Journal of Chemical Engineering & Process Technology
Open Access

Abstract

Removal of Copper From Wastewater By Cementation From Simulated Leach Liquors

Ehssan Nassef and Yehia A. El-Taweel

Every year, tons of precious and/or toxic metals are thrown away in industrial liquid effluents and most frequently directly in natural environment. The recovery of those metals in dilute solutions is an everyday problem associating both ecology and economy. Copper is among the most prevalent and valuable metal used by industry. Cementation is one of the most effective and economic techniques for recovering toxic and or valuable metals from industrial waste solution and from leach liquors obtained by leaching low grade copper ore. The present study was carried out to investigate the removal of copper metal ions from synthetic waste water by cementation using a rotating iron cylinder. The study covered the effect of different parameters in batch mode which are: Initial copper concentrations, pH values, rotational speed, and reaction temperature on the rate of cementation. The rate of cementation was found to increase with increasing rotational speed, temperature, and pH till a value of 2.1 and then starts to decrease .On the other hand as the initial copper ions concentration increases from 0.2 to 0.4 M the rate of copper ions removal increase. The rate of copper recovery ranged from 10% to 90% per hour depending on the operating conditions Rates of cementation which can be expressed in terms of the rate of mass transfer were correlated to the controlling parameters by dimensionless equation: Sh=0.18 SC0.33 Re0.961. This equation can be used in the design and operation of high-productivity cementation reactor.