Jurnal Akademika Kimia, 13.
: 102-107.
November 2024 ISSN .
2477-5185 | ISSN .
2302-6030 http://jurnal.
id/index.
php/jak/ OPEN ACCESS The Extraction of Nickel from Morowali Laterite Ore with Sulfuric Acid (H2SO.
*Yuliani.
Daud K.
Walanda, & Mery Napitupulu.
Sri H.
Pulukadang, & Detris Poba Program Studi Pendidikan Kimia/FKIP Ae Universitas Tadulako.
Palu Ae Indonesia 94119 Received 14 August 2024.
Revised 27 August 2024.
Accepted 02 September 2024 doi: 10.
22487/j24775185.
Abstract Efficient recovery of valuable minerals from waste materials requires optimizing key processing parameters to maximize extraction efficiency and resource utilization.
This research was conducted to determine the optimal extraction conditions, which were influenced by sulfuric acid concentration, temperature, and leaching time.
This study used the Taguchi method with 3 factors and 3 levels: the concentration of sulfuric acid (H2SO.
5 M, 1 M, and 2 M.
temperatures at 30 AC, 60 AC, and 95 AC.
and leaching times of 3 hours, 6 hours, and 12 hours.
The optimum conditions obtained from the study were a temperature of 95 AC, a leaching time of 6 hours, and an acid concentration of 2 M, with an absorbance of 0.
These results indicate that the Taguchi method is an efficient and reliable approach for optimizing leaching parameters, thereby contributing to the development of sustainable mineral recovery from waste Keywords: Laterite, nickel, sulfuric acid (H2SO.
Taguchi oxide, commonly called nickel laterite (Marrero et , 2015.
StankoviN et al.
, 2.
Laterite is the result of weathering and enrichment of mafic/ultramafic rocks in the tropics.
therefore, the chemical composition and mineralogy differ from one deposit to another.
The weathering process in ultramafic rocks produces different nickel laterite characters and profiles (Lintjewas et , 2.
One of the factors that influences the formation of laterite nickel deposits is the source rock (Kurniadi et al.
, 2.
Nickel in laterite nickel ores is associated with iron oxide and silicate minerals as a result of isomorphous substitution of iron and magnesium in their crystal structures, so that, chemically and physically, laterite nickel ores can be classified into two types, namely saprolite .
ilicate/hydrosilicat.
xide/hydroxid.
Laterite nickel ore is difficult to convert into nickel concentrate due to the isomorphic crystal structures of goethite and serpentine (Subagja et al.
, 2.
At this time, 2 types of nickel ore are widely used as raw materials for producing nickel metal:
sulfide and laterite ores (Bahfie et al.
, 2.
Over time, nickel sulphide ore reserves continue to decline, prompting some nickel producers to turn their attention to laterite ores as nickel feedstocks.
Unlike sulfide ores, laterite ores are not easy to Introduction Indonesia is a country rich in natural and mineral resources.
One of the mineral resources with potential for development in Indonesia is laterite nickel, as shown in data on world nickel production and reserves from the United States Geological Survey report in January 2015 (Setiawan.
In terms of potential reserves.
Indonesia ranks sixth, with 5% of the world's total.
This shows Indonesia's important position in the world of nickel ore mining.
Indonesian laterite nickel deposits are scattered across several areas, including South Sulawesi.
Southeast Sulawesi.
Maluku, and Papua (Solihin & Firdiyono, 2014.
Konopka et al.
Global demand for metals is increasing due to the rapid development of the chemical and manufacturing industries.
One of the metals widely used in industry is nickel (Wanta et al.
, 2018.
Kruszelnicka et al.
, 2.
Nickel is widely used because it has good corrosion resistance, is easy to shape, yet remains strong.
Nickel is a vital and strategic metal.
This metal is one of the main raw materials in the manufacture of stainless steel and is primarily found as a laterite mineral.
About 60% of the world's nickel resources are available as nickel a *Correspondence:
Yuliani e-mail: Yulhyanhy98@gmail.
A 2024 the Author.
retain the copyright of this article.
This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.
0 International, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Volume, 13.
No.
4, 2024, 102-107
Jurnal Akademika Kimia increase their nickel content with current technology, so various research efforts continue to be carried out to increase nickel levels in laterite (Subagja et al.
, 2.
New alternatives need to be developed to make nickel production from laterite ore more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable.
High-grade nickel ore is processed through a high-temperature process .
, while nickel extraction from low-grade laterite nickel ore is generally carried out by the hydrometallurgical The hydrometallurgical process is a mineral processing process carried out at relatively low temperatures by leaching using chemical solutions.
In contrast, the pyrometallurgical process is a mineral processing process carried out at high temperatures (Kyle, 2010.
He et al.
, 2.
Pyrometallurgical environmental problems, such as air pollution from high temperatures.
In addition, this process requires high energy and high operating costs (Listyarini.
Simate et al.
, 2.
Most nickel production processes use High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) and Atmospheric Pressure Acid Leaching (APAL).
The High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) process operates at 4-5 MPa and 245-270 AC.
As well as a special titanium-coated Atmospheric Pressure Acid Leaching (APAL) is operated at low temperatures and is a relatively simple process.
Due to the high operating pressure and temperature requirements of HPAL, it requires a more expensive and complex tool than APAL, making APAL a cheaper alternative.
However, the APAL process has several drawbacks, including low nickel-extraction reaction kinetics and production liquor containing dissolved iron and aluminum (Santoso, 2.
Separation of nickel metal from laterite ore can be done by the extraction process.
Many dissolution methods are used for nickel metal extraction, including HCl.
H2SO4.
HNO3, and aqua Regia as solvents.
In this study, nickel metal was separated from Morowali laterite ore by leaching .
olid-liquid extractio.
This extraction is usually used to process low-grade nickel ore, yielding nickel (N.
as the final product using an acid solvent (Prasetyo, 2008.
Zhao et al.
, 2.
The extraction process in this study uses H2SO4 as the solvent, and the nickel separation process also uses H2SO4, a method known as Sulfuric Acid leaching, which is a selective separation method for extracting metals from natural minerals with H2SO4 as the reactant in the dissolution process.
For the Sulfuric Acid leaching method, it has several advantages, including the reactant material used (H2SO.
is easy to obtain, relatively inexpensive, not too complicated, and when compared to using HCl.
HNO3, and aqua Regia solvents, because in solvents other than H2SO4, the solvent will extract more ferrous metal than nickel metal (Dubenko et al.
, 2.
According to Nasab et al.
, the dissolution of nickel metal in laterite minerals is influenced by several conditions, including solution concentration, dissolution time, and dissolution One of them is the variation in 0.
solution concentration: 0.
2 M, 0.
3 M, 0.
4 M, and 0.
M, with 0.
5 M optimal, with nickel extractable at 80% of the initial grade.
Based on these studies, the higher the concentration of the H2SO4 solution, the higher the nickel metal content obtained.
However, in this study, a lower variation was used to see the effectiveness of H2SO4 as a solvent.
Wanta et al.
, whose research used temperatures of 30 oC, 60 oC, and 85 oC with the highest nickel content results found at the highest temperature of 85 oC where the higher the use of the higher operating temperature, the higher the percentage of nickel extraction and this study used temperature variations.
30 oC, 60 oC, and 95 oC Garces-Granda .
reports that dissolving nickel metal in laterite minerals is carried out in several ways, including variations in solution concentration, dissolution time, and dissolution For variations in dissolution time, the optimal dissolution time is 4 hours.
In this study, the dissolution times are 3, 6, and 12 hours.
The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of sulfuric acid (H2SO.
concentration, temperature, and leaching time on nickel extraction from laterite ore from Bahodopi.
Morowali Regency.
Central Sulawesi Province.
Methods This research is an experimental study based on nickel content analysis of extraction results from laterite ore, with variations in leaching time, temperature, and sulfuric acid concentration.
Meanwhile, nickel content was analyzed using SSA (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotomete.
to determine the amount of nickel in each sample.
This research was conducted using the Taguchi method, a new engineering approach aimed at improving product and process quality and minimizing costs and resource use.
The tools used in this research are an oven, a mortar and pestle, and Whatman filter paper .
No.
52 and 54.
Bychner funnel, erlenmeyer filter flax, vacuum pump, filler .
ubber suctio.
, 100 mL beaker, magnetic stirrer, petri dish, vial, thermometer, test tube, dropper, spatula, sieve, stirrer, digital balance, measuring cup, flask, aluminum foil and AAS Elmer analyst 700.
The materials used in this study include laterite ore from the Bahodopi sub-district.
Morowali Regency.
Yuliani et al.
Central Sulawesi Province, and 96.
1% sulfuric acid (H2SO.
The procedure for sample preparation is to weigh 1000 grams of the sample using a digital balance, then heat or dry the weighed sample in an oven at 110 AC for 3 hours to remove the water content.
After that, the dried samples were ground in a mortar and pestle, then sieved through a 200-mesh Extraction parameters and level In using the Taguchi method, testing parameters with different levels are needed.
The research design table for this study is presented in Table 1.
Extraction process Table 1.
Research design according to Taguchi Parameter Acid Concentration (M) Temperature .
C) Leaching Time (Hou.
Condition level i The extraction process to be carried out in this study will use three factors: temperature, time, and acid concentration.
These three factors will affect the extraction results from each sample.
grams of fine laterite were weighed, placed in a 1000 mL beaker, and 100 mL of 0.
5 M sulfuric acid (H2SO.
solution was added.
Cover the glass surface tightly with aluminum foil to prevent the mixture from evaporating.
Heat the mixture on a hot plate at room temperature and stir using a magnetic stirrer for 3 The mixture was filtered using a Bychner funnel lined with filter paper.
Perform steps 1-4 for temperature variations of 60 AC and 95 AC, time variations of 6 hours and 12 hours, and concentration variations of 1.
0 M and 2.
0 M.
After leaching and filtration, the nickel content in the filtrate was analyzed by AAS, and the results were recorded.
The data obtained from the sample analysis using the AAS tool are processed to determine the optimum conditions and the percent recovery of nickel.
Orthogonal array (AO) The Taguchi method uses a special set of matrices, called Orthogonal Arrays, to determine which combination of factors and levels to use in efficient experiments and to analyze experimental data (Soejanto, 2.
The orthogonal array for the experimental design in this study is shown in Table Table 2.
Orthogonal array matrix Acid Concentration (M) Temperature .
C) Time (Hou.
Results and Discussion Nickel level analysis Nickel analysis using AAS on samples extracted from nickel in laterite ore, influenced by 3 factors: temperature, leaching time, and sulfuric acid (H2SO.
solution, using the Taguchi method.
The results of the analysis are shown in Table 3.
Sample preparation Sample preparation aims to make the sample ready for testing.
The sample used in this study is laterite rock originating from the Morowali area.
Table 3.
Results of the analysis of nickel levels No.
Acid Concentration (M) Temperature .
C)) Leaching Time (Hou.
Absorbance Concentration .
analyze nickel samples.
The results of nickel extraction under the optimum conditions are shown in Table 4.
Determination of optimum conditions The optimum condition is the one in which the analyzed nickel content is highest.
Based on Figure 1, the optimum conditions obtained from the 9 analytical data points were then used to Volume, 13.
No.
4, 2024, 102-107
Jurnal Akademika Kimia Figure 1.
Results of determining optimum conditions Table 4.
Results of optimum nickel concentration Acid Concentration (M) Temperature .
C) Leaching Time (Hou.
Absorbance Concentration .
The average absorbance under the optimum remained constant during the experiment.
The best conditions was 0.
6820, the average concentration conditions for maximum recovery were obtained by 8621 ppm, and the percent recovery of using H2SO4.
Therefore, sulfuric acid solution was nickel was 6.
used for nickel extraction in a comprehensive study.
This research presents an alternative method Effect of acid concentration for analyzing nickel content in laterite rock or soil The sulfuric acid (H2SO.
concentrations in using extraction.
The leaching process, or solidthis 5 M, 1 M, and 2 M.
The acid liquid extraction, is commonly used to treat lowconcentration was determined to identify the grade nickel ore, yielding a final product of nickel for extracting laterite ore.
(N.
using an acid solvent.
The nickel laterite Based conducted, optimal nickel leaching process has several important variables that concentration of 2 M.
can affect the nickel recovery from leaching, namely solution concentration, solvent temperature, and This is because increasing the acid concentration solvent time, which in this study used acid increases the concentration of H ions in solution, concentrations of 0.
5 M, 1 M, and 2 M, which react with nickel ore and leach the nickel ions temperatures 30 C, 60 C, and 95 C, and leaching in solution.
According to Le Chatelier's principle, time for 3 hours, 6 hours, and 12 hours.
The nickel separation process using H2SO4 increasing the acid concentration in the reaction of Ni-containing material with acid will shift the solvent, also known as the sulfuric acid leaching method, is a selective method for extracting metals reaction to the right.
Top et al.
stated that increasing acid from natural minerals, with H2SO4 as the reactant in in atmospheric leaching can increase the dissolution step.
Javanshir et al.
from laterite ores and cause greater conducted a series of leaching experiments using According to Li et al.
sulfur and hydrochloric acid as solvents.
Conditions involving this metal are given such as temperature .
C), time .
, stirring speed .
, and S/L ratio .
25 g/cm ) NiFe2O4.
2H IeNi2 Fe2O3.
H2O.
2NiOASiO2.
4H Ie 2Ni2 SiO2.
2H2O.
NiO.
2H IeNi2 H2O.
study by Wanta et al.
, which used temperatures of 30 AC, 60 AC, and 85 AC, with the highest nickel content at 85 AC.
Using higher temperatures increases the likelihood of molecular collisions, so the stages of nickel product formation will also be higher.
Wahab et al.
also stated that higher temperatures are associated with greater nickel This is because the higher the temperature, the greater the movement of the Temperature effect Temperature is an important parameter and has a considerable influence on the nickel extraction process (Luo et al.
, 2.
To determine the effect of leaching temperature on nickel collection, experiments were conducted at 30 AC, 60 AC, and 95 AC.
Based on the research results, the highest temperature is 95 AC, indicating that higher temperatures will also yield a higher nickel Similar results were also observed in the Yuliani et al.
reacting species, thereby increasing the amount of reaction product.
This is in accordance with the research of Meshram et al.
, which reports an optimum temperature of 270 AC for the nickel leaching process, while the previous research of Whittington & Muir .
reports an optimum temperature of 280 AC.
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Lapidus.
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Ni-co bearing laterites from Halmahera Island (Indonesi.
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Nickel laterite processing technologies Ae where to next?.
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& Xu.
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Effect of leaching time The duration of the leaching process is an important factor in determining optimal conditions.
To determine the effect of leaching time on nickel content analysis, the analysis was carried out at 3, 6, and 12 hours.
The results obtained were the leaching time at which the highest nickel content was observed: 6 hours.
These results indicate that the obtained nickel extraction optimization is neither the fastest nor the longest.
Meanwhile, based on research by Faris et al.
, the optimum nickel extraction time is 180 minutes .
, after which the % nickel recovery percentage remains constant.
The kinetics of chemical reactions influence this.
the presence of heat-resistant minerals .
, lizardite and goethit.
, which are highly acid-resistant, prevents the extraction of nickel from the lattice.
The minerals present and the solvent used reach an equilibrium state with respect to the amount of metal extracted.
Conclusions Based on the research conducted, the optimal conditions were a concentration of 2 M Sulfuric Acid (H2SO.
, a temperature of 95 AC, and a leaching time of 6 hours.
The average concentration was 25.
8621 ppm, and the percent recovery of nickel was 6.
Acknowledgment The authors would like to thank the laboratory assistants of the Chemistry Unit.
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education.
Tadulako University.
Palu, and all who helped them complete this research.
References