Copper purification

C19-0126. Electrolytic reactions, like other chemical reactions, are not 100% efficient. In a copper purification apparatus depositing Cu from C11SO4 solution, operation for 5.0 hours at constant current of 5.8 A deposits 32 g of Cu metal. What is the efficiency ... 

The copper is still not pure enough for most purposes. The most common method for copper purification relies on electrolysis. Electrolysis is the process by which an electrical current is used to cause a chemical change, usually the breakdown of some substance. The copper is dissolved in sulfuric acid again and an electric current is passed through the solution. Pure copper metal is deposited on one of the metal electrodes. By repeating this process, copper of 99.9 percent purity can be made. 

Copper(II) ion is more easily reduced than either water or hydrogen ion (How can you tell See Section 19.3 of the text.) Copper metal is more easily oxidized than water. Water should not be affected by the copper purification process. 

Figure 9.10 Polymer concrete electrolytic cells used in copper purification. The walls of the vessels are 80mm thick (see text for details)...

Let us begin our survey of other nonferrous metals with show me the money V The coinage metals consisting of copper, silver, and gold represent the first metals known to man. The first reports for copper purification date back to 3,500 B.C. in the Middle East bronze alloys were first introduced in ca. 3,000 B.C. in India and Greece. However, it is likely that earliest use for copper may have been much earlier for weaponry applications. As a testament to the durability of the coinage metals, 5,000 years after an Egyptian Pharaoh had copper pipes installed in his bath, those same pipes were discovered, dug up, and were still in sufficient shape to carry water ... 

Copper has wide use as an agricultural poison and as an algicide in water purification. Copper compounds, such as Fehling s solution, are widely used in analytical chemistry tests for sugar. 

Ma.nufa.cture. Butyrolactone is manufactured by dehydrogenation of butanediol. The butyrolactone plant and process in Germany, as described after World War II (179), approximates the processes presendy used. The dehydrogenation was carried out with preheated butanediol vapor in a hydrogen carrier over a supported copper catalyst at 230—250°C. The yield of butyrolactone after purification by distillation was about 90%. 

Flotation or froth flotation is a physicochemical property-based separation process. It is widely utilised in the area of mineral processing also known as ore dressing and mineral beneftciation for mineral concentration. In addition to the mining and metallurgical industries, flotation also finds appHcations in sewage treatment, water purification, bitumen recovery from tar sands, and coal desulfurization. Nearly one biUion tons of ore are treated by this process aimuaHy in the world. Phosphate rock, precious metals, lead, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and tin-containing ores as well as coal are treated routinely by this process some flotation plants treat 200,000 tons of ore per day (see Mineral recovery and processing). Various aspects of flotation theory and practice have been treated in books and reviews (1 9). 

Cmde diketene obtained from the dimeriza tion of ketene is dark brown and contains up to 10% higher ketene oligomers but can be used without further purification. In the cmde form, however, diketene has only limited stabHity. Therefore, especiaHy if it has to be stored for some time, the cmde diketene is distiHed to > 99.5% purity (124). The tarry distiHation residue, containing trike ten e (5) and other oligomers, tends to undergo violent Spontaneous decomposition and is neutralized immediately with water or a low alcohol. Ultrapure diketene (99.99%) can be obtained by crystallization (125,126). Diketene can be stabHized to some extent with agents such as alcohols and even smaH quantities of water [7732-18-5] (127), phenols, boron oxides, sulfur [7704-34-9] (128) and sulfate salts, eg, anhydrous copper sulfate [7758-98-7]. 

Another attractive commercial route to MEK is via direct oxidation of / -butenes (34—39) in a reaction analogous to the Wacker-Hoechst process for acetaldehyde production via ethylene oxidation. In the Wacker-Hoechst process the oxidation of olefins is conducted in an aqueous solution containing palladium and copper chlorides. However, unlike acetaldehyde production, / -butene oxidation has not proved commercially successflil because chlorinated butanones and butyraldehyde by-products form which both reduce yields and compHcate product purification, and also because titanium-lined equipment is required to withstand chloride corrosion. 

The removal of copper from the pregnant nickel solution in the Sherritt-Gordon process is an example of purification by precipitation of a fairly insoluble compound. First, in the copper boil step, ammonia is driven off by heating the solution, and some copper sulfide precipitates. The residual copper is removed by a dding hydrogen sulfide for the chemical precipitation of mote copper sulfide. 

The cementation of gold and the purification of the ziac electrolyte ate usually carried out ia cylindrical vessels usiag mechanical agitation. The cementation of copper is carried out ia long narrow tanks called launders, ia rotating dmms, or ia an iaverted cone precipitator (see Copper). 

Gas Reduction. The use of a gaseous reduciag agent is attractive because the metal is produced as a powder that can easily be separated from the solution. Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen can be used to precipitate copper, nickel, and cobalt, but only hydrogen reduction is appHed on an iadustrial scale. In the Sherritt-Gordon process, the excess ammonia is removed duting the purification to achieve a 2 1 ratio of NH iNi ia solution. Nickel powder is then precipitated by... 

Electrorefining. Electrolytic refining is a purification process in which an impure metal anode is dissolved electrochemicaHy in a solution of a salt of the metal to be refined, and then recovered as a pure cathodic deposit. Electrorefining is a more efficient purification process than other chemical methods because of its selectivity. In particular, for metals such as copper, silver, gold, and lead, which exhibit Htfle irreversibHity, the operating electrode potential is close to the reversible potential, and a sharp separation can be accompHshed, both at the anode where more noble metals do not dissolve and at the cathode where more active metals do not deposit. 

Metals less noble than copper, such as iron, nickel, and lead, dissolve from the anode. The lead precipitates as lead sulfate in the slimes. Other impurities such as arsenic, antimony, and bismuth remain partiy as insoluble compounds in the slimes and partiy as soluble complexes in the electrolyte. Precious metals, such as gold and silver, remain as metals in the anode slimes. The bulk of the slimes consist of particles of copper falling from the anode, and insoluble sulfides, selenides, or teUurides. These slimes are processed further for the recovery of the various constituents. Metals less noble than copper do not deposit but accumulate in solution. This requires periodic purification of the electrolyte to remove nickel sulfate, arsenic, and other impurities. 

Nickel. Most nickel is also refined by electrolysis. Both copper and nickel dissolve at the potential required for anodic dissolution. To prevent plating of the dissolved copper at the cathode, a diaphragm cell is used, and the anolyte is circulated through a purification circuit before entering the cathodic compartment (see Nickel and nickel alloys). 

The extent of purification depends on the use requirements. Generally, either intense aqueous extractive distillation, or post-treatment by fixed-bed absorption (qv) using activated carbon, molecular sieves (qv), and certain metals on carriers, is employed to improve odor and to remove minor impurities. Essence grade is produced by final distillation in nonferrous, eg, copper, equipment (66). 

Purification actually starts with the precipitation of the hydrous oxides of iron, alumina, siUca, and tin which carry along arsenic, antimony, and, to some extent, germanium. Lead and silver sulfates coprecipitate but lead is reintroduced into the electrolyte by anode corrosion, as is aluminum from the cathodes and copper by bus-bar corrosion. 

Copper sulfate, in small amounts, activates the zinc dust by forming zinc—copper couples. Arsenic(III) and antimony(TTT) oxides are used to remove cobalt and nickel they activate the zinc and form intermetaUic compounds such as CoAs (49). Antimony is less toxic than arsenic and its hydride, stibine, is less stable than arsine and does not form as readily. Hydrogen, formed in the purification tanks, may give these hydrides and venting and surveillance is mandatory. The reverse antimony procedure gives a good separation of cadmium and cobalt. 

Analysis of zinc solutions at the purification stage before electrolysis is critical and several metals present in low concentrations are monitored carefully. Methods vary from plant to plant but are highly specific and usually capable of detecting 0.1 ppm or less. Colorimetric process-control methods are used for cobalt, antimony, and germanium, turbidimetric methods for cadmium and copper. Alternatively, cadmium, cobalt, and copper are determined polarographicaHy, arsenic and antimony by a modified Gutzeit test, and nickel with a dimethylglyoxime spot test. 

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