Challenges

CLOSED ON: 30 SEP 2016  |  REWARD: INR 1,00,000
Reward money is paid in exchange of legally acquiring the solution, implementing it to solve the problem and meeting the success criteria. Milestones for paying the reward money would depend upon the complexity of challenge and maturity of the proposed solution, which would be discussed with the solver as soon as the proposed solution is selected by us.
Closed

Short Description:

An environment-friendly method of utilizing spent pickle liquor is sought.

Challenge Details

The pickling process uses HCl to pre-treat the metal surface and removes unwanted surface impurities like rust etc. This generates a considerable quantity of Spent Pickle Liquor (SPL) which primarily consists of Ferrous Chloride. To make the best use of this waste, we intend to convert this SPL into iron oxide. One of the known methods of treatment of this type of SPL is neutralization with an Ammonia solution followed by treatment with lime to recover Ammonia. However, this method produces excessive sludge (in this case Calcium Chloride) which creates further challenges and also has slow precipitation kinetics.

The other method is pyro-hydrolysis. However, this process is very energy-intensive and it requires natural gas which makes the whole process very expensive. Moreover, it also produces a considerable amount of stack emissions containing HCl, particulate matter & chlorine which are very harmful to the environment and cannot be discharged easily.

Solutions are sought for either of the following:

  • A solution, other than the ones mentioned above, that will enable us to convert Ferrous Chloride into Ferric Oxide in an environment-friendly and economical manner. 
  • Any other solution that makes better use of SPL in an economically viable and environment-friendly manner.

Have any query or need more clarification about this challenge?