Chemical Engineering December 2014 - 18

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of metal oxides (Ir or Ru, and Ta)
coated onto a Ti screen, explains Tim
Robinson, head of Outotec's Coated
Ti Anode business, in Phoenix. The
fully amorphous coating technology
is licensed from Doshisha University
(Kyoto, Japan; www.doshisha.
ac.jp), where the technology was
first developed by professor Masatsugu
Morimitsu. In the EW cell, the
coating on the anode lowers the O2
overvoltage compared to lead-based
anodes, thereby reducing the overall
cell voltage by up to 20% in the case
of a sulfate-based Cu EW process,
says Robinson.
The first commercial demonstration
of the alternative anodes has
been running since 2008 at a solventextraction,
electrowinning (SXEW)
copper plant in New Mexico. The
plant also was able to eliminate
the addition of cobalt sulfate to the
electrolyte solution, which had been
needed to prevent corrosion of the
lead anodes. Also, cell cleaning for the
removal of lead sludge was no longer
required. And lead concentrations at
the cathode decreased to below detection
limits, Robinson says.
Since the N.M. project, Outotec's
Ti anodes have been installed at
Cu EW facilities in Ariz. (2010)
and Chile (2011) - the plant in
Chile has 30,000 anodes. Two Cu
EW plants in Northern Mexico are
converting to the new anodes this
year in Sonora province. Outotec is
also working closely with Glencore
Kristiansand on the potential modernization
of the Cu EW plant in
Norway with the demonstration of
the coated Ti anode technology and
a focus on cell energy reduction,
and lead-free copper product at the
cathode, says Robinson.
Meanwhile, in 2010, Industrie De
Nora S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.denora.com)
started a program to develop
new anodes for Cu EW, based
on its DSA (dimensionally stable
anode) technology. " We are now at
the advanced phase of development, "
says Luciano Iacopetti, R&D
officer at De Nora. The new anode
offers an energy savings of up to
15% compared to conventional leadalloy
anodes, he says.
The company already has proA
push for electrochemistry
L
ast month, the first meeting of the Executive Board took place (after press time) for
the new industrial consortium, Electrochemical Pathway for Sustainable Manufacturing
(EPSuM)- an 18-month project supported under the Advanced Manufacturing
Technology Consortia (AMTech) Program of the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST; Gaithersburg, Md.; www.nist.gov). The executive committee
has members from Bayer MaterialScience, The Dow Chemical Company and Faraday
Technology, Inc. as well as the president of the Electrochemical Society, and is headed
by Gerardine Botte, the Russ Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biomolecular Engineering
at Ohio University (Athens; www.ohio.edu), the founder of the university's
Center for Electrochemical Engineering Research, and the founder and director of the
National Science Foundations's Center for Electrochemical Processes and Technology
(CEProTECH; www.ceprotech.com). In addition to the executive committee, the following
companies are part of the EPSuM advisory board: Dupont, Owens Corning, IBM, Valvoline,
IGS Energy, De Nora, Archer Daniels Midland, PolyOne, GrapTech International
Holdings, Inc., and Sherwin Williams.
The newly forming consortia aims to develop a technology roadmap to support, sustain
and enhance U.S. manufacturing capacity in the CPI through innovative processes
that utilize electrochemical science and technology. The goal is to determine what the
critical needs in industry are, and prioritize where the R&D and funding should go,
explains Botte. Except for batteries, it seems that many in the U.S. have abandoned
electrochemistry, she laments. " We want to put electrosynthesis back on the map. "
The first EPSuM workshop takes place December 16 at the Sherwin Williams R&D Center
in Cleveland (for more information, see www.ceprotech.com/epsum-workshop). ❏
duced and sold DSA anodes for Ni
EW from a chlorine leach process
since 1972, in addition to anodes
and patented coating formulation
applications for the production of
Cu foils and printed circuit-boards
used in the electronics industry.
" Cu EW is the ultimate challenge, "
explains Iacopetti, " because reliability,
stability and energy efficiency
are not only important, but
must be proven. "
Drawing on its 40 years experience
in coating Ti anodes, De Nora
has developed a novel mixed-metaloxides
(MMO) coating with improved
catalytic activity gained by
Metal powder
Filter
AI3+
eAI3+
Power
supply
eAICI3
Metal
ore
(Anorthosite)
Acid
digester
Overall: AICI3
AI3+
+ 3
/2
CI2
+3e- (1.36V)
Recycled Acid Solution
AI 3
/2
CI2
(3.07V)
Chlorine gas
Gas Technology Institute
Figure 2. By avoiding the use of molten salts, this Al-production process can operate
at room temperature, thereby slashing energy consumption
18 ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com DeCemBer 2014
AI3+
AI3+
AI3+
AI3+
AI3+
AI3+
AI3+
AI3+
AI3+
AI3+
Bipolar
membrane
AI3+
Anode
+ 3eAI
(-1.71V)
Cathode
modifying the crystalline lattice
and reducing the crystalline size,
without changing the thermal-production
conditions used in the coating
process, explains Iacopetti.
De Nora is currently conducting
field demonstrations of its new
anode technology, using an industrial
tank cell (such cells typically
contain 60-100 anodes), and anodes
with an area of 2 m2. Already the
anodes have been shown to have an
average voltage savings of 300 mV
over Pb-alloy anodes, and no drift
in voltage observed, even after one
year of operation in the industrial
electrolyte, says Iacopetti. The goal
Organic Metal
chloride solution

http://www.nist.gov http://www.doshisha http://www.ac.jp http://www.ohio.edu http://www.ceprotech.com http://www.ceprotech.com/epsum-workshop http://www.de http://www.nora.com http://www.Chemengonline.Com

Chemical Engineering December 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering December 2014