Method for the electrodeposition of metals
AssigneeASARCO Incorporated
InventorsMartin Goffman, Val Kudryk
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Abstract
The invention relates to an improved electrodeposition process for the recovery of metals by controlling the concentration of certain impurities in the electrolyte. For a zinc sulfate electrolyte, control of only the antimony impurity level below a predetermined value provides an efficient electrodeposition process.
Claims8
A method for the electrodeposition of zinc containing a measurable concentration of a plurality of impurities including antimony in its electrolyte solution wherein the concentrations of the impurities are maintained below deleterious levels by the control of only the antimony impurity concentration, said method characterized by the following steps
- sampling a sufficient amount of electrolyte from the electrolyte solution;
- measuring the concentration level of antimony impurity
- in the electrolyte sample by means of an effective measuring technique;
- readjusting the antimony impurity level of the electrolyte solution below 0.02 ppm by the addition of zinc dust to the electrolyte;
- continually repeating at predetermined intervals the above sequence of steps throughout the duration of the electrodeposition process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.