TWI678334B - Recovery device and method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon - Google Patents

Abstract

A recovery device and method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon. The recovery device includes a tank unit and an electric unit. The tank unit comprises a tank body suitable for containing an electrolyte, two filter plates arranged at intervals and suitable for isolating the valuable metal, and a precipitation medium with reduced and porous properties. The filter plates define a working area interposed between each other, and an anode area and a cathode area on the two sides, respectively. The working area includes a processing area portion suitable for placing the activated carbon, and a sedimentation area portion for placing the precipitation medium. The electric unit includes a power supply and two electrodes for electrolysis. The recovery method is to apply electric power to the activated carbon to generate a driving force for moving the valuable metal toward the precipitation zone, and cause the valuable metal to precipitate in the precipitation medium.

Description

Recovery device and method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon

The invention relates to a device and a method for recovering available resources, in particular to a device and a method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon.

Activated carbon is a substance with adsorption characteristics. Its structure is microcrystalline carbon, so it appears irregularly arranged, and has many pores between cross-connections. After moderate activation, it will produce carbon tissue defects, which can increase the overall Porosity. Therefore, it is a kind of porous carbon, which has the characteristics of low bulk density and large specific surface area, so it is often used to adsorb specific substances and produce filtering effects.

When activated carbon is applied to the filtration of metal ions or metal particle solutions, it will be replaced after the activated carbon has reached adsorption saturation, and the replaced activated carbon essentially adsorbs many recyclable metal ions or metal particles. Performing specific treatment on the activated carbon after replacement, in addition to recovering recyclable metals, can also restore the adsorption of activated carbon, so that the activated carbon that has been replaced can be reused.

The existing recovery method is to perform heat treatment on the activated carbon after replacement. The heat treatment is performed in a high-temperature environment in which high-temperature air and high-temperature steam are introduced. The conduction method transfers heat to the internal pores of the activated carbon, so that the adsorbed material can be desorbed, thereby recovering the valuable metals absorbed by the activated carbon. However, although the above heat treatment method can recover valuable metals, when performing the above heat treatment, a large amount of energy is required to heat the gas and maintain a high temperature environment. In addition, the activated carbon is in a high-temperature environment for a long time when performing heat treatment, so the recovered activated carbon may also be partially oxidized and cracked, causing loss. Therefore, how to effectively recover valuable metals and reduce the loss of activated carbon at the same time with low energy consumption has become a topic of active research and development for practitioners in related fields.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a recovery device for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon, which can recover valuable metals adsorbed in activated carbon and reduce the loss of activated carbon.

Therefore, the recovery device for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to the present invention includes a tank unit and an electric unit.

The tank unit includes a tank body defining an accommodating space for containing an electrolyte, two filter plates disposed in the accommodating space at intervals and suitable for isolating the valuable metal, and a miniaturization And a porous sedimentation medium provided in the accommodating space for precipitation of the valuable metal. The filter plates divide the accommodating space into an operation area interposed between the filter plates, and an anode area and a cathode area respectively located on one side of the filter plates away from the operation area. The work area includes a The activated carbon is adjacent to the processing regeneration region portion of the anode region, and a precipitation region portion adjacent to the processing regeneration region portion and used to place the precipitation medium and close to the cathode region.

The electric unit includes a power supply for providing electrical energy, and two electrodes connected to the power supply and extending into the anode area and the cathode area, respectively. When the electrodes apply electric power to the electrolytic solution, the driving force of the valuable metals in the activated carbon moving from the processing regeneration region to the precipitation region is caused to precipitate the valuable metals in the precipitation medium.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a recovery method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon, which can recover valuable metals adsorbed in activated carbon and reduce the loss of activated carbon.

Therefore, the method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to the present invention includes the following steps: an electric step, applying electricity to the activated carbon that adsorbs the valuable metals in an electrolytic solution, so that the valuable metals are recovered from the activated carbon Desorb and move to the cathode; and a recovery step to precipitate and collect the valuable metal.

The effect of the present invention is that, by applying electric power, an electroosmotic flow and an ion migration flow can be generated to the valuable metal in the activated carbon, and the valuable metal is made under the condition that the activated carbon is not lost due to high heat. Moving towards the cathode, and then settling in a medium that can be easily separated from it, to reduce the loss of this activated carbon, The purpose of collecting the valuable metals is ascertained.

1‧‧‧ tank unit

101‧‧‧Working area

102‧‧‧Anode area

103‧‧‧ cathode area

108‧‧‧ Processing Regeneration Zone

109‧‧‧Precipitation area

11‧‧‧ trough

110‧‧‧accommodation space

12‧‧‧ filter plate

13‧‧‧ precipitation media

2‧‧‧ Electric unit

21‧‧‧ Power Supply

22‧‧‧electrode

8‧‧‧ activated carbon

91‧‧‧Pre-steps

92‧‧‧ Electric steps

93‧‧‧ Recovery steps

E‧‧‧ Electrolyte

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiment with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of a recovery device for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a recovery device for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to the present invention includes a tank unit 1 and an electric unit 2. The embodiment of the recovery device is suitable for treating an activated carbon 8 that is used for filtration and adsorbs valuable metals, especially the activated carbon 8 that has saturated adsorption of valuable metals.

The receiving tank unit 1 includes a tank body 11 defining a receiving space 110 suitable for containing an electrolyte E, and two filter plates 12 disposed in the receiving space 110 at intervals and suitable for isolating the valuable metal. And a precipitation medium 13 which is reduced in porosity and is disposed in the accommodating space 110 for precipitation of the valuable metal. The filter plates 12 divide the accommodating space 110 into an operation area 101 interposed between the filter plates 12, and an anode area 102 located on one side of the filter plates 12 away from the operation area 101. And a cathode region 103. The working area 101 includes a processing and regeneration area portion 108 suitable for placing the activated carbon 8 and being close to the anode area 102, and a processing regeneration area portion 108 adjacent to the processing and regenerating area portion 108 for placing the precipitation medium 13 and being close to the cathode area 103. Of the precipitation area 109. Among them, the filter plate 12 is preferably made of glass fiber material, and the lowering property of the precipitation medium 13 means that it has a lower activity in generating a chemical reaction with a metal, and is therefore suitable as a material for precipitation of a valuable metal therein. .

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 at the same time, an embodiment of a method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to the present invention includes a pre-step 91, an electric step 92, and a recovery step 93. In the embodiment of the recovery method of the present invention, the foregoing recovery device of the present invention is used as an example for description, but the actual implementation of the recovery method of the present invention is not limited to the use of the foregoing recovery device.

In the pre-step 91 of the embodiment of the recycling method of the present invention, the precipitation medium 13 is provided in the electrolytic solution E. The electrolytic solution E may be an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, citric acid, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, or sodium chloride, so as to provide an electrolyte sufficient to conduct electricity and perform electrolysis. The precipitation medium 13 is preferably a standard sand that does not contain metal components, and specifically uses Ottawa standard sand (Metal Free Ottawa Sand). The standard sand has the property that it is not easy to produce a chemical reaction with metal. When the standard sand pile is placed in the sedimentation region 109 without intentional extrusion, it can also form a porous structure to provide the valuable metal. The space to settle.

The electric unit 2 includes a power supply for supplying DC power 21 and two electrodes 22 connected to the power supply 21 and extending into the anode region 102 and the cathode region 103 respectively. When the electrolysis step 92 of the embodiment of the recycling method of the present invention is performed, direct current is used to apply electric power to the electrolytic solution E to the activated carbon 8 adsorbing the valuable metal. When the electrodes 22 perform electrolysis in the electrolytic solution E, an electric field is generated between the anode and the cathode due to the formation of an electric field, and an electroosmotic flow from the anode to the cathode is generated. In addition, due to the loss of electrons around the anode during electrolysis, positively-charged ions are generated, while around the cathode, electrons are generated to generate negatively-charged ions. Through the positive-valent metal ions, it is easy to react with the negatively-charged ions to form salts and precipitate In conjunction with the driving force for moving the metal ions to the cathode in conjunction with the electroosmotic flow and ion migration efficiency, the valuable metal will be desorbed from the activated carbon 8 to an ionic state and moved toward the cathode, and the valuable metal will be in the It reacts with negatively charged ions near the cathode. At this time, the filtering effect through the filter plates 12 allows only relatively small molecules to pass through, and the valuable metal is therefore confined to the working area 101, and therefore is not adsorbed on the cathode area 103. On the electrode 22, after reacting to form a salt compound, it is precipitated in the precipitation medium 13 of the precipitation region 109.

It should be particularly noted that the electrolytic solution E used in the electric step 92 is selected according to the metal type of the valuable metal to be recovered, and in accordance with the pre-measurement of the Zeta Potential, a better preset Environmental pH value, and provide appropriate electric energy to optimize the effect of metal movement to improve the effect of recycling. For example, when the valuable metal to be recovered is copper, the electrolytic solution E preferably uses sulfuric acid with a concentration of 0.1M. Aqueous solution, and the environmental pH value is greater than 5.1. When combined with an electric current of 28 (mA) and a current density of 0.29 (mA / cm2), it can produce a better electroosmotic flow movement effect, so it can improve recycling. rate.

Then, in the recovery step 93, when most of the valuable metals in the activated carbon 8 have precipitated, the activated carbon 8 will recover the adsorption efficiency for the valuable metals, which can be recovered and reused for adsorption filtration. In use. Because the present invention adopts an electric power mechanism with relatively low energy consumption, not only the energy consumption can be saved and the concept of resource recovery and reuse can be implemented, but because high temperature treatment is not adopted, the activated carbon 8 will only be affected by electrical energy and chemical reactions A small amount of chemical loss is generated, which can relatively reduce the consumption of the activated carbon 8 during the recycling process. The valuable metals accumulated in the precipitation medium 13 can be collected by simple physical methods such as centrifugation, filtration, etc., to achieve the purpose of recovering the valuable metals from the activated carbon 8.

In summary, the recovering device and method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to the present invention can recover the valuable metals adsorbed in the activated carbon 8 with low energy consumption and reduced consumption of the activated carbon 8, And the adsorption capacity of the activated carbon 8 is restored, so it can indeed achieve the purpose of the invention.

However, the above are only examples of the present invention. When the scope of implementation of the present invention cannot be limited in this way, any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application and the content of the patent specification of the present invention are still Within the scope of the invention patent.

Claims (8)

A recovery device for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon includes: a tank unit including a tank body defining a storage space suitable for containing an electrolytic solution, and two spacedly arranged in the storage space and suitable for A filter plate for isolating the valuable metal, and a precipitation medium having reduced and porous properties and disposed in the accommodating space for precipitation of the valuable metal, the filter plates divide the accommodating space into An operation area between the filter plates, and an anode area and a cathode area respectively located on one side of the filter plates away from the operation area. The operation area includes a suitable area for placing the activated carbon and close to the anode. A processing regeneration section of the area, and a sedimentation section adjacent to the processing regeneration section and used to place the precipitation medium and close to the cathode area; and an electric unit including a power supply for providing electrical energy, and two Electrodes electrically connected to the power supply and extending in the anode region and the cathode region, respectively, when the electrodes apply power in the electrolyte, the valuable metals in the activated carbon are generated there Portion of the regeneration zone to the driving force of the moving portion of the precipitation zone, so that the valuable metals are precipitated in the precipitation mediums. The recovery device for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to claim 1, wherein the precipitation medium is standard sand containing no metal component. The recovering device for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to claim 1, wherein the electric power supply unit of the electric unit provides DC power. A recovering method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon includes the following steps: an electric step, applying electricity to the activated carbon that adsorbs the valuable metals in an electrolytic solution to desorb the valuable metals from the activated carbon and Moving towards the cathode; and a recovery step to precipitate and collect the valuable metal. The method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon as described in claim 4, further comprising a pre-step before the electric step, in which a precipitation medium with reduced and porous properties is provided in the electrolyte. In the recovery step, the valuable metals are accumulated in the precipitation medium and precipitated. The method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to claim 5, wherein the precipitation medium is standard sand containing no metal component. The method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to claim 4, wherein, in the electromotive step, direct current is applied to the electrolytic solution. The method for recovering valuable metals from activated carbon according to claim 4, wherein in the electric step, the electrolyte is an aqueous solution using hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, citric acid, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, or sodium chloride.