Standards Development

Scope

This document specifies an alkali fused steam distillation and ion chromatography method for the determination of the mass fraction of total fluorine and chlorine in copper and zinc sulfide concentrates as follows.

a) This method is applicable to the determination of mass fractions of fluorine from 0,005 % to 0,50 %.

b) This method is applicable to the determination of mass fractions of chlorine from 0,008 % to 0,50 %. Ion chromatography (IC) appeared as a simple and efficient analytical technique that has been widely used for the routine analysis of ions especially halogens, nitrates, sulphate etc. IC offer green method for the analysis of inorganic ions, cause it need only water and small amount of alkali solution as an eluent. Moreover, it offer multiple advantages such as its low cost, selectivity, sensitivity, and most importantly its accessibility to most of the developing countries laboratories as compared to other expensive and heavy analytical techniques.

Therefore, this standard describes an option for the sensitive and cost-effective method for the simultaneous determination of fluorine and chlorine contents in two complex concentrates including

(i) Copper concentrates

(ii) Zinc concentrates

This standard is cost-effective, green and simple to conduct.

Purpose

Copper and zinc are very important non-ferrous metals, which are widely being used in electric power, automobiles, construction, ships, light industry, machinery, household appliances and other fields. Copper sulfide concentrates and zinc sulfide concentrates are the main raw materials for obtaining the smelted copper and zinc metals. Therefore, these occupy an important part in the international trade. However, the presence of various impurities such as fluorine and chlorine in copper sulfide concentrates and zinc sulfide concentrates are prone to produce harmful corrosive gases such as hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride during the smelting process. These harmful corrosive gases are likely to severely corrode the pipelines and other equipments of the smelting industries. Moreover, the harmful corrosive gases are polluting the environment and causing great harm to the health of human-beings. Therefore, the presence of fluorine and chlorine contents in copper sulfide concentrates and zinc sulfide concentrates have received widespread attention. Despite the growing need, there is no international standard (ISO) has been established till now that can simultaneously determine the fluorine and chlorine contents in copper sulfide concentrates and zinc sulfide concentrates.Hence, this project plans to use steam distillation-ion chromatography to simultaneously determine the fluorine and chlorine contents in copper sulfide concentrates and zinc sulfide concentrates.

Ion chromatography is a green, sensitive and selective analytical technique that has been widely used for the analysis of anions. This simple, green and cost-effective technique uses non-toxic and harmless dilute alkali solution as the only eluent for the separation of multiple ions in various samples. Due to its increasing application, many international standards such as ISO 21613, (U,Pu)O2 Powders and sintered pellets - Determination of chlorine and fluorine by ion chromatography and ISO 20295, Soil quality- Determination of perchlorate in soil using ion chromatography have been established by using ion chromatography.

This project established a method for the determination of total fluorine and chlorine contents in copper and zinc sulfide concentrates by alkali-fusion-steam distillation - ion chromatography. The method is simple, selective and sensitive that can simultaneously determine the fluorine and chlorine contents. Therefore, ion chromatography is a suitable and technique of choice for the establishment of international standard for the simultaneous determination of fluorine and chlorine in copper sulfide concentrates and zinc sulfide concentrates.