Direct Electro-leaching and Deposition of Copper and Zincfrom Brass Alloy Smelting Slag

In this research, the Electro-leaching process for the dissolution of brass slag in a sulfuric acid mediumhas been investigated. In order to carry out the process, titanium basket was used as anode and stainlesssteel as cathode in ۱۸۰ g/L sulfuric acid as an electrolyte. Different potentials were investigated for slagdissolution to investigate the feasibility of Electro-leaching. The process was carried out consideringthree approaches; first, brass slag was subjected to leaching in sulfuric acid with a concentration of ۵۰g/l at a temperature of ۵۰ °C to dissolve zinc and metal oxides. Then, the Electro-leaching process wasperformed by applying a current density of ۲۵۰ A/m۲. In this situation, due to the formation sulfatephases such as calcium sulfate and decrease in its conductivity, the amount of potential for electrodissolutionwas found to be very high, and it is practically unjustifiable to carry out this process inpractical situation. In the second approach, the slag was placed directly in the anode basket to performelectrical dissolution. In this condition, the amount of potential required for dissolution showed adecrease compared to the first strategy. In third approach, due to the high amount of potential neededto provide the required current density (i.e. ۲۵۰ A/m۲), hydrogen peroxide was added to the electrolyteto improve the dissolution of copper from brass slag.

کلیدواژه ها:

Copper recycling ، Zinc recycling ، Brass slag ، Electro-leaching.