Removal of iron from an electrolytic solution rich in copper using selective hydrometallurgy = Removal of iron from an electrolytic solution rich in copper using selective hydrometallurgy

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Current technological development towards a cleaner, greener energy sources and an increased consumption of electronic and electric devices are driving the continuous increase in the demand of metals such as copper and iron. Even though, in the foreseeable future there is no predicted shortage of copper, it is imperative to improve and optimize the recovery of copper from secondary sources in pro of the environment protection and the achievement of circular economy. Currently, non-ferrous metals such as copper obtained from secondary sources are meeting the demand of around 30% of the worldwide requirement. However, copper usually comes associated with iron. By using hydrometallurgical processes, these metals are recovered and separated as a part of a continuous effort to reduce the environmental burden of wastewater and recover valuable metals from waste. During this experimental study, an electrolytic solution rich in Cu²⁺ (~ 50 g/L) with a small concentration of Fe²⁺ (~ 2 g/L) was processed using liquid- liquid extraction. Various phosphorous (P) based commercial extractants D2EHPA, Cyanex 272 and PC 88A were evaluated to remove iron. The optimum conditions for extraction and stripping were derived and removal of iron with minimal copper loss (< 3%) was proposed in a variety of hydrometallurgical routes.