Abstract
Regarding the low dissolution rate of brass in sulfuric acid under ordinary conditions in the absence of oxidative factors. The anodic dissolution method was developed as one of the methods used for brass dissolution with the reasonable rate. In this research, the effect of four process parameters including concentration of sulfuric acid (0–250 g/lit), cell temperature (27–54 °C), current density (5–525 A/m2), and anode–cathode distance (1–9 cm) on the cell voltage was investigated. Concentration of sulfuric acid, current density, and anode–cathode distance were found to be the most striking parameters on the cell voltage. Despite the positive effect of cell temperature on voltage decline and hence, the decrease in specific electrical energy consumption, it has a negative impact on the current efficiency. Specific electrical energy consumption and current efficiency in the long-term anodic dissolution of brass were measured 0.782 kW.h/kg Brass and 97.3%, respectively. Charge balance calculations indicated that the concentration of copper cations gradually decreased during this process; hence, the hydrogen gas will be released simultaneously with the copper deposition. Therefore, it is impractical to produce high-quality copper cathode. Experiments also showed that at the ambient temperature and current density of 250 A/m2, copper could deposit in the form of powder at the cathode. After electro-refining of the copper briquette powder, copper having 99.98% purity could be obtained. In this study, the dissolved zinc was also recovered as ZnSO4.7H2O with > 99% purity.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Mr. Rohollah Fateh for his contributions to supply the equipment’s and raw materials for this research. This research was supported by Hamedan University of Technology under Gran No. d/18/400/2316.
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Vaghar, S., Ghasemi, S. & Pourabdoli, M. Anodic dissolution of waste brass chips in sulfuric acid for the recovery of copper and zinc. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 10933–10944 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04297-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04297-3