US 8,298,510 B2Granted

Process for improving phase separations in solvent extraction circuits

AssigneeBASF SE

InventorsEladio Rojas, Hans C. Hein

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Abstract

The addition of a compatible metal salt crystal to the organic solution entering the mixer(s) in the solvent extraction stage(s) and/or the stripping stage(s), or to the emulsion mixture of the organic solution and the aqueous solution in the mixer(s), or to the mixture of the organic solution and the aqueous solution in a settler tank(s) following the mixer(s) in the solvent extraction and/or stripping stage(s) following the leaching of metal values from the ore containing that/those value(s) into an aqueous solution, and prior to the further refining of those values in processes, such as electrowinning, during mining operations for those metal values in order to improve the phase separation of the organic phase and the aqueous phase, and to promote the removal of contaminants from the organic phase.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A method for improving phase separation in a process for recovering a metal from an aqueous solution containing the metal, with an organic solution containing at least one metal-extraction reagent, wherein at least a portion of the metal has been extracted into the organic solution in a solvent extraction stage, the method comprising the step of:

(a) adding a compatible metal salt selected from the group consisting of copper sulfate, iron sulfate, aluminum sulfate, magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, and mixtures thereof, to the organic solution entering one or more mixers in a solvent extraction stage and/or a stripping stage following the solvent extraction stage, or
(b) adding a compatible metal salt selected from the group consisting of copper sulfate, iron sulfate, aluminum sulfate, magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, and mixtures thereof, to an emulsion mixture of the aqueous solution and the organic solution in one or more mixers in a solvent extraction stage and/or a stripping stage following the solvent extraction stage, or
(c) adding a compatible metal salt selected from the group consisting of copper sulfate, iron sulfate, aluminum sulfate, magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, and mixtures thereof, to a mixture of the aqueous solution and the organic solution in a settler tank following a mixer(s),
wherein said compatible metal salt is in the form of a particulate solid or an aqueous salt pulp, and wherein the addition of said salt causes the aqueous solution and the organic solution to separate.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/803,898Filed 16 May 2007 · us provisional application
Priority: 15 Jun 2006
Published: US 2007/0292325 A120 Dec 2007
Granted: 30 Oct 2012
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

C22B 15/0063
Obtaining copper: hydrometallurgy
C22B 3/26
Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching: by liquid-liquid extraction using organic compounds
C22B 3/30
By liquid-liquid extraction using organic compounds: oximes
C22B 15/0089
Treating solutions: by chemical methods