, Hengwei Yan, Mengnan Li & Chengcheng Xia

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  1. Shuxin Liu
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  2. Zhanwei Liu
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Correspondence to Zhanwei Liu or Hengwei Yan.

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Liu, S., Liu, Z., Yan, H. et al. Desulfurization by Adding Sodium Nitrate in the Production of Alumina from High-Sulfur Bauxite. JOM 75, 1649–1659 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-023-05744-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-023-05744-3

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