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Sulfur Removal from High-Sulfur Bauxite during the Bayer Process

  • METALLURGY OF NONFERROUS METALS
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Abstract

This study investigates the removal of sulfur from high-sulfur bauxite via zinc addition during the Bayer process. The results show that \({{{\text{S}}}_{{\text{2}}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{3}}}^{{2 - }}\), \({\text{SO}}_{{\text{3}}}^{{2 - }}\), and \({\text{SO}}_{{\text{4}}}^{{2 - }}\) are first reduced to S2–, and after adding zinc, the S2– enters into the red mud in the form of ZnS. So, the different valence sulfur states (S2–, \({{{\text{S}}}_{{\text{2}}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{3}}}^{{2 - }}\), \({\text{SO}}_{{\text{3}}}^{{2 - }}\), and \({\text{SO}}_{{\text{4}}}^{{2 - }}\)) in the sodium aluminate solution can be effectively removed by adding zinc during the digestion process. The kinetics analysis results indicate that the apparent activation energy is 10.546 kJ/mol, and sulfur removal is controlled by the internal diffusion of the solid film. Increasing the temperature, time, and zinc concentration and decreasing the bauxite particle size are beneficial to the removal of sulfur. This is a new and effective method of sulfur removal by adding zinc during the digestion process, and a reasonable process of alumina production from high-sulfur bauxite is developed and described. The results shed some light on the removal of sulfur from high-sulfur bauxite during the alumina production.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge the support received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 22068021 and 52064030) and the Project of State Key Research and Development Plan (2019YFC1904205).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Cleaning Utilization in Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, 650093, Kunming, China

    Zhanwei Liu, Hengwei Yan, Mengnan Li & Shuxin Liu

  2. National Engineering Laboratory for Vacuum Metallurgy, Kunming University of Science and Technology, 650093, Kunming, China

    Zhanwei Liu, Hengwei Yan, Mengnan Li & Shuxin Liu

  3. Aluminum Industry Engineering Research Center of Yunnan Province, 650093, Kunming, China

    Zhanwei Liu, Hengwei Yan, Mengnan Li & Shuxin Liu

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  1. Zhanwei Liu
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Zhanwei Liu, Yan, H., Li, M. et al. Sulfur Removal from High-Sulfur Bauxite during the Bayer Process. Russ. J. Non-ferrous Metals 63, 26–36 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1067821222010126

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