Artículo de revista
Kinetics of copper removal from acidic mine drainage by a liquid emulsion membrane
Fecha
2005-11Autor
Valdivia Hepp, Juan
Rogan Castillo, José
Muñoz Gálvez, Víctor
Gomberoff, L.
Klimas, A.
Vassiliadis, D.
Uritsky, V.
Sharma, S.
Toledo Cabrera, Benjamín
Wastavino, L.
Institución
Resumen
Copper was removed from an acidic mine drainage (AMD) using a liquid emulsion membrane contactor. The acidic drainage was a harmful natural acidic solution generated by bioleaching and chemical leaching of copper and iron sulfides, with average pH between 2 and 4. Normally the content of copper in AMD is low, which makes its recovery by SX uneconomical. The kinetics of copper removal in a stirred transfer cell was studied, using a salicylaldoxime as mobile carrier extractant and Span-80 as surfactant. It was found that the initial extraction rate of copper was affected by the carrier concentration in the liquid membrane and by the pH and metal content in the mine water. A minimum content of surfactant in the organic phase was required to stabilize the emulsion. A transport mechanism based on a diffusion model, which includes the extraction chemical reaction between the metal and the carrier extractant is discussed.