Hexavalent chromium reduction in solution and in chromite ore processing residue-enriched soil by tartaric Acid with isopropyl alcohol and divalent manganese as co-reductants.

Chromite ore processing residue (COPR), the solid waste product from the high-temperature alkaline processing of ferrochromite (FeO·CrO), contains Cr(VI) in soluble and insoluble compounds formed in the roasting process. This research investigated tartaric acid in combination with Mn and isopropyl alcohol (IPOH ) as co-reductants for reagent- and COPR-derived Cr(VI). The reduction of Cr(VI) by tartaric acid alone at pH 5.0 or greater was negligible; however, in the presence of Mn or IPOH, reduction occurred in hours. Isopropyl alcohol enhanced Cr(VI) reduction, probably via formation of a termolecular complex with the alcohol, tartaric acid, and Cr(VI). In aqueous solutions of reagent-derived Cr(VI) at pH 4, 12 mmol L tartaric acid with 1.0 mmol L Mn or 1.0 mmol L Mn and 0.29 mol L (2% v/v) IPOH reduced 1.0 mmol L Cr(VI) in 48 h. The same treatments at pH 5.5 reduced 0.60 and 0.58 mmol L Cr(VI) (60%) in 96 h, respectively. A minimum half-life of 10.2 h was calculated from first-order rate constants obtained from Mn and IPOH-Mn co-reductant treatments with tartaric acid at pH 4. The most COPR-derived Cr(VI) reduced in suspension was by IPOH and Mn at high acidity (pH 5.8), which reduced 0.52 mmol L (52%) of the COPR-derived soluble Cr(VI) at 96 h. The enhanced reduction of soluble Cr(VI) by tartaric acid by the addition of Mn proceeds within a complex formed by an esterification reaction between tartaric acid and Cr(VI) with Mn bound to tartaric acid. The combined treatment of tartaric acid, IPOH, Mn, and a strong acid to lower the pH of COPR-enriched soils would be effective in field applications of this chemistry. By creating a slurry of the field soil with these amendments, mass transfer limitations would be overcome, and Cr(VI) would be reduced to Cr(III) in days.