Arsenic Matte Process Research

The technique of treating arsenic matte in high content of nickel arsenic matte was studied.A new process of extracting arsenic trioxide, copper and nickel sulphate which embraces hot sulfuric acid leaching, dissolution as well as separation of copper and nickel was brought forward based on a large number of experiments. Concentrated sulphuric acid was used to leach the feed, after filtration, the arsenic in the leaching solution precipitated in the form of arsenic trioxide during the cooling process. The leaching residue underwent hot leaching by water or extracting residue obtained from following extraction procedure, and got residue and solution. The residue was sent to blast furnace. The solution contains high concentration of copper and nickel. Extracting reagent N902 was employed to extract copper and separate it from nickel, then, produced high pure copper and nickel sulfate.The affect of concentration of sulfuric acid, temperature, liquid-solid ratio and leaching time on the leaching yield of arsenic, copper and nickel were investigated in the leaching procedure. And the compact of concentration of leaching reagent, phase ratio O/A and pH value of the aqueous solution on the extraction yield of copper were inspected.From the conditional experiments, optimal conditions were gained. In the condition of concentration of sulfuric acid 1800 g/L, liquid-solid ratio 4: 1, leaching time 45 min and temperature 180℃, the recovery yield of arsenic is 80.03%, the leaching yield of copper and nickel were 97.00% and 97.98% respectively. While concentration of N902 25%, phase ratio O/A 1: 1, pH value of aqueous solution 1.5 and temperature 45℃for the extraction procedure, the extraction yield of copper is 95%-98%.The process was designed according to the characteristics of the feed, taking into account of the recovery of arsenic trioxide, separation of copper and nickel together with its feasibility of industrial application. It is relatively simple, environmental friendly and highly operatble. It presented a reasonable and ground-breaking way for extracting arsenic.