System and process for electrowinning
AssigneeAurotect Inc
InventorStephen Richard Cotty
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including receiving from a leaching unit into a chamber body, a concentrated metal salt solution comprising a base metal. An electropotential is applied to the concentrated metal salt solution that reduces base metals from the concentrated metal salt solution thereby creating a diluted metal salt solution. Base metals are captured onto a solid cathode and gaseous oxygen is released by an anode. The diluted metal salt solution is transferred from the chamber body for subsequent processing. Captured base metals are transferred from the chamber body.
Claims13
An electrowinning process comprising, the operations of:
- providing a tank, the tank comprising:
- a chamber, the chamber comprising:
- a chamber body;
- a liquid stream inlet;
- a liquid stream outlet;
- a gas outlet;
- and
- a solid metal outlet;
- a porous anode positioned in an upper interior portion of the chamber;
- and
- a solid cathode positioned in a lower interior portion of the chamber;
- receiving from a leaching unit, a concentrated metal salt solution comprising a base metal;
- applying an electropotential that reduces base metals from the concentrated metal salt solution thereby creating a diluted metal salt solution, where the diluted metal salt solution has less metal in the solution than the concentrated metal salt solution;
- capturing base metals onto the solid cathode;
- releasing gaseous oxygen by the anode and exiting the chamber via the gas outlet;
- transferring the diluted metal salt solution from the chamber body via the liquid stream outlet;
- and
- transferring the captured base metals from the chamber via the solid metal outlet.
An electrowinning process comprising the operations of:
- providing a tank, the tank comprising:
- a chamber, the chamber comprising:
- a chamber body;
- a reducing loop inlet;
- a reducing loop outlet;
- a leach loop inlet;
- a leach loop outlet;
- a membrane positioned in the chamber body forming a first interior chamber portion and a second interior chamber portion, the first interior chamber in fluid communication with
- the leach loop inlet and the leach loop outlet, the second interior chamber portion in fluid communication with the reducing loop inlet and the reducing loop outlet;
- a solid metal outlet;
- an anode positioned in the first interior portion of the chamber;
- and
- a cathode positioned in the second interior portion of the chamber;
- receiving from a leaching unit, a concentrated metal salt solution comprising a base metal;
- applying an electropotential that reduces the base metal from the concentrated metal salt solution thereby creating a diluted metal salt solution, where the diluted metal salt solution has less metal in the solution than the concentrated metal salt solution;
- capturing base metals onto the cathode;
- and
- transferring the captured base metals from the second interior chamber portion via the solid metal outlet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.