1. What is electrowinning?
Electrowinning is a process in which metal ions present in an electrically conductive solution are separated using a direct current. This is achieved when a direct current is applied across an anode and cathode that are submerged in an electrically conductive solution causing the metal to deposit on the cathode. We say that metals like these were electrowon.
2. Is it possible to improve the electrowinning process?
Luckily advances in electrowinning have overcome these problems. Vortex emew electrowinning technology offers an alternative approach to conventional electrowinning ensuring much better results. The emew electrowinning technology uses cylindrical cells in which the electrolyte is rapidly circulated past the electrodes at very high velocities which overcomes the issues associated with depletion zones, and enables depletion of metal to much lower concentrations while still achieving the highest purity of metal possible. On top of that, emew electrowinning cells are closed systems that completely eliminate acid mist and other noxious gasses making it a much safer place to work.
3. Which process is more frequently used, electrowinning or electrorefining?
Deciding on what process to opt for will depend on the situation. Electrorefining is used when an anode is cast from impure metal. Electrowinning is employed when the metal is already dissolved into solution, or when it is more feasible to employ a hydrometallurgical digestion step as opposed to casting impure anodes. Electrowinning can also be done on a smaller scale and for more niche applications. Both electrowinning and electrorefining can produce very high purity metals exceeding 99.99%.
4. Where can electrowinning processes be used aside from mining?
Electrowinning processes can also be used for wastewater treatment and general recycling. The principle is still the same, any impure material can be leached into a conducting solution, then the DC voltage is applied through the solution and the desired material can be extracted (of course, there are certain limitations such as metal concentration, temperature, acidity levels, chemical components, and more). When it comes to wastewater treatment, electrowinning is a win-win situation. Less soluble metals make their way to landfill along with the recovery of valuable metals which can be sold to offset the processing cost.
5. Why do we need electrorefining and electrowinning processes?
A lot of metals, especially non-ferrous metals, are hard to find in nature in their purest form. Usually, these metals are found in their mineralized forms, so they need to be reduced to their metallic forms for further usage. Electrowinning is both cost and energy-efficient way of doing this. This is why these are commonly used processes for pure metal production and recovery.
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