Preparation of Calcium Stannate from Lead Refining Dross by Roast–Leach–Precipitation Process

Abstract

Lead refining dross containing plenty of tin and other heavy metals, such as lead and antimony, is considered a hazardous waste generated in large quantities in lead smelter plants. In this study, calcium stannate was synthesized from lead refining dross using sodium carbonate roasting and alkaline leaching followed by precipitation with CaO. The effect of roasting and leaching parameters on the extraction efficiency of tin was investigated. The leaching efficiency of tin reached 94% under the optimized conditions: roasting with 60% Na2CO3 at 1000 °C for 45 min, and leaching using 2 mol/L NaOH solution for 90 min at 85 °C and 8 cm3/g liquid/solid ratio. Furthermore, more than 99% of tin in the leaching solution was precipitated using CaO. Finally, XRD, SEM, and ICP-OES analyses indicated that the final CaSnO3 product had a purity of 95.75% and its average grain size was smaller than 5 μm. The results indicated that the developed method is feasible to produce calcium stannate from lead refining dross.