RECOVERY OF COPPER FROM SOLUTIONS BY ROTATING FILM PERTRACTION

A liquid membrane (pertraction) process of copper recovery from dilute aqueous solutions is studied applying a rotating film pertraction tec hnique. LIX 65(R)N dissolved in C-10-C-13 normal paraffins is used as the carrier. A mathematical model describing copper transfer is propos ed, assuming that (1) the chemical reactions between copper ions and c arrier molecules take place in the aqueous solution layers adjacent to the membrane phase, and (2) both the reaction kinetics and the mass t ransfer of the solutes control the overall rate of the process, In ord er to evaluate the reaction rate constants and the coefficients of mas s transfer, the distribution coefficients for the active oxime carrier (m(HR)) and the copper-oxime complex (m(CuR2)) are obtained independe ntly. The effects of temperature and disc rotation velocity on the per traction rate are studied, as well as the possibility for the selectiv e removal of copper from a solution containing ions of several bivalen t metals. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.