1989 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 526-532
Applicability of liquid membranes to the solvent extraction of Ga and In from leaching solution of gypsum, which is a residue of zinc recovery from black ore, was studied experimentally. The leaching sulfuric acid solution contains about 300 ppm of Ga and In together with 16, 000 ppm of Al and 30, 000 ppm of Zn. As the extractant, Versatic-10 (V10) which is used in the conventional process, and 2-bromodecanoic acid (2BDA) were tested. It was found experimentally that 2BDA is more effective than V10 as an extractant, and that application of the supported liquid membrane is difficult because of low permeation rate. The application of the liquid surfactant membrane was found to be promising by use of 8 vol% Span 80 as the surfactant and 20 vol% 2BDA as the extractant. The required amount of the extractant and the volume of the extraction apparatus can be reduced respectively to 1/50 and 1/10 to those in the conventional process.
