Removal of copper ions from dilute sulfuric acid solutions: Effect of solution composition and applied potential

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Mining & Metallurgical Engineering Department, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

2 Department of Chemistry, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

3 Department of Biology, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

Abstract

Removal of copper from synthesized and real dilute sulfuric acid solutions was investigated. Effects of copper, iron concentrations and applied potential were studied. In pure copper solutions, increasing the Cu2+ concentration from 1000 to 5000 mg.L-1 increased the copper recovery from about 30-300% depending on the cathode potential and decreased the energy consumption by about 30%. Also, with increasing the acid concentration from 15 to 50 g.L-1 an about 25% increase in copper recovery and a 30% decrease in energy consumption were observed. The addition of Fe2+ to the solution improved the ionic conductivity and so that the copper recovery. The specified energy consumption for the real leaching solutions increased to 31-47 KWh.kg-1. The diffusion coefficients for several synthesized and real copper electrowinning electrolytes were determined. Moreover, the maximum value of the diffusion coefficient (D) was obtained 2.27*10-4 cm2.s-1 for the pure copper solution at a concentration of 1000 mg.L-1 Cu2+ which was higher than impure and real solutions.

Keywords

References

[1] D. Pradhan, S. Pal, L. Sukla, G.R. Chaudhury, T. Das, Bioleaching of low-grade copper ore using indigenous microorganisms, (2008).
[2] A.B. Vakylabad, M. Schaffie, A. Naseri, M. Ranjbar, Z. Manafi, A procedure for processing of pregnant leach solution (PLS) produced from a chalcopyrite-ore bio-heap: CuO Nano-powder fabrication, Hydrometallurgy 163 (2016) 24-32.
[3] M. Gorgievski, D. Božić, V. Stanković, G. Bogdanović, Copper electrowinning from acid mine drainage: a case study from the closed mine “Cerovo”, Journal of hazardous materials 170(2-3) (2009) 716-721.
[4] H.I. Maarof, W.M.A.W. Daud, M.K. Aroua, Recent trends in removal and recovery of heavy metals from wastewater by electrochemical technologies, Reviews in Chemical Engineering 33(4) (2017) 359-386.
[5] G. Issabayeva, M.K. Aroua, N.M. Sulaiman, Electrodeposition of copper and lead on palm shell activated carbon in a flow-through electrolytic cell, Desalination 194(1-3) (2006) 192-201.
[6] S.A. Mirbagheri, S.N. Hosseini, Pilot plant investigation on petrochemical wastewater treatment for the removal of copper and chromium with the objective of reuse, Desalination 171(1) (2005) 85-93.
[7] A. El Samrani, B. Lartiges, F. Villiéras, Chemical coagulation of combined sewer overflow: heavy metal removal and treatment optimization, Water research 42(4-5) (2008) 951-960.
[8] L. Monser, N. Adhoum, Modified activated carbon for the removal of copper, zinc, chromium, and cyanide from wastewater, Separation, and purification technology 26(2-3) (2002) 137-146.
[9] M. Mohsen-Nia, P. Montazeri, H. Modarress, Removal of Cu2+ and Ni2+ from wastewater with a chelating agent and reverse osmosis processes, Desalination 217(1-3) (2007) 276-281.
[10] N. Touabi, S. Martinez, M. Bounoughaz, Optimization of electrochemical copper recovery process: effect of the rotation speed in chloride medium of pH= 3, Int. J. Electrochem. Sci 10 (2015) 7227-7240.
[11] P. Rodenas Motos, A. ter Heijne, R. van der Weijden, M. Saakes, C.J. Buisman, T.H. Sleutels, High rate copper and energy recovery in microbial fuel cells, Frontiers in microbiology 6 (2015) 527.
[12] Z. Wang, B. Lim, H. Lu, J. Fan, C. Choi, Cathodic reduction of Cu2+ and electric power generation using a microbial fuel cell, B Korean Chem Soc 31 (2010) 2025-2030.
[13] X. Guo, H. Qin, Q. Tian, D. Li, Recovery of metals from waste printed circuit boards by selective leaching combined with cyclone electrowinning process, Journal of hazardous materials 384 (2020) 121355.
[14] J.A. Barragan, C. Ponce de León, J.R. Alemán Castro, A. Peregrina-Lucano, F. Gómez-Zamudio, E.R. Larios-Durán, Copper and antimony recovery from electronic waste by hydrometallurgical and electrochemical techniques, ACS omega 5(21) (2020) 12355-12363.
[15] P.-M. Hannula, M.K. Khalid, S. Kinnunen, P. Halli, D. Janas, K. Yliniemi, M. Lundström, Recovery of copper from low concentration wastewaters by electrowinning, International Mine Water Association Congress–“Mine Water & Circular Economy–A Green Congress, 2017.
[16] M. Moats, M. Free, A bright future for copper electrowinning, Jom 59(10) (2007) 34-36.
[17] M.E. Schlesinger, K.C. Sole, W.G. Davenport, Extractive metallurgy of copper, Elsevier2011.
[18] S. Das, P.G. Krishna, Effect of Fe (III) during copper electrowinning at higher current density, International journal of mineral processing 46(1-2) (1996) 91-105.
[19] D. Dew, C. Phillips, The effect of Fe (II) and Fe (III) on the efficiency of copper electrowinning from dilute acid Cu (II) sulphate solutions with the Chemelec cell. Part II. The efficiency of copper electrowinning from dilute liquors, Hydrometallurgy 14(3) (1985) 351-367.
[20] A. Monhemius, P. Costa, Interactions of variables in the fluidised-bed electrowinning of copper, Hydrometallurgy 1(2) (1975) 183-203.
[21] P.-M. Hannula, M.K. Khalid, D. Janas, K. Yliniemi, M. Lundström, Energy-efficient copper electrowinning and direct deposition on carbon nanotube film from industrial wastewaters, Journal of Cleaner Production 207 (2019) 1033-1039.
[22] A. Bard, Electrochemical Methods, Fundamentals, and applications 290 (1980).
[23] E. Shahrivar, M. Karamoozian, M. Gharabaghi, Modeling and optimization of oxide copper cementation kinetics, SN Applied Sciences 2(3) (2020) 1-13.
[24] M.S. Rana, M.A. Rahman, A.S. Alam, A Cyclic Voltammetric Studies of Complexation of Copper (II) with Thymine Using Glassy Carbon Electrode in Aqueous Medium, Pakistan Journal of Analytical & Environmental Chemistry 15(2) (2014) 7.
[25] A.A.-M.A. Owais, Packed bed electrolysis for production of electrolytic copper powder from electronic scrap, Shaker2003.
[26] M.S. Moats, J.B. Hiskey, D.W. Collins, The effect of copper, acid, and temperature on the diffusion coefficient of cupric ions in simulated electrorefining electrolytes, Hydrometallurgy 56(3) (2000) 255-268.
[27] A. Izadi, A. Mohebbi, M. Amiri, N. Izadi, Removal of iron ions from industrial copper raffinate and electrowinning electrolyte solutions by chemical precipitation and ion exchange, Minerals Engineering 113 (2017) 23-35.
[28] A. Cooke, J. Chilton, D. Fray, Mass-transfer kinetics of the ferrous-ferric electrode process in copper sulphate electrowinning electrolytes, Institution of Mining and Metallurgy Transactions. Section C. Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy 98 (1990).
[29] S. Karthikeyan, A. Titus, A. Gnanamani, A. Mandal, G. Sekaran, Treatment of textile wastewater by homogeneous and heterogeneous Fenton oxidation processes, Desalination 281 (2011) 438-445.
[30] F. Erdemir, The Influence of Impurity Ions on The Electrowinning of Copper from Waste PCBs Leaching Solutions.
[31] B. McKevitt, D. Dreisinger, A comparison of various ion exchange resins for the removal of ferric ions from copper electrowinning electrolyte solutions part I: Electrolytes containing no other impurities, Hydrometallurgy 98(1-2) (2009) 116-121.
[32] P. Laforest, Understanding Impurities in copper electrometallurgy, (2015).
[33] L. Muresan, A. Nicoara, S. Varvara, G. Maurin, Influence of Zn2+ ions on copper electrowinning from sulfate electrolytes, Journal of applied electrochemistry 29(6) (1999) 723-731.
[34] J. Agar, Diffusion and convection at electrodes, Discussions of the Faraday Society 1 (1947) 26-37.
[35] T. Subbaiah, S. Das, Effect of some common impurities on mass transfer coefficient and deposit quality during copper electrowinning, Hydrometallurgy 36(3) (1994) 271-283.
[36] A. Kamat, A. Huth, O. Klein, S. Scholl, Chronoamperometric investigations of the electrode-electrolyte interface of a commercial high-temperature PEM fuel cell, Fuel Cells 10(6) (2010) 983-992.
 
International Journal of Mining and Geo-Engineering
Volume 56, Issue 3
September 2022
Pages 239-247

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics