Process for recovering cobalt
AssigneeGTE Products Corporation
InventorsClarence D. Vanderpool, Martin B. MacInnis, Robert P. McClintic, Richard G. W. Gingerich
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Abstract
Cobalt is recovered from byproduct streams from a basic process by contacting the byproduct streams with aluminum metal for a sufficient period of time to produce cobalt metal as a precipitate. The basic process is the type wherein cobalt ions in solution are complexed with ammonia in the presence of halide ions to form an ammine halide solution from which a cobalt containing precipitate is separated. The precipitate is subsequently reduced to form a cobalt metal powder.
Claims4
An improvement in the process for producing cobalt, the basic process comprising the steps of forming cobalt ions in solution by digesting scrap tungsten carbide in hydrochloric acid to form a solution comprising cobalt chloride and dissolved cations selected from the group consisting of iron, copper, and manganese and mixtures thereof, complexing said cobalt ions with ammonia in the presence of chloride ions to form a cobalt ammine chloride solution, forming a cobalt containing precipitate, separating said cobalt containing precipitate from the resulting solution containing dissolved cations, wherein the improvement comprises contacting the resulting solution containing dissolved cations at an acid pH with a sufficient amount of aluminum metal for a sufficient period of time to form cobalt metal as a precipitate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.