Dissolution kinetics of nickel laterite ore using different secondary metabolic acids

Abstract

The dissolution kinetics of nickel laterite ore in aqueous acid solutions of three metabolic acids, i.e., citric acid, oxalic acid and acetic acid were investigated in a batch reactor individually. It was determined that experimental data comply with a shrinking core model. The diffusion coefficients for citric acid, oxalic acid and acetic acid were found to be 1.99×10-9 cm²/s, 2.59×10-8 cm²/s and 1.92×10-10 cm²/s respectively. The leaching ability of each acid was observed and it was found that oxalic acid was better than the other two.