A thorough discussion on the heating methods for wet electrolytic copper solutions!
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Hello, teachers! I’m facing a problem now~~~ How can I solve the issue of heating the electrolyte in the wet electrolytic copper production process? 1: Indirect heating using steam; 2: Waste heat recovery. Option 2: Using solar energy~~~ 3: Heating with a hot water jacket~~~ Which method is better? What method are you using now? How is the heating area determined?
I am considering using hot water circulation for heating; I’m not sure if that’s feasible
Our factory uses steam, as our company has its own power plant that generates steam as a by-product.
The water jacket of our factory’s roasting furnace can generate steam, which is used for heating via plate heat exchangers. Due to the high demand for steam, we installed another system: one that produces steam by burning coal
The most cost-effective method is to use indirect heating with steam.
Is it possible to carry out copper electrowinning at room temperature? Everyone, let’s talk!
Agreed, we also use indirect steam heating. Electrodeposition generally requires heating; at low temperatures, ion migration is slow, which not only affects electrical conductivity but also leads to depletion and impacts surface quality
No heating is needed in summer; it needs to be maintained at 35–40 in winter
Heat with steam. Compared to other methods, it requires less investment and lower operating costs, while meeting the requirements of the production process.
In copper electrowinning, it is advisable to maintain a temperature of around 50 degrees during production. Since copper electrowinned metal generates little heat on its own, heating is necessary; typically, a plate heat exchanger is used for heating at the outlet of the high-level tank
Heating is generally achieved using a heat exchanger. Heating is quite important
The temperature requirements for electrowinning copper are not as high as those for conventional electrolysis, but heating is definitely better than not heating. The heating method should be chosen based on local conditions; the suggestions below are based on steam as the heat source. Heaters are generally divided into shell-and-tube, plate, and immersion types, all of which are made of titanium. Tube-type: Advantages include low leakage risk, low pressure loss in the tube side, and the ability to be installed at the outlet of a sump ； The disadvantage is low heat exchange efficiency, and scaling is difficult to remove once it forms. Plate type: Its advantage is that its heat exchange efficiency is nearly twice that of the shell-and-tube type; it is easy to adjust the area, and scaling can be easily removed ； The disadvantage is the high piping resistance; it must be installed on the pump’s head pipeline, and when selecting a pump, the required head should be about 10 meters higher than that for a shell-and-tube type pump. Submersion type: The advantages are decent heat exchange efficiency, no impact on the head pressure of acid pumps, and no scaling issue ； The disadvantage is that it needs to be installed in a sump; using the upper discharge method for condensate removal requires higher pressure, while the lower discharge method imposes stricter requirements on the corrosion resistance of the sump. Tubes at the liquid surface are prone to corrosion.
Thank you! If you have any better suggestions, please go ahead!
I have also done copper electrowinning; I heated it in a high-level tank
It is generally heated using steam; some manufacturers are also considering using waste heat for heating, but this is not common.
Plate heat exchangers are used in many places
I have used titanium plate heaters, titanium coil heaters, as well as titanium tubular filters. The simple and quick option is a coil. Plate-type heating has good heat exchange efficiency, but it is troublesome to disassemble and clean; tube-type systems also present difficulties in terms of pipeline cleaning