TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of typical impurities for the formation of floating slimes in copper electrorefining
AU - Jafari, Shila
AU - Kiviluoma, Mikko
AU - Kalliomäki, Taina
AU - Klindtworth, Elisabeth
AU - Aji, Arif Tirto
AU - Aromaa, Jari
AU - Wilson, Benjamin P.
AU - Lundström, Mari
N1 - Funding Information:
This research has been performed within the SIMP (System Integrated Metal Production) project of DIMECC (Digital, Internet, Materials and Engineering Co-Creation, Tampere, Finland). The RawMatTERS Finland Infrastructure (RAMI) based in Aalto University and supported by Academy of Finland is greatly acknowledged. In addition, The manuscript is partly supported by CMEco project funded by TEKES foundation to publish as open access article. The authors are also grateful to Mr. Petri Latostenmaa from Boliden Harjavalta for providing the arsenic acid solution used in this work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/11/10
Y1 - 2017/11/10
N2 - In electrorefining, Group 15 impurities arsenic, antimony and bismuth, may precipitate within the bulk electrolyte as floating slimes and contaminate the copper cathodes. In order to determine the impurity specific thresholds related to the formation of suspended solids, synthetic copper electrorefining electrolytes with different concentrations of arsenic, antimony and bismuth were investigated by a continuous filtration method. The amount and composition of the floating slimes obtained were evaluated in terms of the initial impurity concentrations present in the synthetic electrolyte. As a result, the specific influence of arsenic, antimony and bismuth on the floating slime formation was ascertained. The results suggest that there is an upper limit in electrorefining electrolytes for antimony (Sb) of 800 mg/L for floating slime formation, although the limit for Bi was less clear. Furthermore, the structure of the synthetic floating precipitates produced were analyzed using both SEM-EDS and XRD and showed typical amorphous structure of floating slimes with particle size of approximately 25 μm and predicted composition of BiAsO4, SbAsO4, Sb2O3and Bi2O3.
AB - In electrorefining, Group 15 impurities arsenic, antimony and bismuth, may precipitate within the bulk electrolyte as floating slimes and contaminate the copper cathodes. In order to determine the impurity specific thresholds related to the formation of suspended solids, synthetic copper electrorefining electrolytes with different concentrations of arsenic, antimony and bismuth were investigated by a continuous filtration method. The amount and composition of the floating slimes obtained were evaluated in terms of the initial impurity concentrations present in the synthetic electrolyte. As a result, the specific influence of arsenic, antimony and bismuth on the floating slime formation was ascertained. The results suggest that there is an upper limit in electrorefining electrolytes for antimony (Sb) of 800 mg/L for floating slime formation, although the limit for Bi was less clear. Furthermore, the structure of the synthetic floating precipitates produced were analyzed using both SEM-EDS and XRD and showed typical amorphous structure of floating slimes with particle size of approximately 25 μm and predicted composition of BiAsO4, SbAsO4, Sb2O3and Bi2O3.
KW - Antimony
KW - Arsenic
KW - Bismuth
KW - Copper
KW - Electrorefining
KW - Floating slime
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85031757560&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.minpro.2017.09.016
DO - 10.1016/j.minpro.2017.09.016
M3 - Article
SN - 0301-7516
VL - 168
SP - 109
EP - 115
JO - International Journal of Mineral Processing
JF - International Journal of Mineral Processing
ER -