Treatment of Acidic Solutions Containing As(III) and As(V) by Sulfide Precipitation: Comparison of Precipitates and Sulfurization Process

Sulfide precipitation has been widely applied to remove arsenic from acidic wastewater containing As(III) and As(V), due to its simple process and high efficiency. However, the characteristics and composition of the precipitates are also of importance for its further treatment and disposal. To explore the characteristics of elemental S formed by reduction and the combined form of the generated S and As2S3, the characteristics of precipitates sulfurized from As(III) and As(V) and the effects of temperature, the S(-II) to As ratio (S/As), Cl− concentration (cCl−), and the volume fraction of H2SO4 (φH2SO4(v)) on the sulfurization of As(III) and As(V) were investigated in detail. The results showed that the contents of As and S were 60.37% and 39.73% in precipitate-As(III), while they accounted for 47.46% and 52.64% in precipitate-As(V); both precipitate-As(III) and precipitate-As(V) were mainly composed of amorphous As2S3, while the latter contained elemental S. Temperature and S(-II)/As(III) slightly affected the sulfurization process of As(III), while for As(V), as the temperature increased, the content of As2S3 in precipitate-As(V) increased significantly. Additionally, with the S(-II)/As(V) increasing, the content of A2S3 increased continuously. This study provides a further clarification of the specific composition and structure of the complex precipitates of arsenic sulfide, which will benefit the efficient stabilization of the arsenic sulfide sludge.