Resource Utilization of Electrolytic Manganese Residues

With the rapid development of the economy in China, manganese metal is increasingly required for fabrication of alloys aiming for construction of national infrastructure. However, the pollution generated by manganese industry became increasingly alarming. There are three types of pollutants issued from electrolytic manganese industry: solid waste, waste gases, and wastewater. The solid waste mainly includes manganese residues generated from acid immersion, chrome residues from wastewater treatment, and anode sludge from electrolytic processes. In this chapter, the physical and chemical properties of manganese metal, manganese ore, manganese metal production, and electrolytic manganese residue (EMR) treatment were introduced and discussed. EMR represents the filter acid sludge generated during production of electrolytic manganese metal after addition of manganese carbonate concentrate into sulfuric acid, containing large amounts of hazardous substances. The environmental EMR pollution due to electrolytic manganese industry became particularly serious. Therefore, EMR was well discussed, and technologies dealing with comprehensive treatments and recycling of EMR were proposed and discussed.