Nodule Formation on Copper Electrodeposits in the Rotating Cylinder Hull Cell

Author

Joseph Bauer
Michael S. Moats, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow

Abstract

Nodulation formation during the electrolytic production of high-purity copper can lead to impurity entrapment and/or increased energy consumption. The rotating cylinder Hull cell (RCHC) was used to study copper nodule formation under mass transport conditions similar to industrial electrolytic copper production. The main advantage of the RCHC is that a wide range of current densities can be produced in a single experiment with well-defined mass transfer conditions. Visible nodule formation was observed at current densities greater than 250 A/m², which is an i_avg/i_L ratio of 0.30 for a simulated conventional electrowinning cell. Statistical analysis was also performed using the Weibull distribution to describe the increase in probability of nodule formation with the increase in current density. Introduction of a commercial electrowinning smoothing agent (Hydrostar 10) sharply decreased the total amount of nodulation, but did not eliminate it.

Recommended Citation

J. Bauer and M. S. Moats, "Nodule Formation on Copper Electrodeposits in the Rotating Cylinder Hull Cell," Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B: Process Metallurgy and Materials Processing Science, Springer, Jan 2022.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-021-02392-3

Department(s)

Materials Science and Engineering

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1073-5615

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2022 Springer, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

07 Jan 2022