Abstract
Flash furnace electrostatic precipitator dust (FF-ESP dust) is a recycle stream in some primary copper production facilities. This dust contains high amounts of copper. In some cases, the FF-ESP dust contains elevated levels of bismuth and arsenic, both of which cause problems during the electrorefining stages of copper production. Because of this, methods for separation of copper from bismuth and arsenic in FF-ESP dust are necessary. Hydrometallurgical leaching using a number of lixiviants, including sulfuric acid, sulfurous acid, sodium hydroxide, and water, were explored. Pourbaix diagrams of copper, bismuth, and arsenic were used to determine sets of conditions which would thermodynamically separate copper from bismuth and arsenic. The data indicate that water provides the best overall separation between copper and both bismuth and arsenic. Sodium hydroxide provided a separation between copper and arsenic. Sulfurous acid provided a separation between copper and bismuth. Sulfuric acid did not provide any separations between copper and bismuth or copper and arsenic.
Highlights
Rio Tinto Kennecott Copper (RTKC) is a primary copper producer based in Utah, U.S Like many primary copper producers, RTKC utilizes a flash smelting stage in their process [1]
This work aims to determine the efficacy of utilizing various hydrometallurgical leaching lixiviants for separating copper from bismuth and arsenic in RTKC FF-electrostatic precipitator (ESP) dust without a precipitation stage
Caustic leaching successfully separates arsenic via leaching only arsenic under highly alkaline conditions
Summary
Rio Tinto Kennecott Copper (RTKC) is a primary copper producer based in Utah, U.S Like many primary copper producers, RTKC utilizes a flash smelting stage in their process [1]. During the flash smelting process, a portion of the input material is captured, as a dust, by the gases generated by the smelting reactions [2,3,4]. These gases must be processed prior to release in order to meet regulatory emissions requirements. One of the unit operations necessary for gas treatment is to separate the solid dust from the gases. This is accomplished using a waste heat boiler and an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) [4]. The separated material from the ESP is referred to as the flash furnace electrostatic precipitator dust (FF-ESP dust)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
