Investigation of Leaching Kinetics of Ulexite Waste in Oxalic Acid Solutions

S. U. Bayca, F. Kocan and Y. Abalib

Abstract
The dissolution of ulexite waste in oxalic acid solutions was studied in a batch reactor after characterization of the waste by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. The dissolution parameters in this study were acid concentration, stirring rate, and reaction temperature. The experimental data were examined using homogeneous and heterogeneous kinetic models, and the dissolution kinetics of the waste was determined to be a first-order reaction control model. The activation energy of ulexite waste in oxalic acid solution was also calculated. It was observed that the dissolution rate increased with increasing reaction temperature, stirring rate and acid concentration. The kinetic model of the dissolution process was determined to be a first-order reaction control model. The activation energy was found to be 41.09 kJ mol–1.

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Keywords
ulexite waste, leaching kinetics model, dissolution, boric acid, oxalic acid