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By Zhang Yongzhu

Sulfoxides are one kind of extractants for precious metals. The structure, the coordination reaction, the extraction behaviour and the precious metals complexes of sulfoxides are summarized. The differences between sulfides, sulfoxides and sulphones are also discussed.

Jan 1, 1992

By Baozhong Ma, Yonglu Zhang, Yongqiang Yang, Chengyan Wang, Yongqiang Chen

During the past decades, slurry electrolysis (SE) has been implemented commercially for the processing of bismuthinite and complex Pb-Cu bearing gold concentrates. Recently, SE was proven effective for the treatment of As-rich antimonic gold concentrates. Laboratory test results suggest over 98% of the antimony was extracted, while the extraction of arsenic and gold was less than 0.5%, and that of iron was less than 6%. Moreover, the cathode antimony contained over 98% antimony and less than 0.3% arsenic. Considering the disadvantages of traditional 3 kA slurry electrolysis baths, such as smaller electrode area, reduced capacity, and greater electrode deterioration, the authors have developed an innovative 12 kA slurry electrolysis bath equipped with mesh and fence type titanium alloy electrodes. Furthermore, the technique was successfully used within a pilot scale plant yielding results similar to those observed in the laboratory. The technique yielded ametallic antimony ingot of 99.9% purity after arsenic removal via the addition of Na2CO3.

Jan 1, 2014

By W. J. Guay

Scrubbing of simulated copper reverberatory furnace gases containing 1.0 percent sulfur dioxide with the minus 74 ~m fraction of the San Manuel tailings has shown sulfur dioxide removals of almost 100 percent over an effluent pH range of 3.1 to 4.6 and a wide range of liquid to gas ratios with absorptions of 11 to 17 Kg of sulfur dioxide per tonne of minus 74 um slimes. The high reactivity of the tailings slimes with S02 indicates that the reaction rate is not controlled by the slow dissolution of calcium carbonate in sulfurous acid which characterizes scrubbers using ground limestone. The interpretation of these results has been considerably enhanced by wet chemical analysis and emission spectrographic analysis which show that calcium and iron account for about 90 percent of the SO2 absorption with the rest being accounted for by aluminum, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. Mineralogic examination confirms the, chemical and spectrographic analyses showing that the major constituent removed from the slimes is calcium carbonate, with lesser amounts of chlorite and montmorillonite (silicates containing iron, magnesium, aluminum, and calcium) being removed.

Jan 1, 1981

By J. L. Delplancke

During copper electrowinning in sulphate electrolyte, intense oxygen evolution takes place at the anode. Lead alloy anodes are progressively replaced by dimensionally stable anodes in order to avoid the cathode contamination by dissolved lead. The electroactive coating of these anodes has to be as cheap as possible, adherent to the substrate, electrochemically stable and has to be efficient at high current density and high temperature. This requirement is even demanding in case of copper electrodeposition for the production of thin copper foils for the electronic industry. The production of thin (20 µm thick) copper foils for the printed circuit boards requires high purity copper electrodeposited at a current density as high as 7,000 A/m2. The choice of a long term coating composition is driven by economics. The purpose of this paper is mainly to review the anode compositions suitable for copper electrowinning and for copper electrodeposition at high current density. A short description of preliminary results obtained with a new anode coating on a titanium substrate is also presented.

Jan 1, 1999

By Walter E. McCulloch

Recent laboratory bench scale and pilot plant metallurgical tests at Mountain States R and D International have demonstrated that some copper ores because of relatively coarse copper sulfide mineralization can be preconcentrated by heavy media separation (HMS). In tests with a copper ore from the AMT Copper Creek project near San Manuel, Arizona, HMS preconcentration rejected about 75 to 80 percent of the feed as a minus 13 mm gravel. The HMS concentrates copper recoveries were about 93 to 95 percent. With the incorporation of HMS preconcentration, significant capital and operating costs savings have been projected for the proposed AMT Copper Creek concentrator. An overview of the HMS preconcentration step development for the AMT Copper Creek project is presented. Also presented are other potential applications of HMS preconcentration for copper ore processing.

Jan 1, 1999

By Saskia Duyvesteyn

Small ion-exchange resin particles provide faster mass transport than conventional-sized beads. Unfortunately, high pressures are needed to pump solutions through columns containing small resin particles. It is preferable to disperse fine resins in the solution being treated. Screens have been used to separate the resin from the solution, but screens do not retain fines created by attrition of the resin particles. We have developed a separation process based on flotation, which relies on the surface characteristics of the resin, instead of size. The resin is conditioned with a surfactant before dispersing it in the solution to be treated; this increases the hydrophobicity of the resin sufficiently for froth flotation, without introducing surfactant directly into the solution. The surfactant adsorbed on the resin surface does not appear to impair the kinetics of metal ion removal. A flowsheet for an effluent treatment process is proposed; other applications are clearly possible.

Jan 1, 1998

By Paul Pajunen, Michael Sheedy

"Acid separation using short bed ion exchange is a now well established technology in copper refinery tankhouses. Refinery bleed streams from liberator cells are treated by short bed systems to produce an acid-free byproduct stream that contains the bleed metals and valuable nickel salts. Removing the acid eliminates the need for a black acid evaporator and reduces the amount of sodium carbonate required in nickel selective precipitation processes. The recovered sulfuric acid can be recycled to the tankhouse. This same technology is routinely used to treat other acids such as hydrochloric, nitric, and hydrofluoric. In the case of hydrochloric acid, the process can selectively separate chloro-anionic complexes such as Zn, Pb, and Cu, which are then eluted with water. The acid recovery technology can also be closely coupled with ion exchange processes in order to minimize regenerant acid consumption. In many hydrometallurgical applications resin regeneration often requires an acid dosage multiple times the stoichiometric minimum. Coupling an acid recovery bed with the IX column allows recovery and recycle of the free acid in the spent regenerant, thus reducing the overall acid consumption to just slightly more than stoichiometric.Short Bed Ion ExchangeThe short bed ion exchange process has been extensively used in the metal finishing industries since the early 1970s [1,2]. Short bed systems have also been sold to primary metals producers for the separation of sulfuric acid from copper refinery bleed streams [3] and for the recovery of nickel and cobalt from plant effluent streams. This unique technology optimizes the ion exchange process and offers a number of significant advantages over conventional ion exchange. The principal features and benefits of this technology are presented below."

Jan 1, 2012

By Honorio Oliveros Gómez, Oscar Jaime B. Restrepo

"Colombia produces nine tons of electronic waste per year and there are approximately 60 tons accumulation generated in the last nine years. This work aims to establish a general methodology in the laboratory to recover gold, silver and platinum group present in electronic waste, also explore other forms of recovery of metals contained in electronic waste. We selected seven types of electronic cards present in the computers, which have their parent desoldering electronic components. Initially, we characterized the components of the cards through X-ray diffraction and SEM, to identify the metal species and composition. Tests were conducted laboratory hydrometallurgical recovery of metals. This paper proposes a methodology for laboratory-scale work.INTRODUCTIONColombia produces nine tonnes of electronic waste per year and build there in about 60 tons generated in the last 9 years [1], Computers, TVs, audio equipment, monitors, cell phones, remote controls, printers and operated toys battery, among others are part of this inventory, which mostly comes to landfills, because the lack of legislation to control the final destination of waste electrical and electronic equipment, and lack of efficient technologies to recover materials [2]. Under these circumstances which have environmental implications, technological and economic recovery is essential metals present in the electronic cards of computers, by hydrometallurgical with subsequent base metal electrodeposition [3]. Pyrometallurgical route is discarded by major implications for economic and environmental [4]. Recovery From this perspective, the determination of the metal fraction and the relationship between the different metals, using the SEM characterization techniques - BSE and XRD is indispensable [5] It follows with electrolytic dissociation processes in the leaching and electrodeposition [6], and unit operations in the laboratory to carry out successfully these processes on a larger scale. Were randomly selected computer twenty-four postcards for nine types of cards have different functions in the computer, which, through the absorption desoldering technique, they broke the resistance (thermal, surface, photoresist, power), capacitors (ceramic, electrolytic), diodes (silicon, germanium, high frequency), transistor (NPN, PNP), processors, integrated (high, medium and low frequency), the RAM card and pin parallel port serial"

Jan 1, 2011

By Laihua Wang, Peter Hayes, Hae-Geon Lee

"This paper introduces a new process for the efficient removal of dissolved gases and inclusions from liquid metals. This process involves the creation and dispersion of fine bubbles in molten metals by introducing inert or reactive gas into a region of turbulent flow. The highly turbulent metal flow splits the gas into fine bubbles and results in good mixing between the gas and molten metal phases. These conditions are ideal for contacting inclusions in the metal with the bubbles and subsequent flotation of the inclusions to the metal-slag interface where the inclusions are then absorbed by the covering slag layer. Dissolved gases, such as [H], [0], [N] in the metals are also transferred to the gas bubbles and removed from solution.The process concept has been previously demonstrated using a full-scale air/water model to simulate the ladle-to-tundish system of continuous casting of steel. The present cold modelling work has further demonstrated the ability of the process to remove gas solutes. The results indicate that the efficiency of new process is several hundred times greater than that of conventional high speed rotating injectors which are currently applied in the treatment of liquid light metals.IntroductionDuring metal smelting, refining and alloying processes, unwanted gas and second phase liquid or solid impurities are incorporated into liquid metals. In the case of steelmaking, the gas-forming impurities include [0], [H] and [N], and the solid impurities as a result of deoxidation include Ah03, Si02 inclusions. Common impurities in liquid aluminium are dissolved hydrogen and solid Ah03. To avoid subsequent problems during processing and to improve the physical properties of the metal products it is necessary to significantly reduce the level of impurities."

Jan 1, 1996

By Ron Bernard

HW Process Technologies has successfully developed and commercialized various applications utilizing Engineered Membrane Separation (EMS?) systems for the processing of acidic copper hydrometallurgical solutions and wastewaters. Copper hydrometallurgical EMS? applications include water balance control and increased copper concentration in heap and dump copper leach operations, tankhouse bleed stream treatment to separate/recover copper and cobalt from iron, and removal of PLS/Electrolyte suspended solids/colloids to eliminate "crud" formation during copper SX/EW. Similar applications are underdevelopment to provide ionic separations in copper refinery bleed streams, copper smelter acid plant streams, as well as organic/LIX removal from aqueous electrolyte and raffinate streams. Copper mine wastewater EMS? applications include treatment of copper leach solution contaminated groundwaters for copper recovery and treatment of unwanted heap/dump drainage to provide enhanced precipitation, a smaller precipitation plant, improved operating costs and better quality discharge water, particularly in terms of TDS and sulfates. A discussion of the EMS? technology and general separation results on typical process solutions and wastewaters will be presented. HW Process Technologies, Inc. commercial installations treating copper pregnant solutions and leach solution contaminated groundwaters are in-place at an old Asarco smelter/refining operation, Mexicana de Cananea copper mine, and a major U.S. copper mine, with several additional installations pending. Several case studies, including results from a selection of these installations, will be included with detailed capital, operating cost, and system payback data.

Jan 1, 1999

By Klara Kodrikova, Vera Kasparkova, Michaela Uhlirova, Karel Kolomaznik

"Potentially hazardous wastes from leather industry (blue shavings) are processed into various biostimulators within two steps. The first step takes place at high pH (11-12) and hydrolyzation is implemented with potassium alkali, in the second step the pH is lowered to 9 with phosphoric acid after enzymatic dechromation occurs. The resulting hydrolyzates were analyzed in the sense of molecular weight distribution and tested as biostimulators on rape (Brassica napus). The hydrolyzates can be also directly used as universal NPK fertilizers. It has been proved that the nitrate content in the edible parts of tested vegetables (radish, lettuce, and cucumber) was approximately 200 times lower compared to the vegetables fertilized with an inorganic nitrogen fertilizer. The harvests of vegetables fertilized with the hydrolyzate and the inorganic nitrogen fertilizer were almost the same.IntroductionDuring processing raw hide into leather (tanning processes), only 20% of the collagen material is used for the final product. The remaining 80% ends up as waste, both tanned and non-tanned. Non-tanned waste such as calcimine can be used for production of artificial collagen casings for sausages, gelatine and also in pharmaceutical industry as collagen capsulates. Further processing and recycling of tanned leather waste (especially chrome shavings) is more complicated. Although many technologies producing various quality collagen hydrolyzates have been developed and tested in laboratories, few have been implemented on industrial scale. A promising turn came in the works of ERRC USDA [1,2]. They worked out an enzymatic dechromation technology (hydrolysis) and achieved a considerable decrease of the amount of relatively expensive proteolytic enzyme, which solved the difference between the quality and price of the final product. The American experience of enzymic hydrolysis were applied on industrial scale in the Czech Republic, where a plant was built with daily processing capacity of 3 tons of chrome shavings. The experience of real operation was published in [3] and the cooperation between the Czech Republic and USA partners resulted in a patent [4]. The main asset of the patent was the use of volatile organic bases in the hydrolysis process giving high quality and cheap hydrolyzates with low ash content."

Jan 1, 2008

By Jian Wang, Hongyang Cao, Binxiu Wu, Junhong Li, Jimin Wang

"The enrichment and separation of scattered metal indium component in the pressure leaching solution with sulfuric acid from vacuum furnace germanium slag were studied by iron substitute and P204 extraction, which is supplied by shaoguan smelter. The experimental results show that the extracting power of P204 for indium from pressure leach solution is powerful. The optimal technological condition were the ratio of P204 and sulphonating serosene 3:7, phase ratio 1:3, solution pH 1.2, and extracting 5 minute. The enrichment indium solution of 21.7 g/L In at 95.2% recovery ratio was obtained by three-stage counter flow extraction and four- stage counter flow stripping.IntroductionScattered metals, such as Indium and germanium, were inriched as intermediate product or by-product during the metallurgy process of other non-ferrous metals, such as lead, zinc, copper and tin. For example, the indium and germanium were inriched in vacuum furnace germanium slag, which is the by-product of zinc vacuum distillation operation from hard zinc. It is difficult to recovery the indium from the vacuum furnace germanium slag, because the indium content is low, and the chemical composition and phase compositon were complex.Recovery indium from bearing indium zinc slag was researched extensively, such as pressure acid leaching, high temperature evaporation, solvent extraction method[l-7], acid leaching method has the advantages of high leaching rate, which can be separated hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and silicon fluoride acid systems. Solvent extraction method has the advantages of low production cost, fast reaction speed, high enrichment ratio, and simple operation."

Jan 1, 2013

By Z. Zak Fang, P. Fan, S. Middlemas

"Titanium dioxide (T1O2) has been widely used as pigment in paints, paper and cosmetic products, as well as high-tech applications such as PV Cells, semiconductors, biomedical devices and air purification. T1O2 pigment is primarily produced by the high temperature chloride process, resulting in considerable CO2 emissions. A novel hydrometallurgical process for making T1O2 pigment without direct CO2 emission is investigated. The new method promises to eliminate direct CO2 emissions, consume significantly less energy, and produce minimal environmental waste. The novel process involves molten salt roasting of titania slag, with subsequent washing, leaching, solution purification, hydrolysis, calcination and post-treatment stages, resulting in high-purity anatase or rutile pigments while realizing significantly reduced environmental impacts. Pigment whiteness is critically sensitive to trace amounts of discoloring impurities such as iron and chromium. Several methods for reducing the levels of these impurities are investigated. Energy consumption and emission models are also developed.IntroductionTitanium dioxide (T1O2) is one of the most commonly used minerals in the chemical manufacturing industry. It has been commercially processed since the early 1900's, and has a wide variety of applications. Pigment is used in paints [1], plastics and paper [2], sunscreen [3], cosmetics and even as a food additive [4]. T1O2 has also been used in photovoltaic cells [5], biomedical devices [6], and in air purification [7]. T1O2 pigment has a refractive index of 2.7, which imparts a high level of opacity (and hence whiteness) to whatever material it is added [8]."

Jan 1, 2012

By Line Hallgren

The fluid flow in the mold during up-hill teeming is of great importance for the quality of the cast ingot and therefore the quality of the final steel products. At the early stage of the filling of an up-hill teeming mold, steel enters, with high velocity, through the nozzle into the mold and the turbulence on the meniscus could lead to entrainment of mold flux. The entrained mold flux might subsequently end up as defects in the final product. It is therefore very important to get a mild and stable inlet flow in the entrance region of the mold. It has been acknowledged recently that swirling motion induced using a twist tape swirl blade, in the submerged entry nozzle is remarkably effective to control the fluid flow pattern in both the slab and billet type continuous casting molds, resulting in increased productivity and quality of the produced steel. From the above result, we propose, swirling flow generated through a swirl blade inserted into the entry nozzle, as a new method of reducing the deformation of the rising surface and the unevenness of the flow during filling of the up-hill teeming mold. The swirling blade has two features: (1) to generate a swirling flow in the entrance nozzle and (2) to suppress the uneven flow, generated/developed after flowing through the elbow. The effect of the use of a twist tape swirl blade was studied using both numerical calculations and physical modeling. Water modeling was used to assert the effect of the swirling blade on rectifying of tangential and axial velocities in the filling tube for the up-hill teeming and also to verify the results from the numerical calculations.

Jan 1, 2006

By M. A. Verhaege, Stanislav S. Naboychenko, Vladimir I. Skorohodov, Olga Yu. Goriaeva

A new technology for the processing of secondary raw materials containing precious and Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) has been designed at the Laboratory of Heavy Metals at USTU. The technology is based on hydrometallurgical processing of the materials followed by sorption separation of the PGMs from the leach solution. Different versions of the technology can be realised depending on the type of processed material but the fundamentals are similar. Some parts of the technology can easily be integrated into existing flowsheets. The stage of sorption removal of platinum and palladium was tested on the site of the Joint Stock Company (JSC) "Uralelectromed" on pilot plant scale. A process was developed to obtain fine gold, silver, platinum and palladium. No waste is produced because all solutions are recycled. There are no gas emissions. Selective sorption of platinum and palladium from silver-containing solutions is possible even if the concentration ratio of silver to PGMs is one thousand to one. Sorption behaviour of the PGMs as a function of the bulk metal concentrations was studied. Recovery of 90-95% of platinum and 70-80% of palladium is possible.

Jan 1, 2000

By Matthew Jeffrey

Due to the increasing environmental and public concerns over cyanidation, there has been a large amount of research into viable alternative lixiviants. Despite these studies, there is little published data directly comparing the kinetics of gold leaching for each of these alternatives: most of the literature is concerned with gold extraction from ores. This paper presents a detailed kinetic study of gold leaching in cyanide, armmonia/thiosulfate and chloride/hypochlorite solutions. The gold leach rates were measured using a rotating electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (REQCM). This instrument allows the mass of a gold sample to measured in?situ, with a sensitivity of less than 10 ng. From the results of these studies, it is possible to select experimental conditions where the leach rates of the alternative lixiviants are similar to that for the traditional cyanide system.

Jan 1, 1998

By Y. Fukunaka, M. Niinae, E. Kusaka, T. Kuzuya, R. Ishii

"Samarium oxalattr particles was precipitated in oxalic acid aqueous solution from samarium-loaded D2EHPA solution emulsified with a conventional impeller. The calculated fractional precipitation of samarium oxalate was reasonably compared with the value determined by chemical analysis. Morphological variation of oxalate precipitate particles was then examined with H2C2O4 concentration in aqueous solution, Sm(III) and D2EHPA concentrations in organic phase. The needle-like precipitate was identified as Sm2(C2O4)3 10H2O by XRD. Precipitates obtained at higher H2C2O4· or Sm(III) concentration greatly decreased the length of major axis of precipitate, while those at higher D2EHPA concentration increased it. The oxalate was further precipitated under ultrasonic irradiation. However, the morphological variation caused by theses processing variables was not so evident under ultrasonic irradiation as in an impeller or shaking mixer.IntroductionThe materials processing of the rare earth elements must be reviewed from the scope of industrial ecology, since they have the potential applications of magnetic materials as well as secondary battery in developing programs of the electric vehicle. The technological trend to develop the electric vehicle may greatly influence the concept of materials processing, since the global· environmental problem must accommodate with the sustainable development for mankind. The recycle design must be a key issue in the materials science and engineering.Solvent extraction provides a unique separation technology -in this sense. Doyle (1)(2) reported the integrating solvent extraction with processing of advanced ceramic materials, whose chemical composition and microstructure must be precisely controlled. In her paper, the higher productivity inherent to the present process superior to hydrolyzing metal alkoxides was emphasized. Oxalic acid has been used as precipitant for rare earth purification process, since rare earth oxalate has a very small solubility in water and can be easily decomposed to oxide. It is thus suitable for precipitation stripping agent in cationic exchange type extracting system (i.e. D2EHPA, VA-10, PC-88A and so on)."

Jan 1, 2000

By T. Kimura, H. Ohba

"Much effort has been made to reduce the energy requirement in zinc electrowinning. In order to keep energy consumption low, either to make cell voltage low or current .efficiency high is necessary. Decrease of cell voltage practically depends on how to reduce ohmic resistance in the electrolyte and the anode crust. To realize these, new concept was proposed and the pilot plant has been operated. The space between a cathode and an anode is halved by utilizing the frame insulator. With these frames the anodes and cathodes compose of a unit of electrodes, and this unit is handled by newly designed electrode handling machine (E.H.M.). The process includes lifting up electrodes, expanding the space between a cathode and an anode, cleaning them, stripping the deposited zinc and returning the unit to the cell. As a result, cell voltage is kept as low as calculated and predictable energy reduction has been achieved. IntroductionIn the recent trend of a rapid appreciation of the Japanese yen, Akita Zinc Refinery of Mitsubishi Metal Corporation has been confronted by problems of relatively high operating costs. In order to compete with other overseas zinc refineries, it is necessary to reduce the cost of zinc production, especially the cost of electric power which now accounts for .up to 35 % of the entire cost of production. Three fourth of the electric power used at Akita Zinc Refinery is for the electrolysis. Therefore it is extremely important to reduce the cost of electrolysis.There are two possible measures for solving the problem; one is to use more nighttime electricity taking the advantage of its inexpensive power price, and the other is to reduce electric power consumption.As a part of a rationalization plan carried out in 1986, Akita Zinc Refinery increased the number of operating cells. As a result, when nighttime electricity is used, the silicone rectifier has been able to operate at full capacity. Moreover, by new schemes of ""increase of area for electrodeposition by ralslng the liquid level of electrolyte"" and ""increase of the number of electrodes in each cell"", current density could be lowered and as a result, the electric power consumption has been improved. In order to raise nighttime ratio even higher, installation of an additional rectifier and cells would be required."

Jan 1, 1988

By K. Kashiwaya, N. Hiroyoshi, H. Furuya, N. Sumiya, M. Tsunekawa, M. Ito

"The number of hybrid vehicles is increasing and this is causeing an increase in waste nickelmetal hydride batteries. The cathode activating agent of batteries is made of nickel hydroxide and the anode activating agent is an alloy of nickel and rare earth elements. Conventional rotary kiln methods cannot recover the rare earth elements, and hydrometallurgical treatment of crushed product consumes large volumes of agent. The physical separation of the anode alloy from the cathode hydroxide would make it possible to reuse the alloy. The authors have reported separation of anode and cathode components in the large size fractions using a newly developed dry magnetic separation method. Wet magnetic separation has been applied to the powder fraction and about 90% anode purity was achieved. This paper reviews experimental results from previous publications and proposes an integrated treatment process for crushed nickel-metal hydride batteries.IntroductionEnvironmentally-conscious clean energy vehicles have attracted much attention in developed countries and particularly hybrid vehicles are increasingly mass-produced as low emission vehicles. Hybrid vehicles have both a gasoline engine and an electric motor to save on gasoline usage and a nickel-metal hydride battery is used to store electric energy. The battery contains Nihydroxide and Co as the cathode activating agent and an alloy of Ni and mischmetal (mM), a rare-earth element mixture consisting of La, Ce, and Nd, as the anode hydrogen adsorption component. In conventional recycling, the Ni and Fe are recovered with a rotary kiln-electric melting process and the Co and mM go to the slag component [1] and hydrometallurgical treatment of crushed product consumes large volumes of agent. Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation have proposed a low energy and low cost recycling treatment process combining the physical and chemical treatments and the authors are investigating the physical treatment process."

Jan 1, 2008

By K. Lillkung, O. Forsen, J. Aromaa

"The dissolution rates of Pt, Pd and Rh in 250 g/L NaCl solution were calculated from the current densities determined by polarization curves and potentiostatic measurements measured with wire electrodes at atmospheric pressure. The results achieved with the two methods were similar. The dissolution rates at the corrosion potential were in the order of few nanometers per hour. The polarization curves indicated that to achieve dissolution rates required for economical operation on an industrial scale, the samples need to be polarized to higher potentials. When polarized to higher potentials, the metal dissolution rates were in the order of micrometers per hour. As the Tafel slopes of the metal dissolution region are fairly steep, the potential affects the dissolution rate greatly. Based on the activation energies, the dissolution reactions were controlled by a charge transfer step.IntroductionPlatinum group metals (PGM) have some very unique properties such as their inertness, giving excellent corrosion resistance, and a high melting point. At the same time, these factors make the refining of these metals very challenging. The main applications where PGMs are used are different catalytic converters, mostly in automotive catalysts. The used catalysts are also an attractive secondary source of PGMs. The exact concentrations of PGMs in catalysts vary widely depending on the manufacturer, the age and the capacity of the catalyst. The concentration of Pt in a new catalytic converter range from 300 to 1000 ìg/g, Pd from 200 to 800 ìg/g and Rh from 50 to 100 ìg/g [1]. Precious metal catalysts usually consist of a coat of the metal supported on ã- alumina. The recovery of metals from automotive catalysts has received much attention during the last few years [1-3]. In the near future, the use of PGMs in fuel cells is predicted to increase the amount of secondary PGMs available [4]."

Jan 1, 2012