ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: This work details on a novel means to extract and recycle potash from mother liquor B in beet sugar industry. The adsorption, elution and adsorption kinetics of K+ on resin, the crystallization of potash in eluates were studied. Results showed that the adsorption capacity of K+ in 50◦C Bx mother liquor B on resin BK001 was 40.4 mg/ml wet resin at 60◦C and a flow rate of 2BV/h. The elution efficiency of total K+ on resin was higher than 98.6% using 450 ml of 0.166 mol/l Na2SO4 at 60◦C and a flow rate of 2BV/h. The cause of eluting K+ using Na2SO4 depends on the interaction between K+ and SO2−4 and the exchange between K+ and Na+. For recycling potash from the resin eluate, a fast cooling crystallization method is likely for industrial application for high yield and purity of potash. For the kinetics of adsorbing K+, the ion exchange process is controlled by particle diffusion, the reaction order 1.389, the apparent activation energy 35.1 kJ/mol, and a kinetics model was established. Our findings suggested that the potash-recycling means might remit for potash deficiency in China, and showed potential for improving sugar yield without environmental pollution.
