RECOVERY OF COPPER FROM AMMONIACAL SOLUTIONS BY ROTATING FILM PERTRACTION

A new bulk liquid membrane process for recovery of copper from dilute ammoniacal leach solutions has been studied. Copper was extracted and concentrated by means of a rotating film pertractor using LIX(R) 54 as carrier. Assuming the existence of two thin reaction layers in the feed and strip solutions, adjacent to both water-oil interfaces, a mathematical model was developed to describe the copper transport. On the basis of the experimental data obtained under various conditions and the model proposed it was found that the extraction step is controlled mainly by the mass transfer resistance, whereas the stripping mte of copper is controlled simultaneously by the rate of the mass transfer and the rate of copper-complex decomposition in the stripping side reaction layer.