Production of gypsum products from waste battery acid

G.M. Cann, Peter A. Claisse, J.P. Lorimer

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

    Abstract

    Lead-acid batteries are the largest worldwide use of lead. Conventional recycling (95% in UK) produces harmful by-products. Recent environmental legislation has led to increased costs, due to the energy required, and the requirement to dispose of the waste products. A new innovative process in which the waste sulphuric acid (H2SO4) from the batteries is neutralised with the aid of either calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) or calcium carbonate (CaCO3) will produce gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O), a valuable product in plasterboard and cement production. The suitability of the gypsum produced depends greatly on the purity, crystal shape, crystal size and moisture content. Experimental work was undertaken to investigate the structural and morphological characteristics of the gypsum produced with respect to changes in the reaction conditions. This allowed the production of a scientific rationale and model for the production of high quality gypsum which was validated in a pilot plant. The analytical techniques used to characterise the gypsum were X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, particle size analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationSustainable Construction Materials and Technologies
    EditorsY-M. Chun, P. Claisse, T.R. Naik, E. Ganjian
    Place of PublicationLondon
    PublisherTaylor and Francis
    Pages189-201
    ISBN (Print)9780415446891
    Publication statusPublished - 2007

    Bibliographical note

    The full text of this item is not available from the repository. Paper presented at the conference on sustainable construction materials and technologies, held 11-13 June 2007, Coventry, UK.

    Keywords

    • lead-acid batteries
    • recycling

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