EP3452640A1 - Equipment for decopperising an electrorefining process and way of operating the process - Google Patents
Equipment for decopperising an electrorefining process and way of operating the processInfo
- Publication number
- EP3452640A1 EP3452640A1 EP17723479.6A EP17723479A EP3452640A1 EP 3452640 A1 EP3452640 A1 EP 3452640A1 EP 17723479 A EP17723479 A EP 17723479A EP 3452640 A1 EP3452640 A1 EP 3452640A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- anode
- cell
- copper
- electrorefining
- electrowinning
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Classifications
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C25C—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION, RECOVERY OR REFINING OF METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C25C1/00—Electrolytic production, recovery or refining of metals by electrolysis of solutions
- C25C1/12—Electrolytic production, recovery or refining of metals by electrolysis of solutions of copper
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C25C—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION, RECOVERY OR REFINING OF METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C25C7/00—Constructional parts, or assemblies thereof, of cells; Servicing or operating of cells
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C25C—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION, RECOVERY OR REFINING OF METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C25C7/00—Constructional parts, or assemblies thereof, of cells; Servicing or operating of cells
- C25C7/02—Electrodes; Connections thereof
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C25C—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC PRODUCTION, RECOVERY OR REFINING OF METALS; APPARATUS THEREFOR
- C25C7/00—Constructional parts, or assemblies thereof, of cells; Servicing or operating of cells
- C25C7/06—Operating or servicing
Definitions
- the method relates to electrowinning of a metal from an electrolyte.
- the method covers examples of electrowinning (EW) of copper inside a copper electrorefining (ER) cell for in situ liberation of copper.
- Prior art 1 discloses the use of point of use (POU) power converters to drive current through the anode-cathode gaps of electrolytic cells locally rather than the conventional practice of using a central rectifier to produce current flow through a parallel-series arrangement of anodes and cathodes in a multiplicity of cells.
- POU point of use
- the inventors have realised that by employing POU converters to drive at least one anode - cathode EW pair in a nominally copper ER cell, improved control can be gained of the copper concentration in the electrolyte circulating in the electrorefining tankhouse, decreasing the requirement for the removal of copper in the copper ER electrolyte purification section, decreasing the amount of copper returned to the smelter and improving the process, efficiency, energy efficiency and materials handling efficiency of the liberator process.
- the productivity of the ER tankhouse can be increased by the electrowinning of one or more additional cathode plates in each ER cell, with all the process improvements and cost benefits that are thereby enabled.
- the description covers examples of electrowinning anodes and ancillary equipment: power electronics and method of delivering electrical power to the electrowinning anode, and apparatus for the control of the acid mist generated to ensure safe operation when used in an ER tankhouse.
- electrowinning As will be understood, the term "electrolyte" as used herein is intended to refer to an aqueous electrolyte. Any reference to electrowinning is thus intended to refer to electrowinning of a metal from an aqueous electrolyte which contains the metal in ionic form.
- Electrorefining an electrolytic process for purifying an impure metal - most commonly used for the refining of copper (Cu ER).
- the simplest form of an ER cell is an arrangement of one anode and one cathode immersed in an electrolyte.
- Electrowinning (EW) an electrolytic process for plating a metal from an electrolyte solution, where the solution concentration of the metal is maintained at a constant level by continuously replenishment. This is used for the production of copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt and several other metals.
- Cu EW copper electrowinning
- Figure 1 shows a simple schematic of the electrolyte purification process in a copper electrorefining tankhouse.
- Figure 2 shows a sketch of a conventional electrorefining tank or "cell" 100 which contains many anodes 101 connected in parallel and many cathodes 102 connected in parallel.
- the standard practice in electrorefining is to use n cathodes and n+1 anodes.
- n cathodes and n+1 anodes In an ER cell there is usually an anode in the first and last positions in the electrode row.
- Figure 2 shows the arrangement of electrodes in a Cu ER cell containing forty-nine cast anodes 101 and forty-eight permanent cathodes 102.
- the actual number of electrodes per cell in a given Cu ER plant can be a greater number than or fewer than shown in Figure 2.
- the electrodes are immersed in an electrolyte 103 and an electrical current is passed between electrically positive electrodes or anodes 101 and electrically negative electrodes or cathodes 102.
- the electrolyte 103 typically contains copper as copper sulfate with sulfuric acid as a supporting electrolyte.
- the electrolyte is circulated around the ER plant.
- the electrolyte is fed into the cells via a feed-pipe 104 and exits the cell via the electrolyte overflow 105.
- the impure copper anode to be refined 101 is usually a cast anode and contains approximately 99% copper.
- the impure copper anodes are dissolved and more pure copper plates are deposited at the cathodes 102.
- the cast Cu ER anodes 101 have protrusions at the top on each side. These are commonly called lugs 106.
- the anode lugs support the weight of the anode in the cell and are the conductors by which electric current passes into the anode.
- metallic copper dissolves anodically, copper (II) ions enter the electrolyte and electrons pass into the external circuit.
- copper (II) ions are reduced by electrons from the anode process and high purity copper metal is deposited.
- Figure 3a is a plan view sketch of three ER cells with attention focussed on the middle cell, 100.
- the first three anodes 101 and first two cathodes 102 are shown in each cell, immersed in electrolyte 103.
- 106 represents the lugs of the anode 101.
- Figure 3b shows a side view of the cell 100, where 103a represents the electrolyte-air interface.
- the permanent cathodes 102 are suspended in the cells by hanger bars 107.
- a plurality of cells are connected in series and an electrical current, derived from a central rectifier, is passed through the whole arrangement sometimes called a cell section.
- inter-cell busbars 108a and 108b rest on the lateral walls of the cells and perform two main roles:
- inter-cell busbar 108a connects the first cell to the second cell 100 and inter-cell busbar 108b connects the second cell 100 to the third cell.
- inter-cell busbars provide the means for connecting all the anodes in that cell in parallel and for connecting all the cathodes in that cell in parallel.
- the inter cell busbar 108a connects all anodes in parallel and busbar 108b connects all cathodes in parallel.
- Insulators 109 prevent inappropriate connections between anodes and any given busbar and between cathodes and any given busbar. These insulators 109 take the form of capping blocks or capping boards and will be described later.
- the voltage of the inter-cell busbars changes progressively with the voltage of busbar 108a being approximately 0.3 Volts greater than the voltage of busbar 108b.
- the central rectifier (not shown) is connected to the first and last cells in the series.
- Figures 3a and 3b illustrate a single-contact system
- the method is also applicable to double contact systems (where secondary "equaliser” bars are employed).
- secondary "equaliser” bars are employed.
- a skilled person will readily be able to make the adaptations required for a double contact system.
- cuprous oxide is chemical rather than electrochemical. It results in a continuous increase in ionic copper concentration in the circulating ER electrolyte 103 with time.
- electrochemical reaction is given by Eqn. (2)
- the concentration of soluble impurity elements in the electrolyte - originating from the copper anode - also increases with time.
- the impurity elements which enter the electrolyte are those which are less noble than copper and include nickel, arsenic, antimony, bismuth and iron (see e.g. Prior art 11).
- Impurity elements in the anode which are more noble than copper e.g. silver, gold, selenium and the platinum group metals
- Cu EW is an electrolytic process similar to Cu ER in that an applied electrical current causes copper to be deposited on the cathode surface.
- Cu EW uses insoluble anodes that evolve oxygen in sulfate-based electrolytes.
- the active part of EW anodes are usually lead-based alloys (e.g. a rolled lead-calcium-tin alloy) or mixed metal oxide (MMO) coated titanium anodes as described in Prior art 9.
- lead-based alloys e.g. a rolled lead-calcium-tin alloy
- MMO mixed metal oxide coated titanium anodes as described in Prior art 9.
- Such anodes are abbreviated to MMOA or CTA.
- the overpotential for the oxygen evolution reaction can be decreased by between 0.2 and 0.3 Volts - representing an electrical energy saving of between 10 and 15%.
- the permanent cathodes in Cu EW usually have stainless steel blades. Some older refineries may still use copper starter sheet technology, and some EW technologies use titanium starter sheets (see Prior art 5).
- Cell top furniture includes the inter-cell busbars 108 and insulators which can be either:
- the inter-electrode spacing in the cells can be adjusted.
- the electrode positioning and inter-electrode spacing is set by the spacing in the crane-bale.
- the crane-bale is the equipment which loads and unloads electrodes in and out of the cell (not shown).
- Figure 2 shows a simple flow-diagram of the electrolyte in a typical ER tankhouse.
- the exact detail of each individual plant's ER tankhouse electrolyte purification process varies. Most are however based on that outlined in Figure 2.
- the usual method used to control the concentration of copper and the concentration of impurities in the ER electrolyte 103, is to divert a bleed stream of electrolyte to an electrolyte purification circuit.
- the electrolyte purification section usually has two smaller, secondary electrolytic “liberator” sections to remove copper from the bled ER electrolyte by copper electrowinning (Cu EW), as described in Prior art 2, 10 and 11.
- the liberator cells can be understood as performing two roles in removing copper:
- the resulting sulfuric acid containing degraded additives (for example decomposed bone glue), is known as black acid and is further purified in an acid purification unit (APU). Purified sulfuric acid is returned back to the Cu ER tankhouse electrolyte circulation.
- APU acid purification unit
- the target is to remove copper from the electrolyte solution as a coherent cathode deposit - meaning a solid panel of copper which can be harvested from the cathode as a single sheet - as opposed to an undesired copper powder which would fall to the floor of the cell and require regular cell cleaning.
- Some copper cathodes produced in a liberator EW circuit may satisfy the LME purity grade A (Quality: BS EN 1978:1998 Copper Cathodes. Cathode grade designation Cu-CATH-1) and so be sold directly.
- the liberator EW cells produce copper cathodes which are deposited under non-optimum conditions, and contain unacceptably high levels of impurities such as arsenic. For this reason impure copper cathodes from the liberator cells are usually returned to the smelter to be melted and re-cast into new anodes to be refined in the copper ER tankhouse.
- the cathodes used in liberator EW cells are either permanent cathodes with stainless steel blades, or copper starter-sheets. If the liberator cathode copper is intended to be returned to the smelter, then spent (scrap) anodes from the ER tankhouse can be used as cathodes in the liberator circuit.
- the anode materials for copper liberator cells are similar to standard copper EW electrowinning cells as described earlier.
- the EW cells can be arranged so that the electrolyte passes through one or more cells in cascade.
- the initial electrolyte passes through one or more cells in cascade.
- concentration of copper is usually in the range of 40 to 60 g/dm .
- copper is removed from the electrolyte; copper concentration decreases and acid concentration increases, giving a final copper concentration typically below
- delta copper The decrease in copper concentration in the electrolyte from before the liberator circuit and after the liberator circuit is called "delta copper” or “ACu” or “the bite”. Delta copper can be in the range of 30 to 50 g/dm 3 depending on the operating conditions of the individual ER plant.
- the cathodic current density ( , units A/m 2 ) is usually in the range 100 to 400 A/m 2 .
- Copper metal is deposited on the active part of each cathode face, the area of which is usually in the range of between 0.9 to 1.2 m 2 , giving a total active area of 1.8 to 2.4 m 2 per cathode.
- the voltage across a liberator EW cell is approximately equal to the voltage that would be experienced between a single EW anode and a single cathode.
- the cell voltage of copper EW is usually in the range of 1.7 to 2.3 Volts and depends on:
- the mass in grammes of a metal (m) deposited during electrolysis can be written as Eqn. (3).
- M r is the molar mass in grammes, for copper 63.55 g/mole
- the value is typically 0.97 to 0.98 (or 97 to 98%),
- Delta copper (ACu) with units of kg/m 3 is a value of mass per unit volume; when substituted into Eqn. (4) and using the electrochemical equivalent 1.1855 kg/kAh we obtain Eqn. (5), where V is the electrolyte volume in m 3 needed for a given ACu, current and time.
- Prior art 10 (Hoffmann, page 30) tells that the quantity of copper to be removed is fixed by the anode oxide concentration and the impurities (impurity concentration) in the anodes and it is these which define the volume of electrolyte which must be removed as a bleed-stream.
- a point of use (POU) power converter is a power supply which provides a desired current or a desired voltage close to the point of usage.
- this type of converter is used when power is required at a relatively low voltage.
- the POU converter typically draws its power from a relatively high voltage power source.
- a POU power converter has a DC output and a DC or AC input.
- a POU power converter will employ switched mode technology.
- the input and output may or may not be galvanically isolated from each other. Cost and application requirements will determine which arrangement is used.
- Short circuits are typically formed when a metal dendrite is formed between the cathode and the anode. Such short circuits can reduce the current efficiency of the ER or EW process and result in burning of the anode or cathode. Operators attempt to identify and remove such short circuits as early as possible in their formation.
- POU power converters facilitates early detection of short circuits and through current control prevents damage to the electrodes.
- Electrowinning Electrometallurgy 2012, 141 st annual TMS meeting, Orlando, Florida 1 1-15 March 2012, pgs. 41-48.
- liberator circuits as outlined in Prior art 2, the standard practice is that the liberator EW cells operate at a current density which can be tolerated by the weakest cells in the circuit.
- the Inventors have realised that by using in-situ liberation in the Cu ER cells to control the ER tankhouse copper concentration, in the case where a Cu ER plant is expanded, the need for increased liberator capacity in the electrolyte purification will no longer be automatic, but will instead be decided by the need for impurity control rather than control of copper concentration. In the case of a newly constructed plant - the size of the required liberator section can be less than is conventionally required, leading to a smaller plant footprint.
- a consequence of placing electrowinning anodes into electrorefining cells is that there is oxygen evolution in the ER cells. This is in contrast to ER in which there is no oxygen evolution.
- the evolution of the gas oxygen does not in itself represent a hazard since oxygen is a major component of air. As oxygen bubbles rise to the surface and burst micro-droplets of electrolyte are ejected into the tankhouse atmosphere forming an "acid mist" which if uncontrolled, is hazardous to the health of plant workers and can cause corrosion of plant equipment.
- P is the pressure of the gas in pascals (Pa) and is 101325 Pa at sea level
- V is the volume of the gas in m 3 .
- n is the number of moles of the gas
- R is the ideal gas constant (8.314 J K "1 mor 1 ),
- T is the temperature of the gas in Kelvin.
- Electrowinning from a typical Cu ER process electrolyte would present another, greater risk - it will typically contain both arsenic and nickel not usually present in Cu EW. This would make any acid mist generated by using EW equipment in a Cu ER electrolyte more hazardous than the acid mist found in a typical Cu EW tankhouse.
- the application describes a method and equipment for control of copper concentration in an ER tankhouse by liberation of copper.
- the electrolyte purification circuit for a Cu ER plant is described earlier and in the flow chart in Figure 1.
- Conventional liberator cells are dual-purpose electrowinning cells - they perform two functions in the overall refining process:
- This method transfers the first of those two functions from the liberator cells in the electrolyte purification circuit to the main Cu ER tankhouse cells.
- the insertion of one or more EW anodes into a Cu ER cell allows control of the copper concentration directly in the ER tankhouse electrolyte.
- the method can be described as an in situ liberation.
- the method gives the advantage of a more efficient liberation of copper than is possible when using conventional dual-purpose copper liberator cells. Higher production efficiency is obtained for in situ copper removal using a small ACu and using the optimum applied current density, producing saleable grade A cathodes from the copper removed for control of copper concentration.
- the method may give the benefit of increasing the production of copper in the overall process, thereby increasing the overall productivity of the plant. This is in contrast to conventional liberator cells which use a large ACu and a non-optimum applied current density. In conventional liberator practice most of the copper cathodes produce are impure and need to be returned to the smelter and refined a second time.
- Point of use (POU) power converters as employed in Prior art 1 , permit individual, insoluble, EW-style anodes to be inserted into the ER cells. These auxiliary EW anodes are positively polarised (with respect to the adjacent electrode) by POU converters (power supplies) which provide the current required for copper deposition in a manner independent of the central rectifier.
- POU converters power supplies
- the method also gives an advantage in the case that the main ER tankhouse is expanded. This traditionally requires an increase in the capacity of the liberator circuit.
- the main ER tankhouse copper production capacity may be then expanded, without automatically requiring an expansion of the existing liberator sections.
- the freed up liberator capacity can then be used to treat the impurities in the electrolyte of an expanded Cu ER tankhouse.
- the acid-mist above the electrolyte - generated by the in situ liberator (EW) anode - is contained within an anode bag. Whilst acid mist control is not the main concept of this application, it must generally be carried out to ensure safe operation of the equipment. It is therefore an important part of the method that acid-mist be controlled.
- Figures 1-3 are examples from a standard Cu ER tankhouse.
- Figure 1 is a block diagram of a Cu ER process including an electrolyte solution purification section.
- Figure 2 is a 3D sketch of an electrorefining cell containing 48 cathodes and 49 anodes.
- Figure 3a is a plan view sketch of the first three anodes and two cathodes of the same electrorefining cell as 2.
- Figure 3b is a side-elevation sketch of the same equipment layout as 3a.
- Figures 4 to 6 relate to ER tankhouses with cell top furniture using capping blocks with fixed inter-electrode spacing.
- Figure 4a is a plan-view sketch of the end of an ER cell with the addition (next to the end wall of the ER cell) of an asymmetric, EW anode 110 and an accompanying POU power converter 115.
- Figure 4b is a side-elevation view sketch of the same equipment layout as shown in Figure 4a.
- Figure 5a is a plan-view sketch of an ER cell where the first anode position in the row is occupied by an asymmetric EW anode 110 with an accompanying POU power converter 115.
- Figure 5b is a side-elevation sketch of the same equipment layout as shown in Figure 5a.
- Figure 6a is a plan view sketch of an ER cell where the second anode position in the row is occupied by a symmetric EW anode 110 with an accompanying POU power converter 115.
- Figure 6b is a side-elevation sketch of the same equipment layout as Figure 6a.
- Figure 7 is an arrangement to be applied in an ER tankhouse where the cell top furniture includes capping boards 109b (without fixed inter-electrode spacing).
- Figure 7a an EW anode is positioned similarly to Figure 4a, but differs by the addition of one more cathode to the cell.
- Figure 7b is a side-elevation sketch of the same equipment layout as Figure 7a.
- Figure 8 shows the arrangement of equipment for handling of acid mist generated at the EW anode
- Figure 8a is a front elevation sketch of an EW anode 110.
- Figure 8b is a front elevation sketch of the same EW anode seen in Fig 8a.
- the EW anode is housed inside an "anode bag" 120 and an anode frame 121.
- the anode arrangement includes an integrated pumping system 123-125 for control of acid mist.
- Figure 9 shows an EW anode with an arrangement for control of acid mist, similar to Figure 8, but differing in that the pump 124 is separate from the EW anode, and is now positioned outside of the cell.
- Figures 4 to 6 relate to ER tankhouses with cell-top furniture using insulating capping blocks 109a with fixed inter-electrode spacings.
- Figures 7a and 7b show an ER cell design that uses capping boards 109b such that the inter-electrode spacing in the ER cells can be adjusted.
- the electrode positioning and spacing is set by the spacing in the crane-bale - the device which loads and unloads electrodes in and out of the cell.
- the amount of copper which needs to be removed from the ER cell electrolyte - i.e. the ACu value - will determine the amount of charge (current) that must be passed through the EW anodes. This in turn, determines the number of EW anodes to be installed in a tankhouse.
- the ACu value for in situ liberation of copper in an ER cell may be lower or higher than used in a standard copper EW plant where the target value for ACu is around 2g/dm 3 . There are several possible strategies which can be used:
- EW anodes in selected ER cells.
- the anodes are operated at "standard" EW current density (in the order of 300A/m 2 ).
- the first example arrangement is shown as a plan view in Figure 4a and as a side view in Figure 4b.
- Figure 4a represents one end of an electrorefining cell 100.
- the most appropriate place to install the apparatus is the end of the cell 100 next to the electrolyte overflow (indicated by 105 in Figure 2). This does not exclude the use of the apparatus at the end of the cell 100 where the electrolyte is fed into the cell (indicated by 104 in Figure 2).
- an asymmetric EW anode 110 is positioned next to the end wall of the ER cell 100.
- the EW anode 110 has a hanger bar 11 1 seen in Figure 4b which rests on the side walls of the cell 100. Alternatively the EW anode can be hung inside the cell (supported by the end wall).
- the EW anode 110 ( Figure 4a) may be accurately lowered into the cell and reproducibly positioned in the cell 100 by means of brackets (or guides) 119 as shown in Figure 4b.
- the guides 1 19 are attached to the inside of the end wall of the cell and keep the EW anode in a fixed position whilst the cell is in operation.
- the face of the cast copper ER anode 101 shown in Figure 4a as adjacent to the EW anode 110 acts as a cathode surface (copper is deposited onto it).
- the second face of the ER anode 101 - that which is opposite the cathode 102 - acts as an ER anode as normal.
- the copper deposited on the anode 101 will be returned to the smelter along with the other scrap anodes. In this arrangement there is zero net change in production of grade A cathode copper in the tankhouse.
- an electric current must be forced to flow from the anode 110 through the electrolyte to the copper anode 101.
- the EW anode 110 must be at a voltage approximately 1.7 Volts above that of the copper anode 101 when using a MMO coated Ti-mesh based anode (or 2.0V when using a lead based anode). This is achieved by connecting a power supply 115 between the EW anode 110 and the inter-cell busbar 108a upon which the lug 106 of the cast ER copper anode 101 rests. This is achieved by cable 117 as shown in Figure 4a and described later.
- the power supply may be used in the voltage-controlled mode or current-controlled mode - most likely in the current-controlled mode - so that the current density at the faces of the electrodes can be held at a value which results in copper deposition of the desired rate to maintain the desired copper concentration in the circulating ER electrolyte.
- the active part of the EW anode 110 may be a mixed metal oxide (MMO) coated titanium mesh 112.
- the mesh is electrically connected to titanium clad (Ti-clad) copper bars 113 through a conducting spacer 114 which is welded along its length in between the mesh 112 and the Ti-clad copper bars 113.
- the tops of the Ti-clad bars 113 are connected to and suspended from a conducting hanger bar 111.
- the design of the EW anode is not limited to this design. Other EW anode designs may also be used for example the traditional rolled lead alloy sheets.
- connection can alternatively be made via a conductive pad, isolated from the inter-cell bar 108 by a layer of insulation in the capping block 109.
- the hanger bar 111 (of Figure 4b) of the EW anode 110 (of Figure 4a) will have a corresponding conductive region which rests on the conductive pad and completes the connection.
- the negative terminal of the POU power converter 115 is connected by a cable or cables 117 to the inter-cell busbar 108a which in turn contacts the lugs 106 of the anodes 101 in that cell.
- This connection between the busbar108a and cable 117 is made by a convenient electrical connector or fastener - including but not limited to - cable lugs and bolts or a pressure contact arrangement.
- two POU power converters 115 may be employed per EW anode, one to the left of the tank (as shown in Figure 4a) and a second to the right (not shown) which feeds the second end of the EW anode hanger bar 111 (of Figure 4b) or contact or connection arrangement. This applies also to the arrangements described in Figures 5 to 7.
- Power is supplied to the POU power converter 1 15 from an external power source, shown as power feed 118 in Figure 4a.
- an external power source shown as power feed 118 in Figure 4a.
- the power supply 115 needs to incorporate galvanic isolation between the input and output sides.
- the anodes and cathodes in the electrowinning tanks will be at a voltage with respect to earth which can typically be at any value between +200V and -200V depending on the output voltage of the central rectifier and where the electrical circuit of the tankhouse is connected to earth. Often tankhouse electrical circuits are left floating with respect to earth in which case earthing may take place through spills of electrolyte and other such erratic connections.
- the power supplies 115 must therefore include input-output galvanic isolation which is at least equal to the maximum voltage produced by the central rectifier.
- the use of power feed 118 can be avoided by "stealing" power from the main electrorefining circuit.
- the voltage difference between inter-cell busbar 108a and inter-cell busbar 108b is 0.25V, this could be used to provide power for the converter 115.
- the POU power converter 115 is required to deliver 300 Amps at 2.5V, the current draw from the inter-cell busbar would be in the order of 3 kA. It is difficult to make a converter with that specification operate efficiently and the cost is likely to be high.
- a more practical approach is to "steal" current for the EW anode from the chain of electrorefining tanks (from a suitable inter-cell busbar) at a point where the voltage is appropriate (i .e.
- this solution only requires a cable to be run along the side of the tank connecting the EW anode to the appropriate inter-cell busbar.
- a regulator linear or switched-mode in the circuit (i.e. between the anode and the inter-cell busbar source). This will permit fine control of the current supplied to the EW anode (as well as providing protection for the anode should a short occur between the EW anode 110 and its adjacent copper anode 101).
- an inter-cell busbar which is at a higher voltage than 2.5V can be chosen as a power source. This will reduce the current draw from the
- the power source can be the central rectifier itself. If one input terminal of the power supply 115 is not connected to the inter-cell busbar 108, then an isolated converter will have to be employed. This would be the case if the positive and negative terminals of the central rectifier were used as the power source.
- the structure of the anode 1 10 may be based on the following design (as well as others):
- An asymmetrical anode design can be used when the EW anode 110 is placed in the first (or last) electrode position on the cell, as shown in Figures 4a and 4b.
- An example of an asymmetric anode is a single sheet of MMO coated Ti mesh 112, mounted on the side of the Ti-Clad bars 113 facing towards the neighbouring electrode.
- EW anode 110 is important to avoid an edge effect on the cathode deposit.
- the cathode deposit can have thick ridges around the sides and bottom of the deposit which cause issues - for example, increased susceptibility to dendrite growth and short circuits.
- the cathode deposit can have feathered edges at the side and bottom of the deposit which cause issues - for example, incomplete stripping of the plate and leaving residual copper which may cause issues in the next plating cycle.
- the ER anode 101 acts as a cathode on the side facing the EW anode 110.
- the anodes 101 in ER are typically sized slightly shorter and less wide than the adjacent cathodes 102 (usually by between 1 and 10 cm in both height and width). For this reason, the anode 110 in the arrangement shown in Figures 4a and 4b must then be sized to be shorter and less wide than the adjacent ER anode 101.
- the MMO coated mesh 112 (Figure 4b) may be oriented vertically or may, advantageously, be angled towards the opposing electrode to compensate for decreasing electrolyte resistivity with cell depth.
- Figure 4b shows how the MMO coated Ti-mesh 112 of the EW anode 110 is angled towards the neighbouring electrode by use of the aforementioned titanium spacer 114.
- the angle of the mesh 112 can for example be in the range of between 0° and 10° from the vertical, but a larger angle may be used if that is beneficial.
- the distance between the top of the EW anode 110 and the neighbouring electrode is decreased compared to the distance between the bottom of the EW anode and the neighbouring electrode.
- Increasing the inter- electrode distance versus the cell depth compensates for the difference in electrolyte resistivity between the top and bottom of the EW anode. This gives the advantage of a more even cathodic current distribution than can be obtained when using the usual vertically oriented anode mesh.
- Figures 5a and 5b show an alternative arrangement obtained by replacing the last cast copper ER anode in the row (either at the overflow-end of the cell, or at the feed-end of the cell, or at both ends of the cell) with an asymmetric EW anode 1 10. Current is then driven through the resulting anode-cathode gap with a POU power converter 115, as before.
- the ER cells will now process one less copper cathode plate per cell from the loss of refining of an end position cast ER anode (equivalent to half of a cast ER anode).
- the decrease in ER cathode production is balanced by the production of one additional EW cathode plate arising from the in situ removal of excess copper in the electrolyte due to Eqn. (1).
- the design and the tankhouse operations must ensure that the EW anode 110 in the first anode position in the cell is neither raised nor engaged during standard tankhouse operations (loading of ER anodes into the cell, or harvesting of cathodes).
- the POU power converter 115 drives current between the electrowinning anode 110 and the adjacent electrode in the tank which in this case is a cathode 102. Copper is then deposited on both sides of the cathode 102. Note that in Figure 5a the connections of the power supply 115 are different from those in Figure 4a. The negative terminal of the power supply is now connected via a cable 1 17 to the inter-cell busbar 108b which contacts the cathode 102 facing the electrowinning anode 110.
- the hanger bar 111 of the EW anode 110 sits inside the capping block 109 and will be isolated from the inter-cell busbar 108a by a layer of insulation 109a inserted into the capping block 109 sitting between 108a and 11 1 ( Figure 5b).
- an insulating sleeve can be placed around the end of the EW hanger bar 11 1 to prevent electrical contact with 108a.
- Figure 6a and 6b shows an alternative arrangement where the cast copper ER anode in the second position in the cell is substituted with an insoluble EW anode 110. This arrangement is also valid for substituting the ER anode at any position in the cell other than the first or last.
- the cell in the cells where an ER anode 101 has been substituted, the cell will produce two fewer copper cathode plates per cell from the refining of a cast ER anode. This is compensated by electrowinning of two additional cathode plates. There is zero net change in production of grade A cathode copper in the tankhouse when using this arrangement.
- the design and the tankhouse operations must ensure that the EW anode 110 in the second anode position in the cell is neither raised nor engaged during standard tankhouse operations (loading of ER anodes into the cell, or harvesting of cathodes).
- the anode in placing an EW anode 1 10 between two cathodes 102, the anode must be a symmetrical structure. For example in the case of using an MMO coated Ti- mesh anode, it must have two MMO coated Ti-meshes.
- the anode mesh sheets 112 may be vertical as shown in Figure 6b, or each mesh may be angled towards its opposing cathode 102 as described for the asymmetric anodes in Figures 4a, 4b, 5a and 5b to give an even current distribution on both of the opposing cathodes.
- Figures 7a and 7b shows an alternative arrangement for in situ liberation in an ER tankhouse using capping boards 109b in the cell-top furniture (compared to the earlier described capping blocks).
- Figure 7a is a sketch where the cells use a dog-bone style inter cell busbar 108 and a capping board 109b.
- a single-contact hanger bar configuration is shown in Figure 7a for simplicity of the description and drawings.
- a double-contact hanger bar configuration is also possible when using capping boards.
- the inter-electrode spacing set in the crane-bale (not shown) will be decreased by an amount sufficient to allow the insertion of an extra cathode 102 into the cell.
- the asymmetric EW anode seen in Figure 7b is positioned against the end wall of the cell, in a similar method to the positioning of the EW anode described in the earlier example Figure 4b.
- the order of the cathodes 102, ER anodes 101 and EW anode 110 in Figure 7a is similar to the arrangement in Figure 5b.
- each cell will produce two extra cathode plates per harvest, one by electrorefining and one by electrowinning. This configuration increases the overall production of grade-A copper in the cell.
- the EW anode 1 10 is positioned opposite a cast copper ER anode 101 which acts as a cathode on the side facing the EW anode 1 10.
- the ER anode 101 is smaller than the permanent cathode 102, and so the EW anode 110 shown in Figure 4b must be sized to be correspondingly smaller than the ER anode 101 in Figure 4b to avoid an edge-effect in the copper deposit on the neighbouring cathode 102.
- the designs of the anodes 110 in Figures 4b and 7b can otherwise be the same.
- Figure 8a shows a front elevation sketch of an EW anode positioned at the end of a cell 100.
- the inter-cell busbars (108a, 108b) use a capping board insulator arrangement (109) as described in the examples given in Figures 7a and 7b.
- EW anode arrangement shown in Figure 8a is to be understood as present inside the bag shown in Figure 8b.
- the arrangements which will be described for acid mist handling during in situ liberation of copper in an ER cell are applicable to all of the previously described
- Figure 8b shows an arrangement for controlling the electrowinning acid mist generated by the evolution of oxygen bubbles at the EW anode surface during in situ liberation of copper.
- the EW anode 1 10 is located inside an "anode bag" 120 - a cloth diaphragm bag for containment of acid mist.
- the anode bag 120 is suspended from a frame 121. Such an arrangement is used in nickel electrowinning and is described in Prior art 13 and 14.
- the anode bag 120 is constructed from an acid-resistant diaphragm cloth (as described in Prior art 13).
- the anode bag 120 is fitted tautly over the frame 121 and held in position by clips, a groove and gasket, a drawstring, a combination of those, or another appropriate securing arrangement 122.
- Channels extend along the inner surface of the sides and bottom of the anode bag 120 to allow electrolyte to circulate about the immersed part of the EW anode, and for gas evolved at the EW anode - as per Eqn. (2) and Eqn. (6) - to rise within the bag 120 to the top of the frame 121.
- Gas trapped in the bag 120 and frame 121 is removed by means of an extraction tube 123 which extends through the top of the frame 121.
- the cloth of the anode bag 120 may be subject to fouling by particulates or solids such as anode slimes entrained in the copper ER electrolyte 103 circulating in the cell. It is therefore important that the bag 120 is easily exchangeable during maintenance. For this reason the appropriate securing arrangement is used to allow easy replacement of said bag 120.
- a sealed pump 124 can be mounted on the anode hanger bar 111.
- the function of the pump 124 is to remove the acid-mist gas - contained inside the bag 120 and frame 121 - via the extraction tube 123.
- the electrolyte mist removed from inside the anode bag 120 and frame 121 leaves the pump 124 through a drain tube 125.
- the tube 125 can be routed to the electrolyte overflow 105 of the cell (not shown in Figure 8, but seen in Figure 2).
- the pump 124 can be controlled and powered by electronics housed in the same package as the POU converter 115 or alternatively these functions can be housed in a separate unit on or near to the hanger bar.
- the anode bag 120 can also be open at the base - that is an anode skirt (Prior art 15).
- anode skirt In copper electrowinning there is no requirement to maintain a pH gradient across the diaphragm cloth (as is required in nickel electrowinning), and so the cloth skirt can be open to the bulk electrolyte at the bottom.
- the function of the skirt is then mainly to contain the gas bubbles evolved at the anode surface to prevent acid mist.
- the location of the end of the tube 123 (inside the bag 120 and frame 121), and the composition of electrolyte and/or acid mist removed by the pump 124 will depend on whether an anode bag or an open anode skirt is employed as 120.
- the tip of the extraction tube 123 may be positioned inside the anode bag 120 and frame 121 so that the pump 124 removes the oxygen-bubble rich electrolyte at the top of the bag. This will result in an electrolyte level inside the anode bag 120 which is slightly lower (by between 1 and 50mm) than the level of the electrolyte outside of the bag 103a, causing a net electrolyte flow from outside of the bag 120 to inside of the bag.
- the tip of the extraction tube 123 may also be positioned to be level with the bulk electrolyte surface 103a outside of the anode bag, or positioned above the level of 103a, if either are advantageous.
- anode skirt open to the bulk electrolyte 103 at the bottom
- an anode bag 120 instead of an anode bag 120
- the skirt is used mainly to contain acid mist above the electrolyte surface 103a.
- the function of the tube and pump arrangement (123- 125) is again to remove mist inside the anode frame 121.
- the tip of the extraction tube 123 is then positioned to be level or slightly above the surface 103a of the bulk electrolyte in the cell.
- FIG 9 shows the same arrangement of electrodes as shown earlier in Figures 5a and 5b.
- the first ER anode in the cell is replaced with an EW anode.
- the EW anode 1 10 is contained within an anode bag 120 and frame arrangement 121.
- the anode bag 121 is again held in place with a gasket 122.
- the arrangement of the pump 124 and tubes (123, 125) differs from the arrangement in the earlier Figure 8b.
- the pump 124 is now separate from the anode and positioned in this example arrangement on a shelf 126 attached to the outside of the end wall of the cell 100.
- the extraction tube 123 which connects the pump 124 to the inside of the anode bag may be routed over the end wall of the cell 100 (as shown in Figure 9). In an alternative arrangement, the tube 123 may penetrate through the end wall of the cell 100 (not shown).
- the pump 124 may also be located in a position other than those examples given in Figure 8b and Figure 9, for example it may also be located on top of the end wall of the cell (this arrangement is not shown).
- the location of the pump 124 is not limited to the examples given.
- the method limited to the use of one pump per anode.
- a shared pump may be employed serving multiple EW anodes in a single cell.
- a central pumping system may be used which serves multiple anodes located in multiple cells, as per the practice in nickel EW (see Prior art 14).
- an acid mist capture hood system may be employed.
- Mist capture hoods are used in some modern copper EW tankhouses and typically require a significant capital investment and this may be best suited to new-build Cu ER tankhouses, rather than retrofitting to an existing Cu ER plant.
- the use of mist-capture hoods is however, not excluded from any arrangement of apparatus used for this method.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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GBGB1607716.6A GB201607716D0 (en) | 2016-05-04 | 2016-05-04 | Equipment for decopperising an electrorefining process and way of operating the process |
PCT/GB2017/051248 WO2017191458A1 (en) | 2016-05-04 | 2017-05-04 | Equipment for decopperising an electrorefining process and way of operating the process |
Publications (2)
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EP3452640A1 true EP3452640A1 (en) | 2019-03-13 |
EP3452640B1 EP3452640B1 (en) | 2020-03-25 |
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EP17723479.6A Active EP3452640B1 (en) | 2016-05-04 | 2017-05-04 | Equipment for decopperising an electrorefining process and way of operating the process |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
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EP (1) | EP3452640B1 (en) |
GB (1) | GB201607716D0 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2017191458A1 (en) |
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DE102021113753A1 (en) | 2021-05-27 | 2022-12-01 | IPLA & R-Kunststofftechnik GmbH & Co. KG | Electrolytic cell and method of providing an electrolytic cell |
CN113463138A (en) * | 2021-07-16 | 2021-10-01 | 兰溪自立环保科技有限公司 | Copper anode slime regenerated acid recycling equipment and recycling method thereof |
Family Cites Families (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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US4083761A (en) * | 1976-08-02 | 1978-04-11 | Noranda Mines Limited | Arsenic removal from electrolytes with application of periodic reverse current |
ZA9810968B (en) | 1997-12-09 | 1999-06-01 | Filtaquip Proprietary Limited | An electrode frame |
CA2237710C (en) * | 1998-05-14 | 2002-07-30 | Falconbridge Limited | Recovery of nickel from copper refinery tankhouse electrolyte |
CA2392846C (en) * | 2002-07-09 | 2008-07-15 | Hatch Associates Ltd. | Recovery and re-use of anode oxygen from electrolytic cells |
US8038855B2 (en) | 2009-04-29 | 2011-10-18 | Freeport-Mcmoran Corporation | Anode structure for copper electrowinning |
PL410261A1 (en) | 2010-08-11 | 2015-05-11 | Outotec Oyj | Device for electroproduction or electrorefining of material |
FI125637B (en) | 2011-11-28 | 2015-12-31 | Outotec Oyj | Frame and electrolysis system |
US20160010233A1 (en) | 2012-02-10 | 2016-01-14 | Outotec Oyj | System for power control in cells for electrolytic recovery of a metal |
FI124587B (en) | 2013-06-05 | 2014-10-31 | Outotec Finland Oy | Device for protecting anodes and cathodes in an electrolysis cell system |
-
2016
- 2016-05-04 GB GBGB1607716.6A patent/GB201607716D0/en not_active Ceased
-
2017
- 2017-05-04 WO PCT/GB2017/051248 patent/WO2017191458A1/en unknown
- 2017-05-04 EP EP17723479.6A patent/EP3452640B1/en active Active
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WO2017191458A1 (en) | 2017-11-09 |
EP3452640B1 (en) | 2020-03-25 |
GB201607716D0 (en) | 2016-06-15 |
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