| Arsenic is one the most obnoxious impurities in the metallurgical industry, principally in copper smelters. In the last few decades, environmental regulation of arsenic has been promulgated, which has forced the smelters to treat their gases through to sulfuric acid plants in order to respect the national and international environmental standards.; The objective of this thesis is carry out a review of the effects of arsenic on human health, the solution chemistry of arsenic, the world production and uses of arsenic and its compounds in recent years. The environmental situation of the Chilean metallurgical industry, regarding the regulations and present solutions for management of SO2, particulate matter and arsenic is particularly emphasized since Chile is the world's largest copper producer. The hydrometallurgical and the pyrometallurgical processes for arsenic recovery from gold, cobalt and copper concentrates as well as from copper smelter dusts, whether implemented or in research, are reviewed. In addition, this study considers the disposal of the arsenic emitted by metallurgical plants by precipitation under a variety of forms, for example, as ferric arsenate, calcium arsenate or arsenic sulfide. |
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