Treatment of phosphoric acid sludge for rare earths recovery II: effect of sonication and flocculant solution temperature on settling rate |
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| Authors: | Ghazaleh Allaedini Patrick Zhang |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Florida Industrial &2. Phosphate Research Institute, Florida Polytechnic University, Bartow, FL, USAgallaedini@floridapoly.edu jiny_ghazaleh@yahoo.com;3. Phosphate Research Institute, Florida Polytechnic University, Bartow, FL, USA |
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| Abstract: | The effect of sonication on sludge exhibited a faster settling rate. Sonication creates acoustic cavitation preparing the slurry for better interaction with flocculant and generating faster settlement. Five samples of flocculants were conditioned at 25, 50, 60, 75 and 100° C for settlement. The flocculant conditioned at 60°C had the best performance in terms of settlement. However, further increase in temperature damaged polymer chains of the flocculant decreasing its effectiveness. ICP analysis showed sonicated samples trapped 11% more rare earth elements (REEs) in their residue and that temperature above 60º C is not favorable for the flocculant preparation in terms of coagulation. |
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| Keywords: | Sonication flocculation phosphoric acid sludge settling rare earth elements |
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