The copper electrolytic refining process usually includes anode processing, starting plate production, electrolysis, liquid purification and anode mud treatment. In the improved permanent cathode process, the production of the starting plate is eliminated.
The main process flow of copper electrolytic refining is as follows:
(1) Starting plate production.
The anode copper produced by fire refining in the seed plate tank is used as the anode, and the pure copper or titanium mother plate (now the titanium mother plate is commonly used) is used as the cathode. A direct current with a certain current density is passed to electrochemically dissolve the copper at the anode and precipitate a pure copper sheet on the mother plate. This pure copper sheet is called the starting plate. After it is peeled off from the mother plate, it can be used as the cathode for the production tank after flattening, embossing, nailing and other processing.
(2) Anode processing.
The process of milling the anode ear, flattening (or smashing), removing the burrs, and correcting the plate surface before installing the tank is called anode processing.
(3) Electrolysis process.
In the production tank, the same anode plate and the starting electrode produced by the seed plate tank are used for electrolysis to produce the final product – cathode copper (or electrolytic copper).
(4) Electrolyte purification.
The electrolyte needs to be regularly and quantitatively passed through the purification system to remove the increasing copper ions in the electrolyte and remove the excessive impurities such as nickel, arsenic, antimony, bismuth, etc.
