Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Canada is a major producer of base metals, such as zinc, copper, nickel, and cobalt, that are typically produced electrolyticly by electroplating the dissolved metals from aqueous electrolytes in large rectangular tanks in which alternating plate shaped anodes and cathodes are suspended in a parallel circuit arrangement. This process is called electrowinning, EW. Since metal deposition proceeds by the passage of electrical current, an even distribution of current to each of the cathodes and over their respective surfaces is desired to deposit metal of uniform thickness and quality. Though firmly entrenched in the base metal production industry, these reactors suffer from inherent problems in current distribution due to wrap-around currents at electrode edges and the presence of gas bubbles in the electrolyte. The short-term goal of the research is to design easy to implement modifications to enhance the current distribution within existing EW reactors to increase their productivity. The ultimate goal is to increase our fundamental knowledge of EW processes in order to design better reactors that will lower the energy requirements for the electrolytic production of base metals. The scientific approach will be both fundamental and applied in nature. In order to assist in the design modification to EW reactors, a computer program will be generated to simulate EW reactors. Once a design modification has been tested using the computer model, laboratory experiments using zinc EW as the model process will be conducted in order to validate and refine the predictions of the computer model. The validated model will be used to refine design changes which will be retrofitted into existing industrial EW cells.