A novel “green” solvent to deeply purify quartz sand with high yields: A case study

Abstract

A novel “green” solvent for removing iron and aluminum impurities simultaneously from quartz sand was presented to replace the outdated industrial strong acids. The solvent is a “green” mixture comprised nontoxic, renewable acids and a very diluted hydrochloric acid. The new solvent can significantly reduce the pollution caused by residual acids and remain the high efficiency in removing impurities and is harmless to the target product as well. The final optimum removing rate was up to 79.1% and 42.3% respectively if its leached residue was washed, then leached again in a 4g/l Na2CO3 solution under ultrasound for 25min.