Occurrence and leaching behaviors of heavy-metal elements in

metallurgical slags

Valentina Bermúdez Gómez – 1001013365

The article talks about how to characterize different slags from pyrometallurgical and
hydrometallurgical processes and the possible presence of heavy metals in them,
since they can cause a considerable environmental risk if they are not neutralized
and would not allow the reuse of the slag in the materials of construction properly. It
was written by Chinese researchers in 2022. The article states that metallurgical slag
is an industrial waste produced during the production of metals or alloys. This slag
contains heavy metal elements and has caused environmental problems in China
due to improper disposal. These slags can come from hydrometallurgical and
pyrometallurgical processes, which are environmentally harmful due to the presence
of heavy metals such as Cr, Pb, Zn and Mn, and do not allow the reuse of slag in
the preparation of construction materials. Because metallurgical slag has the risk of
leaching heavy metal elements.
For the elaboration of the article, 3 metallurgical samples were used that contain
heavy metal elements such as EMR (electrolytic manganese residue), which is a
solid residue resulting from leaching with sulfuric acid, neutralization with ammonia
and purification in the production of metallic manganese by electrolysis, having high
contents of Mn were used. LZS slag (lead-zinc slag) is an industrial residue from
lead-zinc smelting and contains heavy metals such as Cr, Pb and Zn and EFS slag
(ferronickel electric furnace slag) contains considerable amount of Mn and Cr that
are harmful to health. the environment. These slags are used for the preparation of
construction materials, however, there may be risks of leaching in heavy metallic
elements, so the leaching behavior was analyzed to make a safe use of these slags
in construction processes. To this end, the slags were characterized, the leaching
behavior of heavy metallic elements was investigated by means of a combination of
leaching test and thermodynamic simulation, and the potential risks of leaching were
evaluated.
First, it was determined that the main compositions of EMR are SiO2, SO3 and
Al2O3, in LZS Fe2O3 and SiO2, and for EFS MgO, Fe2O3 and SiO2. And it was
determined that there are two main forms of existence of Mn in EMR. In LZS Cr, Mn
and Zn exist in the solid solution with Fe and Pb as a single substance. In the EFS,
Mn and Cr exist mainly in the glassy Si-Al phase and in the Cr-Mn solid solution.
Subsequently, the leaching study was carried out and it was found that EMR MnSO4
can be massively dissolved in a neutral environment, while ferromanganese spinel
cannot be dissolved until the Ph value decreases to 6. While heavy metals in LZS
and EFS exist mainly in stable forms and start to leach when the Ph is less than 4.
According to the leaching process, it can be concluded that the heavy metal leaching
concentrations of EMR (Mn), LZS (Zn, Mn, Pb and As) and EFS (Mn and Cr) are
relatively high, which is risky for leaching into the environment. In addition to neutral
and alkaline situations, Mn from EMR, Zn and Pb from LZS, and Mn and Cr from
EFS can also leach into solution, indicating the environmental risks of metallurgical
slag even in conditions without acid erosion.