Abstract:Low concentration alkaline leaching was used for predesilication treatment of low-grade pyrolusite. The effects of initial NaOH concentration, liquid-to-solid ratio, leaching temperature, leaching time and stirring speed on silica leaching rate were investigated and the kinetics of alkaline leaching process was studied. The results show that silica leaching rate reached 91.2% under the conditions of initial NaOH concentration of 20%, liquid-to-solid ratio of 4:1, leaching temperature of 180 °C, leaching time of 4 h and stirring speed of 300 r/min. Shrinking-core model showed that the leaching process was controlled by the chemical surface reaction with activation energy Ea of 53.31 kJ/mol. The fluidized roasting conditions for preparation of sodium manganate were optimized by the orthogonal experiments using the desiliconized residue. The conversion rate of sodium manganate was obtained to be 89.7% under the conditions of silica leaching rate of 91.2%, NaOH/MnO2 mass ratio of 3:1, roasting temperature of 500 °C and roasting time of 4 h, and it increased with the increase of silicon leaching rate.

Key words: low-grade pyrolusite; desilication; fluidized roasting; sodium manganate