JPH08176877A - Method for continuously electrolyzing metal and continuous electrolyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To solve the problems in a continuously metal-electrolyzing method and electrolyzer, i.e., an unimproved high Pd dissolution rate, a large required installation area due to the annular shape of the electrolytic tank, low productivity per unit floor area due to complexity of the electrolyzer itself and the annular electrolytic tank and bad operability. CONSTITUTION: In this electrolyzer, at least one anode box 30 is placed in an electrolytic tank and one cathode plate 40 is disposed opposite to the anode box 30. The anode box 30 is provided with a second box having an opening and the second box is packed with a metallic anode and electric power is supplied between the anode box 30 and cathode plate 40 to perform electrolysis and to deposit the metal of the metallic anode on the cathode plate 40. The metal deposited on the cathode plate 40 is scraped and collected on the bottom of the electrolytic tank to recover it. When the amount of the metallic anode in the second box is reduced, the second box is replenished with the metallic anode.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for electrolytically refining metals and a continuous electrolysis apparatus, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for continuously electrolyzing and refining silver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the Mobius method has been mainly used as the electrolytic refining method for silver. Since this method is a batch system of 3-day cycles, a peak of man-hours temporarily occurs for each cycle. Electrodeposited silver and gold slime are accumulated in the electrolytic cell during that time, and anode scrap is generated, which inevitably requires repetition of precious metal and labor in the previous step.

Many continuous silver electrolysis methods have been proposed in order to solve various drawbacks of the Mobius method. Among them, the continuous silver electrolysis method proposed by the applicant (hereinafter simply referred to as the continuous silver electrolysis method) is It has particularly excellent productivity among the proposed Fed Bank methods.

Table 1 below shows a comparison between the features of the Mobius type and the Fed type.

[Table 1]

[0005]

The Fed Silver method is capable of operating for a long time, has no effects of scrap generation, compresses noble metal in process in the electrolytic cell, and does not generate anode scrap. However, the Pd elution rate is still high, the electrolytic cell shape is annular, and thus the installation area is large. Further, the apparatus itself is complicated and the productivity per floor area is low due to the annular tank, and the workability is poor. It did not solve the essential problem.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a continuous electrolysis method for metals (particularly silver) which utilizes the advantages of the continuous silver method and eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks of the continuous silver method.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a continuous electrolysis apparatus for metals (particularly silver) which utilizes the advantages of the continuous silver method and solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the continuous silver method.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above first object, the present invention provides a method for continuously electrolyzing a metal,
Arranging at least one anode box in the electrolytic cell,
The cathode plate is arranged opposite to the anode box, the second box having an opening is arranged in the anode box, the metal anode is filled in the second box, and electric power is supplied between the anode box and the cathode plate for electrolysis. The metal of the metal anode is deposited on the cathode plate, the metal deposited on the cathode plate is scraped and collected at the bottom of the electrolytic cell to be collected, and when the metal anode in the second box is reduced, the metal anode is supplemented. A continuous electrolysis method characterized by the above is adopted.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned second object, the present invention provides a continuous electrolysis apparatus for metals, which comprises an electrolysis cell and at least one anode box disposed in the electrolysis cell.
A cathode plate arranged to face the anode box,
A second box having an opening, which is arranged in the anode box and is filled with a metal anode, and a scraping scraper arranged to move along the cathode plate so as to scrape the metal adhering to the cathode plate. It employs a continuous electrolysis device characterized by having.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a continuous electrolysis apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a partial cross section of the continuous electrolysis apparatus. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an electrolytic cell used in a continuous electrolysis device. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an anode box used in the continuous electrolysis apparatus. 5 and 6 are perspective views showing components of the titanium box used in the continuous electrolysis apparatus, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the metal (for example, silver) continuous electrolysis apparatus 10 of the present invention has an electrolytic cell 70 as a main component, and a plurality of electrolytic cells 70 arranged in the electrolytic cell 70. Titanium box 20, an anode box 30 arranged so as to surround each titanium box 20, a cathode plate 40 arranged on both sides of the anode box 30 (between the anode boxes 30), and side surfaces (both sides) of each cathode plate 40. Or scraping scraper 5 arranged on one side)
0, a slime extraction tube 60 arranged to extend to the bottom of the anode box 30, and a support bar 80 arranged above the electrolytic cell 70 to support the cathode plate 40. Hereinafter, the structures of the electrolytic cell 70, the anode box 30, and the titanium box 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.

As shown in FIG. 3, the electrolytic cell 70 includes a box-shaped main body 72 and a part of its bottom (for example, lower front surface).
A cone-shaped portion 74 formed in the. The lower part of the cone-shaped portion 72 is open, and the electro-deposited silver scraped off is taken out through the opening 76. In the illustrated embodiment, the cone-shaped portion 74 is provided at one end of the bottom portion of the main body 72, but it is not limited to one end and may be provided at both ends. Further, inside the main body 72, vertical guides 78 for guiding the anode box 30 when inserting the anode box 30 to form a plurality of compartments are provided at intervals.

The height of the discharge cone below can be reduced by making a part (one end or both ends) of the electrolytic cell 70 into a cone shape without making the entire bottom portion into a cone shape, and the amount of the retained liquid can be reduced. Can be reduced.

Referring now to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 shows the anode box 30. Anode box 3
0 consists of a box-shaped main body 32 and a small box-shaped portion 34 formed on a part of the bottom portion (for example, the lower front surface) of the main body 32. The bottom of the box-shaped body 32 is an opening 36 on both sides of the box-shaped portion 34.
The molten metal and the electrolytic solution can move inside and outside the anode box 30 through these openings 36. Aperture 3 over the top of the anode box
8 is formed, and the titanium box 20 can be installed in the anode box through the opening 38.

In the box-shaped portion 34 formed on the bottom portion, slime accumulated on the bottom portion of the main body 32 of the anode box during electrolysis is collected by the scraping scraper 50, and is extracted by the slime extracting pipe 60. ing.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the titanium box 20 comprises two parts 20a (FIG. 5) and 20b (FIG. 6). The portion 20a includes a bar 22 having an opening 28 in the center, two plate members 24 vertically attached to the lower portion of the bar 22 on both sides of the opening 28, the plate member 24 and the bar 2
It comprises a mesh member 26 having a large number of openings attached to the lower part of 2. It should be noted that the plate member 24 has a portion 2 described later.
Hole 24a for fitting with the hole 24'a for fixing by the bolt and nut of the plate portion 24 'of 0b and fixing each other
Are formed.

The portion 20b comprises two plate members 24 'and a mesh member 26' having a large number of openings mounted between the side surfaces and the lower portions of these plate members 24 '. The two parts 20a and 20b have their plate members 24 and 24 'fixed to each other and have mesh members 26 on both sides and at the bottom.
26 'is formed, and a box is formed with plate members 24, 24' at both ends. An anode material (silver anode) is placed in the titanium box, which is a box formed in this way, and is continuously electrolyzed. However, if the anode material decreases, it is sufficient to supplement the shortage, and continuous electrolysis is performed. It will be possible.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of cathode plates 40 are arranged so as to face the anode box 30. The cathode plate 40 is supported by a support bar 80 as shown in FIG.

Next, an electrolysis method using the continuous electrolysis apparatus of the present invention will be described. As an initial preparation step, the electrolytic bath 70 is filled with an electrolytic solution, and electric power for electrolysis is supplied between each anode box 30 and each cathode plate 40. As a metal to be electrolyzed, a silver anode is used as an example in this embodiment. The silver anode is fed into the titanium box 20 through the opening 28 in the top thereof. The silver anode is electrolyzed, the electrolyzed silver passes through the mesh member of the titanium box 20, and the lower opening 3 of the anode box 30 is opened.
Electrodeposited on the cathode plate 40 through 6. Since the electrodeposited silver grows like needles, the scraping scraper 50 is attached to the cathode plate 4.
The electrodeposited silver is scraped off by moving along 0, the dropped electrodeposited silver is collected in the cone-shaped portion 74, and the valve is opened through the opening 76 to collect.

On the other hand, the anode slime comes off from the silver anode as the electrolysis proceeds, and passes through the mesh portions 26, 26 'of the titanium box 20 to the anode box 3.
Settle at the bottom of 0. The settled anode slime is scraped off by a scraper 50 to make the anode box 30.
Collect in the box-shaped portion 34 of. The collected anode slime is drawn by vacuum through the slime drawing tube 60.

When the number of silver anodes decreases due to the progress of the above steps, the silver anodes are supplemented and electrolysis is continuously performed.

Next, an example of an experiment conducted to confirm the effect of the present invention will be described.

The experiment was conducted using the test tanks and test conditions shown in Table 2.

[Table 2]

As shown in Table 3, the continuous silver method of the present invention was comparable to the conventional Mobius method and continuous silver method.

[Table 3]

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The number of man-hours can be smoothed, and the required number of personnel can be reduced. (2) The residence time of gold can be reduced (about 1 /
2). (3) It is possible to continuously operate for a long time. (4) Anode scrap can be eliminated (immediate actual yield is improved). (5) It becomes possible to support automation. (6) Applicable to silver anode continuous casting machines. (7) Equipment costs can be reduced. (8) Equipment area can be reduced (about 1/2).

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a continuous electrolysis apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a partial cross section of a continuous electrolysis apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an electrolytic cell used in a continuous electrolysis device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an anode box used in a continuous electrolysis device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing components of a titanium box used in the continuous electrolysis apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing components of a titanium box used in the continuous electrolysis apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Electrolyzer 20 Titanium Box 30 Anode Box 40 Cathode Plate 50 Scraping Scraper 60 Extraction Tube 70 Electrolyzer

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. In a continuous metal electrolysis method, at least one anode box is arranged in an electrolytic cell, a cathode plate is arranged opposite to the anode box, and a second box having an opening is arranged in the anode box. , The second box is filled with a metal anode, and electric power is supplied between the anode box and the cathode plate to electrolyze to adhere the metal of the metal anode to the cathode plate and scrape off the metal adhered to the cathode plate to form an electrolytic cell. A continuous electrolysis method, characterized in that the metal anode is collected and collected at the bottom of the second box, and when the metal anode in the second box is reduced, the metal anode is supplemented. 2. The continuous electrolysis method according to claim 1, wherein
A continuous electrolysis method characterized in that anode slime generated during electrolysis is collected at the bottom of an anode box and extracted. 3. The continuous electrolysis method according to claim 1, wherein
A continuous electrolysis method characterized in that a cone-shaped portion lower than the whole portion is provided on at least a part of the bottom of the electrolytic cell, and the scraped metal is collected in the cone-shaped portion. 4. The continuous electrolysis method according to claim 2,
A continuous electrolysis method characterized in that a box-shaped portion lower than the whole is provided in at least a part of the anode box, and the anode slime is collected and extracted in the box-shaped portion. 5. The continuous electrolysis method according to claim 1, wherein the electrolytic cell has a box shape, the anode box has a box shape, the second box has a box shape, and an opening of the second box has a mesh shape. And a continuous electrolysis method. 6. The continuous electrolysis method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the metal anode is a silver anode. 7. In a continuous metal electrolysis device, an electrolytic cell, at least one anode box arranged in the electrolytic cell, a cathode plate arranged so as to face the anode box, and arranged in the anode box. And a second box having an opening filled with a metal anode, and a scraping scraper arranged to move along the cathode plate so as to scrape off the metal adhering to the cathode plate. Continuous electrolysis device. 8. The continuous electrolysis apparatus according to claim 7,
The continuous electrolysis device is characterized in that the electrolysis cell is formed in a box shape, and at least a part of the bottom of the electrolysis cell is provided with a cone-shaped portion lower than the whole portion in order to collect scraped metal. 9. The continuous electrolysis apparatus according to claim 7,
The continuous electrolysis apparatus, wherein the anode box is provided with a box-shaped portion lower than the whole in at least a part thereof in order to collect and extract the anode slime. 10. The continuous electrolysis apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a extracting pipe for extracting the anode slime. 11. The continuous electrolysis apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second box has a box shape, and an opening of the second box is formed by a mesh. 12. The continuous electrolysis device according to claim 7, wherein the metal anode is a silver anode.