Preliminary Study of Iron Removal from Hydrochloric Pickling Liquor by Ion Exchange

Abstract

Hydrochloric acid from exhausted pickling baths is a residue that has to be managed adequately because of its high pollutant potential. In this work, an ion exchange treatment for removing iron from the spent acid was studied in an attempt to make the re-utilization of said acid viable for industry while reducing the amount of waste generated. Several cationic, anionic, and chelating resins were tested. Cationic and chelating resins are able to remove Fe(II) that is present as a cation in the acid, whereas anionic resins are able to remove Fe(III) that forms anionic complexes with the chloride anion. The capacity of the cationic and chelating resins, although not high, does improve as the iron concentration in the hydrochloric acid increases and when the acid concentration decreases, because there is less competition between the ferrous cation and the protons. The anionic resins showed higher capacity for removing iron, especially the Lewatit MP-500, and this capacity also increased with iron concentration.