Industrial-scale process design for hazardous waste valorization: Synergistic cadmium and zinc recovery via closed-loop hydrometallurgy

IF 3.9 3区工程技术 Q2 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

Chemical Engineering Research & Design Pub Date : 2025-10-10 DOI:10.1016/j.cherd.2025.10.009

Wen Li, Xinzhi Zhang, Xuegui Yang, Chunping He, Chunlong Yang, Jigao He, Runchun He, Xingdai Zhang, Hongjie He

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Abstract

An industrial-scale closed-loop process for the synergistic recovery of cadmium and zinc from hazardous copper–cadmium slag (5–10 % Cd, 20–50 % Zn) in hydrometallurgical zinc production is demonstrated, implemented at a 100 kt/a smelter. The integrated system combines single-stage leaching and optimized two-stage cementation to achieve 96.78 % Cd and 73.51 % Zn leaching efficiencies during 150-day continuous operation. Through phase-selective precipitation controlled by zinc powder dosage regulation, residual cadmium in leachate is reduced to 126 mg/L (removal efficiency: 96.99 %), yielding 0.81 kt/a high-purity sponge cadmium (92.93 % Cd, Zn < 2 %) validated for nickel-cadmium battery and CdTe solar cell raw materials, alongside 1.37 kt/a reusable zinc metal. The closed-loop design enables internal circulation of cadmium-depleted solution and secondary residues, minimizing reagent consumption while resolving zinc encapsulation issues. Economic analysis confirms investment payback within one month and 16 million CNY annual profit, establishing a scalable model for hazardous waste valorization with near-zero heavy metal emissions.

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危险废物增值的工业规模工艺设计：通过闭环湿法冶金协同回收镉和锌

一个工业规模的闭环过程，从有害的铜镉渣（5-10 % Cd, 20-50 % Zn）中协同回收镉和锌的湿法冶金锌生产演示，在100 kt/a冶炼厂实施。集成系统结合了单阶段浸出和优化的两阶段固井，在150天的连续运行中，Cd浸出效率为96.78 %，Zn浸出效率为73.51 %。通过调控锌粉用量控制相选择沉淀，将渗滤液中残留镉降至126 mg/L（去除率96.99 %），得到0.81 kt/a高纯度海绵镉（92.93 % Cd, Zn < 2 %），可用于镍镉电池和CdTe太阳能电池原料，可重复使用的锌金属为1.37 kt/a。闭环设计使镉耗尽溶液和二次残留物的内部循环，最大限度地减少试剂消耗，同时解决锌封装问题。经济分析确认1个月投资回收期，年利润1600万元，建立了重金属接近零排放的危险废物增值可扩展模式。

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来源期刊

Chemical Engineering Research & Design 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

6.10

自引率

7.70%

发文量

623

审稿时长

42 days

期刊介绍： ChERD aims to be the principal international journal for publication of high quality, original papers in chemical engineering. Papers showing how research results can be used in chemical engineering design, and accounts of experimental or theoretical research work bringing new perspectives to established principles, highlighting unsolved problems or indicating directions for future research, are particularly welcome. Contributions that deal with new developments in plant or processes and that can be given quantitative expression are encouraged. The journal is especially interested in papers that extend the boundaries of traditional chemical engineering.