Recovery of zinc from an industrial zinc leach residue by solvent extraction using D2EHPA

A hydrometallurgical treatment involving solvent extraction of zinc using di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) has been investigated to recover zinc from an industrial leach residue. The residue was leached with sulfuric acid producing leach liquor which was subjected to solvent extraction for enrichment of zinc and removal of impurities. Operating variables, such as pH, D2EHPA concentration, temperature, aqueous/organic (A/O) phase ratio, tri-butyl phosphate (TBP) concentration and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) concentration in aqueous phase were studied. Practically, all zinc was extracted from the aqueous solution at pH 2.5 with 20% w/w D2EHPA in kerosene. Increasing either TBP concentration up to 5%, or Na2SO4 concentration up to 0.2 M, increased the zinc extraction. Zinc could be extracted at one theoretical stage at A/O of 1/1, as calculated by McCabe–Thiele method.