Recovery of copper sulfate after treating As-containing wastewater by precipitation method

Abstract

The solid sodium hydroxide neutralized acidic As-containing wastewater till pH value was 6. Green copper arsenite was prepared after copper sulfate was added into the neutralized wastewater when the molar ratio of Cu to As was 2:1 and pH value of the neutralized wastewater was adjusted to 8.0 by sodium hydroxide. The arsenious acid solution and red residue were produced after copper arsenite mixed with water according to the ratio of liquid to solid of 4:1 and copper arsenite was reduced by SO2 at 60 °C for 1 h. The white powder was gained after the arsenious acid solution was evaporated and cooled. Copper sulfate solution was obtained after the red residue was leached by H2SO4 solution under the action of air. The results show that red residue is Cu3(SO3)2·2H2O and the white powder is As2O3. The leaching rate of Cu reaches 99.00% when the leaching time is 1.5 h, molar ratio of H2SO4 to Cu is 1.70, H2SO4 concentration is 24% and the leaching temperature is 80 °C. The direct recovery rate of copper sulfate is 79.11% and the content of CuSO4·5H2O is up to 98.33% in the product after evaporating and cooling the copper sulfate solution.