Leaching of Nickel Pig Iron Followed by Precipitation to Synthesize Mixed Sulfate Precipitate

The development of the electric vehicle industry has increased the need for batteries. The NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery is one type with superior properties. The nickel used to manufacture NMC batteries is nickel (II) sulfate hexahydrate (NiSO4·6H2O) compounds. A mixed sulfate precipitate should be synthesized to obtain it. Thus, nickel ore has been first smelted in the Mini Blast Furnace, after which the smelted and cooled Nickel Pig Iron (NPI) has been leached into a solution. This study has aimed to analyze the influence of agitation speed and particle size of NPI in the leaching process of mixed sulfate precipitate. The leaching process has used a 2M H2SO4. The leaching temperature is set at 90 °C for 6 hours with agitation speeds of 100, 200, and 300 rpm and particle sizes of-50 μm, +50-80 μm, and +80-112 μm. Next, the precipitation process has been carried out by using NaOH solution. Next, the crystallization process has been conducted to eliminate water in the solution and produce powder. The best nickel extraction has been obtained at a particle size of-50 μm at 98.19%.