Abstract
The direct electrorefining of anode particles obtained from lead acid battery sludge to produce electrolytic lead powder without application of the conventional leaching process is the aim of this work. To create this target, exhausted lead acid batteries were crushed to smaller particles and separated from the internal and external plastic covers and fed into a titanium nets basket which acts as the anode in the electrolytic cell. Two pure lead permanent cathode sheets together with the Ti-anode basket were immersed in an acidified leach liquor electrolyte containing 1.24 wt% HCl acid and 2.2 wt% Pb ions. Different parameters were investigated, such as addition of NaCl to the electrolyte, electrolyte stirring rate, electrolysis mode (electrorefining or electrowinning), and presence of suspended PbCl2 particles in the electrolyte. Electrolytic lead powders with a dispersed shape with about 0.7 % Ti were obtained. The obtained results indicated that the electrorefining technique is better than electrowinning with both cathodic current efficiency and powder productivity, while the energy required for the electrowinning process is lower. The electrorefining process was carried out with cathodic current efficiency up to 64.69 % and specific electrical energy demand in the range from 2.598 to 3.827 kWh/kg Pb with powder productivity up to 2.5 g/A.h.
Zusammenfassung
Die direkte elektrolytische Raffination von Anodenpartikel, die aus dem Schlamm der Bleibatterie zur Erzeugung von elektrolytischem Bleipulver ohne Anwendung des konventionellen Laugungsprozesses gewonnen wird, ist das Ziel dieser Arbeit. Die verbrauchte Bleibatterie wurde gebrochen und in einen Titankorb gefüllt, der als inerte Anode dient. Zwei Bleibleche als permanente Kathoden sowie der gefüllte Titankorb wurden in eine Elektrolysezelle mit einer Lösung, die 2,2 Gew.-% Blei und 1,24 Gew.-% Salzsäure enthielt, eingetaucht. Verschiedene Faktoren, wie die Zugabe von NaCl zur Elektrolyten, Rührgeschwindigkeiten des Elektrolyts, Art des Elektrolyseprozesses (Elektroraffination und Elektrogewinnung) und der Einfluss von suspendierten PbCl2 Partikeln im Elektrolyt, wurden untersucht. Es wurde Bleipulver mit 7 % Ti in feinst verteilter Form erzeugt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Elektroraffinationsverfahren die bessere Methode ist als das Elektrogewinnungsverfahren sowohl in Hinblick auf die Kathodenstromeffizienz als auch auf die Produktivität. Jedoch ist der Energiebedarf für das Elektrogewinnungsverfahren niedriger. Das Elektroraffinationsverfahren wurde bei einer kathodischen Stromdichte von 64,69 % und einem spezifischen Energiebedarf von 2,598 bis 3,827 kWh/kg mit einer Produktivität für das Pulver von 2,5 g/A.h durchgeführt.
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Dr. Eng. Mohamed Gepreel (Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology) for his assistance in conducting the SEM & XRF analyses. Many thanks are also for Eng. Fuad Koriem (Techno Egypt Company- Helwan, Egypt) for supplying the battery sludge samples.
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Owais, A. Direct Electrolytic Refining of Lead Acid Battery Sludge. Berg Huettenmaenn Monatsh 160, 134–144 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00501-014-0293-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00501-014-0293-6