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Hydrometallurgy

  • 1st Edition - February 1, 2019
  • Latest edition
  • Author: Frank K. Crundwell
  • Language: English

Hydrometallurgy describes the aqueous chemistry, thermodynamics, kinetics, reactor design and engineering of extracting metals by hydrometallurgical routes. The book includes… Read more

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Description

Hydrometallurgy describes the aqueous chemistry, thermodynamics, kinetics, reactor design and engineering of extracting metals by hydrometallurgical routes. The book includes the techniques by which gold, copper, nickel, cobalt and the platinum-group metals are produced as highly-pure metals to meet the exact needs of the market. In addition, the book covers the scientific and engineering principles of these types of processes, the industrial practice used to produce such high-value metals, and the factors that make these processes so successful. Finally, the recovery of valuable metals through recycling of waste materials is discussed.

Key features

  • Presents a clear introduction for students and engineers, describing individual unit operations, eg Leaching, dissolution, digestion, electrowinning, electrorefining, solution purification, precipitation and solvent extraction
  • Provides a quick reference on the basics of metallurgy, including the chemistry, modeling and design of hydrometallurgical processes
  • Outlines the design of flowsheets, a topic not covered in academic studies, but necessary for the design of working process

Readership

Metallurgical engineers, mining engineers, chemical engineers, chemists and all studying and doing research on metallurgical engineering topics

Table of contents

Part 1 Foundations

1. Introduction

2. Chemistry

3. Thermodynamics

4. Kinetics

5. Reaction engineering

Part 2 Unit Operations

6. Leaching

7. Precipitation

8. Solvent Extraction

9. Carbon Adsorption

10. Electrowinning and Electrorefining

11. Crystallisation

12. Heap leaching

13. Bacterial Leaching

Part 3 Process Design

14. Principles of circuit design

15. Mass and energy balances

16. Effect of kinetics and thermodynamics on circuit performance

Part 4 Environmental

17. Water management

18. Energy management

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: January 1, 2030
  • Language: English

About the author

FC

Frank K. Crundwell

Frank K. Crundwell is Director of Crundwell Metallurgy Limited, London, UK, CM Solutions (Pty) Ltd and is a Visiting Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He has worked in research institutes, industrial refineries, academia and consultancies. He founded CM Solutions back in 2002, a sustainable laboratory and consultancy to the metallurgical industry. It develops flowsheets for a large variety of metals, such as copper, cobalt, gold platinum-group metals, nickel, and zinc, with a current focus on high purity products. Frank has more than 40 years’ experience in studying dissolution reactions, and more than 70 publications in the area. He has been awarded the Milton E. Wadsworth Award of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration for “innovative, rigorous contributions that have enhanced fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of oxidative and non-oxidative leaching of minerals including sulfides, oxides and silicates”. He was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering (US) for this work.

He has contributed to and solved several debates in the field: (i) how bacteria interact with minerals, (ii) mechanisms of quartz and silica dissolution (iii) how impurities impact dissolution. In addition, he has contributed to the electrochemical theory of dissolution, extending it to apply to dissolution of semiconductors. He previously co-authored the Elsevier book Extractive Metallurgy of Nickel, Cobalt and Platinum Group Metals (2011) with Michael Moats, Venkoba Ramachandran, Timothy Robinson, and W. G. Davenport.

Affiliations and expertise
Director, Crundwell Metallurgy Limited, London, UK and CM Solutions (Pty) Ltd, South Africa; Visiting Professor, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa