Langer-Mond process

A special refining process is the carbonyl nickel process, an old process, which was invented in 1902 in Wales and used as the Langer-Mond process. Originally the plant treated nickel-copper matte but the process today is highly modified. The principle is a treatment at 60°C with carbon monoxide at atmospheric pressure. Nickel carbonyl, Ni(CO) is formed. This is a volatile Kquid that melts at -19.3°C and boils at 42.5°C. In this process nickel (and some iron) is carried off while other metals remain. Heating the gas to 180°C decomposes it and pure nickel powder is obtained. 

Mond nickel A process for extracting nickel from its ores by the intermediary of the volatile nickel tetracarbonyl. Sulfide ores are first roasted to convert sulfides to oxides, and then reduced by heating in hydrogen and carbon monoxide (water gas). The crude metal is caused to react with carbon monoxide at 50°C, producing Ni(CO)4, which is subsequently decomposed at 180 to 200°C. Invented by L. Mond and C. Langer in 1889, piloted at the works of Henry Wiggin Company in Smethwick, Scotland in 1892, and subsequently commercialized on a large scale in Swansea, South Wales, where it still operates (under the ownership of CVRD Inco). A new plant was built in Canada in 1986. 

Although the first report was published in 1888 by Mond and Langer (1888), the technical importance of the WGSR was not recognized until the development of the Haber process. Currently, the WGSR is used in various chemical processes, such as hydrogen and ammonia production, Rscher-Tropsch and methanol synthesis. It is also considered to be an important process for the removal of CO in small-scale future power generation, based on fuel cells for both mobile and stationary applications. 

Metal carbonyls are compounds of transition metals with carbon monoxide ligands. They find applications in many catalytic processes and in organic synthesis. Thus, research on preparations, structures, and applications of metal carbonyls and their derivatives has been intensive for several years. The first metal carbonyl, Ni(CO)4, was prepared by A. Mond, G. Langer, and F. Quincke in 1890 by the reaction of metallic nickel with carbon monoxide. It found application immediately it has been used for industrial preparation of pure nickel. Many other carbonyls were synthesized shortly thereafter. 

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