PROCESS FOR THE TREATMENT OF SULFIDIC SPENT CAUSTIC

摘要

The present invention relates to a new process to treat sulfidic spent caustic. Unlike other methods described in the past, the disclosed method is not based on the oxidation of spent caustic but in the chemical transformation of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide into sodium polysulfide. Sodium polysulfide finds potential applications in the mining and metals industries, as well as in the purification of flue gas produced in power plants. Upon completion of the chemical transformation, water is separated by fractional distillation. The isolated water can be directly disposed through standard methods such as evaporation, membrane filtration or sewage discharge. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.