Experimental and Simulation Studies of Electrolyte Flow and Slime Particle Transport in a Pilot Scale Copper Electrorefining Cell

Zeng, Weizhi; Wang, Shijie; Free, Michael L.

doi:10.1149/2.0181605jes

Cited by 27 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The main cathode contamination mechanisms are electrolyte inclusions due to rough and uneven deposit growth, codeposition, and the inclusion of suspended or floating slimes [20]. Almost all lead, tin, and selenium from the anode is transferred into the bottom slime.…”

Section: Electrorefiningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary Copper Smelter and Refinery as a Recycling Plant—A System Integrated Approach to Estimate Secondary Raw Material Tolerance

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The primary production of sulfide concentrates includes smelting to copper matte or blister copper, conversion of matte to blister copper, and refining to copper. Smelting, converting, and fire-refining can use a limited amount of secondary materials. Molten copper can effectively dissolve many metals, from valuable noble metals to harmful impurities such as bismuth. However, some of the impurity metals in copper are valuable in other applications. In this paper, we outline the main material flows in copper smelting and electrorefining and describe how minor metals can be recovered from secondary raw materials using copper as a carrier material. We will use a system integrated approach to define the factors that affect the recovery of different metals and copper quality. Metals typical in copper production are used as examples, like noble metals, As, Bi, Se, and Te, including metals in the EU critical raw materials list like PGM and Sb.

show abstract

Section: Electrorefiningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary Copper Smelter and Refinery as a Recycling Plant—A System Integrated Approach to Estimate Secondary Raw Material Tolerance

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…On the other hand, slime particles, especially small and light ones, can be carried by electrolyte flow in electrorefining cells and transported to the domain near the cathode, where they can get entrapped in the cathodic deposit. 9,10 Thus, electrolyte flows in electrolytic cells, especially in the inter-electrode domains, are significant and need to be well controlled. Since upward flow can keep slime particles in suspension and exert potential harm to the cathode, downward flow would be favored along both the anode and the cathode as it facilitates the settlement of slime particles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since upward flow can keep slime particles in suspension and exert potential harm to the cathode, downward flow would be favored along both the anode and the cathode as it facilitates the settlement of slime particles. [9][10][11] Conventional electrorefining cells generally have inlets at positions near the cell bottom and outlets at the cell top. This design exerts upward flows in the cell and, as a matter of fact, the inlet flow under the design has less effect on the flow fields at the inter-electrode domains than the natural convection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to electrolyte density gradients (the electrolyte becomes heavier and heavier when it flows near the anode and becomes lighter and lighter when it flows near the cathode), a looping flow pattern (downward flow along the anode and upward flow along the cathode) is developed within each inter-electrode domain. 9,10,[12][13][14][15][16][17] Furthermore, conventional electrolytic cells usually have problems such as low limiting current density and copper depletion zone near the cathode. 6,18,19 With poor convection, the diffusion boundary layer at the cathode is thick and copper ions are not transported efficiently in the bulk solution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Comparative Study of Electrolyte Flow and Slime Particle Transport in a Newly Designed Copper Electrolytic Cell and a Laboratory-Scale Conventional Electrolytic Cell

Zeng

Wang

Free

2016

JOM

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An innovative copper electrolytic cell was designed with its inlet at the cell top and its outlet near the cell bottom, in opposite to conventional electrolytic cells. It was modeled in COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate copper electrorefining process. Unlike conventional electrorefining cells, downward electrolyte flows are more dominant in the fluid flow field in this cell, which leads to faster settlement of slime particles and less contamination to the cathode. Copper concentration profiles, electrolyte flow velocity field, slime particle movements, and slime particle distributions were obtained as simulation results, which were compared with those in a laboratory-scale conventional electrolytic cell. Advantages of the newly designed electrolytic cell were found: copper ions are distributed more uniformly in the cell with a thinner diffusion layer near the cathode; stronger convection exists in the inter-electrode domain with dominant downward flows; and slime particles have larger possibilities to settle down and are less likely to reach the cathode.

show abstract

“…Many simulation studies have been done for copper electrorefining in different scale cells. 7,8,[10][11][12][13][14][15] Nevertheless, most of these simulation studies used single phase flow modeling and did not consider impurity particles in copper electrorefining electrolyte as another phase. Some studies simulated the movements of impurity particles by applying pre-solved steady state fluid flow fields.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-Phase Flow Modeling of Copper Electrorefining Involving Impurity Particles

Zeng

Wang

Free

2017

J. Electrochem. Soc.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Impurity particles (slime particles) play a vital role in copper electrorefining, as they are a major source of cathodic contamination. Their behavior and transport in electrorefining cells are largely affected by electrolyte flows. Therefore, it is significant to study the fluid flow field in copper electrorefining with the consideration of impurity particles. A two-phase flow model of copper electrorefining was developed with one liquid phase of electrolyte and one dispersed phase of impurity particles. Copper electrorefining in a lab-scale cell was then simulated for two different impurity particle releasing scenarios. With impurity particle released only from the inlet, dispersed phase particles can be transported to the inter-electrode domain by electrolyte inflows through its sides rather than its bottom. Thus, the side parts of the cathode encounter more impurity particles than the center part in this scenario. With impurity particles released from both the inlet and the anode, dispersed phase particles fill up the electrorefining cell much faster, and the cathode is exposed to significant volume fractions of the dispersed phase much earlier. A large amount of impurity particles from the anode are settled on the cell bottom. The dispersed phase particles are distributed almost uniformly in front of the cathode after initial stages.

show abstract

Experimental and Simulation Studies of Electrolyte Flow and Slime Particle Transport in a Pilot Scale Copper Electrorefining Cell

Cited by 27 publications

References 19 publications

Primary Copper Smelter and Refinery as a Recycling Plant—A System Integrated Approach to Estimate Secondary Raw Material Tolerance

Primary Copper Smelter and Refinery as a Recycling Plant—A System Integrated Approach to Estimate Secondary Raw Material Tolerance

A Comparative Study of Electrolyte Flow and Slime Particle Transport in a Newly Designed Copper Electrolytic Cell and a Laboratory-Scale Conventional Electrolytic Cell

Two-Phase Flow Modeling of Copper Electrorefining Involving Impurity Particles

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About