Recovery of copper from industrial waste solution by cementation on reciprocating horizontal perforated zinc disc Original Research Article

Rates of Cu++ removal from waste solutions by cementation on a perforated reciprocating zinc disc were studied under different conditions of frequency and amplitude of oscillation. Disc pulsation was found to increase the rate of cementation by a factor ranging from 2.8 to 5.5 compared to cementation on stagnant disc, initial Cu++ concentration, temperature, disc diameter and hole diameter. The effect of temperature was found to fit Arrhenius equation with an activation energy of 2.95 kcal/mole which confirms the diffusion controlled nature of the reaction. Mass transfer study of the process has revealed that the data fit the dimensionless equation Sh = 89 Sc0.33.Re0.537(d/dh)−O.496. The importance of using the above equation in the design and operation of high productivity cementation reactor was pointed out.