TOMSK, Nov 30 – RIA Tomsk. Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) suggested liquidating deposits of production wastes of sulfuric acid turning them into gold, silver and other metals, the press service of the higher education institution reported on Monday.
"The technology of polytechnics will allow to solve a problem with deposits of production wastes of sulfuric acid, which only, about 30 million tons of which was collected in our country. <…> Complex processing with receiving a wide range of production is possible: gold, silver, copper, zinc, iron and its connections, and also other useful metals", – it is told in the message.
It is explained that sulfuric acid is necessary for production of dyes, explosive, washing and other substances. It is obtained by roasting pyrite concentrate (pyrites is an iron mineral which quite often contain impurity of gold, cobalt, copper and other non-ferrous metals). Now the resulting acid pyrite cinders are stored on grounds due to unprofitability of their processing.
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"Depending on structure we dry and burn pyrite cinders. Then agglomeration with ammonium chloride is carried out therefore complex hlorammoniyny connections are formed which decompose at further heating. And then, depending on our purpose, we receive various compounds of non-ferrous metals or iron", – the author of the project Andrey Smorkov is quoted.
It is noted that the Tomsk technology will be the first profitable in the Russian Federation because it is possible to obtain a metal according to the order. Thus it doesn't give new waste, unlike all another existing in the world: during processing chloride of ammonium is obtained except the necessary substance which can be used subsequently.
"The pilot plant was created by means of which trial processing of production wastes of sulfuric acid in non-ferrous metals and iron is carried out. Tests of technology are carried out in Priargunsk production mining and chemical association (Zabaykalsky Krai). The project is financed by means of state corporation Rosatom", – it was added by TPU.