Simultaneous removal of residual sulfate and heavy metals from spent electrolyte of lead-acid battery after precipitation and carbonation

Abstract

Spent electrolyte from lead-acid battery contains high concentrations of sulfate acid and heavy metals; therefore without proper handling, they might cause severe environmental pollution. A relatively high concentration of sulfate ions (approximately 3000 mg/L) and heavy metals still exists in the effluent even after precipitation with slaked lime and carbonation process, which need to be further processed to lower both the concentrations of sulfate and heavy metals for direct discharge. A process that involves the reduction of sulfate to sulfide with sulfate-reducing bacteria and precipitation of the excessive sulfide with Fe(OH)2 was adopted to dispose of the effluent after precipitation and carbonation for direct discharge. Thermodynamic calculations were adopted to narrow down the optimum experimental range and understand the precipitation mechanism. In the whole process, no new impurities nor ions were introduced and 99.2% of sulfate, 99.9% of sulfide, 99.1% of Ca and more than 94.6% of Pb and 99.8% of Cd were removed and the obtained effluent was safe to discharge.