Ultra fast microwave-assisted leaching for the recovery of copper and tellurium from copper anode slime

Abstract

The decomposition of copper anode slime heated by microwave energy in a sulfuric acid medium was investigated. Leaching experiments were carried out in a multi-mode cavity with microwave assistance. The leaching process parameters were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). Under the optimized conditions, the leaching efficiencies of copper and tellurium were 99.56% ± 0.16% and 98.68% ± 0.12%, respectively. Meanwhile, a conventional leaching experiment was performed in order to evaluate the influence of microwave radiation. The mechanism of microwave-assisted leaching of copper anode slime was also investigated. In the results, the microwave technology is demonstrated to have a great potential to improve the leaching efficiency and reduce the leaching time. The enhanced recoveries of copper and tellurium are believed to result from the presence of a temperature gradient due to the shallow microwave penetration depth and the superheating at the solid-liquid interface.

Keywords

copper anode slime / leaching / microwave heating / sulfuric acid / response surface experiments

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