Liquid-Liquid Separation of Fine Zircon-Alumina Mixtures for Abrasives Recycling

A liquid-liquid separation method using aqueous and oil phases has been put forward for separation of fine zircon-alumina mixtures to recycle abrasives waste. By using a cation surfactant, zircon particles were made hydrophobic and extracted into the oil phase, whereas alumina remained in the aqueous phase. In this way, the fine zircon-alumina mixtures could be well separated. The result confirmed that the liquid-liquid separation method can be used to separate the fine zircon-alumina mixtures achieving relatively high grade and recovery.