Abstract
This research was performed to investigate the optimization of copper recovery from copper smelting slag(CSS)with a deep eutectic solvent as a green reagent.The effect of important parameters on the leaching efficiency of copper and zinc(as well as dissolution of iron),such as leaching time,leaching temperature,solid/liquid ratio,and particle size was studied.In order to model the copper recovery,an optimization method was used.According to the chemical analysis of CSS,the slag contains 0.9%copper,3.3%zinc,and 36.7%iron.Also,it was found that the CSS is mainly composed of Fe2SiO4,Fe3O4 and SiO2.Copper-containing structures were determined as CuO and CuS.As a result of leaching experiments,80%copper and 61%zinc recoveries were obtained at 48 h,95 ℃,1/25 g·ml-1,and-33 μm.It is noted that the iron and silicon dissolution remained negligible under the selected conditions.According to the math-ematical model,the highest copper leaching efficiency(up to 100%)could be under optimum working conditions as 48.5 ℃ leaching temperature,40.1 h leaching duration,and 62.3 ml·g-1 solid/liquid ratio.Also,the proposed model revealed that a wide range of experimental levels can be used as leaching parameter to get desired metal leaching efficiency.