Adsorption Capacity of Organic Compounds Using Activated Carbons in Zinc Electrowinning

The influence of adsorbate (D2EPHA and kerosene) on the process of zinc electrowinning from sulfuric acid electrolytes was analyzed. The main objective was to critically compare three factors: (1) Three types of activated carbon (AC); (2) adsorption temperatures and contact time; and (3) zinc recovery efficiency. The results showed that organic components reduced the efficiency of zinc recovery. Moreover, wood-based ACs had a higher adsorption capacity than coal- and coconut-based ACs. To maintain a removal efficiency of 99% or more, wood-based ACs should constitute at least 60% of the adsorbate. The temperature of adsorption did not affect the removal efficiency. Additionally, the feeding rate of adsorbate in the solvent was inversely proportional to the removal efficiency. A feeding rate of the liquid pump of over 3 mL/min rapidly increased the delta pressure. For the same contact time, 99% of adsorbate removal occurred at 1 mL/min compared to approximately 97% at 0.5 mL/min. In the presence of 100 mg/L zinc, with increasing adsorbate from 0–5%, the recovery efficiency of zinc decreased from 100% to 0% and the energy consumption increased from 0.0017–0.003 kwh/kg zinc. Considering the energy consumption and zinc deposit mass, 0.1% of the adsorbate is recommended for zinc electrowinning.