IntroductionProducing high quality copper cathode with minimum energy consumption and maximum current efficiency is a goal for all copper electrowinning (CuEW) operations. To attain this goal, operators need a simple method to understand the effects and interactions between common parameters affecting the production of copper by electrowinning. Therefore, a detailed statistical analysis was performed to understand the effects of several parameters and their resulting synergetic effects on the performance of the CuEW process. In this study, a surface response design was used to organize the experiments to evaluate the effect of ferric concentration, copper concentration and current density, in ranges relevant to industrial operations on current efficiency (CE) and energy consumption (EC) of a laboratory cell. A statistical analysis was performed which allowed for a better understanding of the effect of the studied parameters and revealed the existence of significant interactions between them. In addition, statistical models of CE and EC were developed and that can be used to control and optimize the CuEW process.
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