Kinetics Study of Yttrium Leaching from Zircon Tailings Using Sulfuric Acid

Harry Supriadi (Research Center for Mining Technology, National Research and Innovation Agency, Co-Working Space Babarsari, Babarsari St., Mailbox 6101 ykbb, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia)
Iga Trisnawati (Polytechnic Institute of Nuclear Technology, National Research and Innovation Agency, Babarsari St., Mailbox 6101 ykbb, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia)
Tri Handini (Research Center for Mining Technology, National Research and Innovation Agency, Co-Working Space Babarsari, Babarsari St., Mailbox 6101 ykbb, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia)
Sri Rinanti Susilowati (Research Center for Mining Technology, National Research and Innovation Agency, Co-Working Space Babarsari, Babarsari St., Mailbox 6101 ykbb, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia)
Vincent Sutresno Hadi Sujoto (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Grafika St. No. 2, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia Unconventional Georesources Research Center, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Grafika St. No. 2, Yogy)
Panut Mulyono (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Grafika St. No. 2, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia Unconventional Georesources Research Center, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Grafika St. No. 2, Yogy)
Himawan Tri Bayu Murti Petrus (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Grafika St. No. 2, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia Unconventional Georesources Research Center, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Grafika St. No. 2, Yogy)

Indonesian Journal of Chemistry
Vol 23, No 2 (2023)

From the analysis of zircon tailings using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Yttrium is a rare earth element (REE) with the highest concentration compared to other REEs. The purpose of this study is to determine the best kinetic model for describing how sulfuric acid extracts Yttrium from zircon tailings. Leaching temperatures of 200, 250, and 300 °C were used to determine the kinetics. Samples were obtained at 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 min for each temperature. This study discovered that the chemical reaction model's kinetics are the most closely related to those of the leaching process. The evaluation of the model utilizing the coefficient of determination (R2) on the relationship between each model and time lends support to this conclusion. The activation energy (Ea) of the leaching process is determined by the Arrhenius plot between ln k and 1/T. In the Yttrium leaching procedure, the Ea value is 14.42 kJ/mol. The chemical reaction model was in charge of the leaching process, according to the Ea value. The premise of the chemical reaction model is that chemical reactions regulate the rate of the reaction.