Hydrometallurgical leaching and Kinetic modeling of low grade manganese ore with banana peel in sulfuric acid

Manganese was leached from a low-grade manganese ore (LGMO) using banana peel as the reductant in a dilute sulfuric acid medium. The effects of banana peel amount, H2SO4 concentration, reaction temperature, and time on Mn leaching from the complex LGMO were studied. A leaching efficiency of ∼98% was achieved at a leaching time of 2 h, banana peel amount of 4 g, leaching temperature of 120°C, manganese ore amount of 5 g, and sulfuric acid concentration of 15vol%. The phase, microstructural, and chemical analyses of LGMO samples before and after the leaching process confirmed the successful leaching of manganese. Furthermore, the leaching process followed the shrinking core model and the leaching rate was controlled by a surface chemical reaction (1 − (1 − x)1/3 = kt) mechanism with an apparent activation energy of 40.19 kJ·mol−1.