Zinc Electrowinning Cell Voltage Monitoring and Influencing Factors Analysis AITranslate
Abstract AITranslate
At present，most enterprises use electrowinning process to produce zinc. In this process，the power consumption of electrolytic zinc accounts for a high proportion，and there are many influencing factors，so it is difficult to reduce the electrical energy consumption of this step. Under the background of energy saving and carbon reduction transformation in the non-ferrous metal industry and improving the utilization efficiency of energy resources，the zinc smelting industry undertakes the important task of saving energy and reducing production costs. The lead-zinc industry standard conditions require that the direct current consumption of electric zinc in the process of the enterprise is not higher than 3050 kWh·t−1，which makes it urgent to reduce electrical energy consumption. In the process of zinc electrowinning，reducing power consumption means that the cell voltage and the current efficiency of the cathode need to be strictly controlled. The ion concentration in the electrolyte has a great influence on the cell voltage and the current efficiency of the cathode，and it is difficult to eliminate. The influence of each ion on the cell voltage and the current efficiency of the cathode is also different. Ca2+ and Mg2+ are alkali metal ions. Calcium and magnesium salts make it difficult to separate and filter the pulp during leaching，and are easy to crystallize during the electrowinning process，which makes the equipment pipeline blocked，which mainly affects the viscosity of the solution and the resistance of the electrolyte. In the electrolyte，on the one hand，Mn2+ can make the anode surface form dense MnO2，which makes the electrode difficult to be corroded，therefore，it is necessary to add appropriate Mn2+ in the electrolyte. On the other hand，excessive Mn2+ in the electrolyte will aggravate the effect of oxygen evolution reaction and affect the quality of cathode zinc precipitation，which mainly affects the anode reaction and the side reaction in electrowinning. Too low concentration of Zn2+ in the system will cause concentration polarization near the electrode，and too high content will reduce the distance between ions，which will reduce the conductivity of the solution and eventually lead to the increase of the cell voltage. This phenomenon is contrary to the concentration of sulfuric acid. The higher the concentration of sulfuric acid in the system，the higher the conductivity of the solution，but at the same time，the higher concentration of sulfuric acid will aggravate the hydrogen evolution reaction and even dissolve the precipitated zinc. In this paper，the effects of different sulfuric acid concentration，zinc ion concentration，manganese ion concentration，magnesium ion concentration，calcium ion concentration，and electrolyte temperature on the cell voltage，cathode/anode potential，and solution resistivity in the process of zinc electrowinning were systematically studied. The experimental results showed that when other variables were constant，the cell voltage and cathode/anode potential decreased with the increase of sulfuric acid concentration. With the increase of Zn2+ concentration，the cell voltage and cathode potential of the system did not fluctuate significantly，indicating that Zn2+ had little effect on the cell voltage in this concentration range. In the experimental range，with the increase of Mn2+ concentration，the potential of cathode and anode gradually increased and then decreased，but the amplitude was different，and the cell voltage rose first and then decreased，the variation was within 20 mV. With increasing Mg2+ concentration，the cell voltage rose from 3.08 to 3.18 V，accompanied by a shift in the cathode potential from –1.55 to –1.6 V and an increase in the anode potential from 1.5 to 1.54 V. When the temperature continued to rise，the cell voltage decreased，and the cathode/anode potential changed less； the cell voltage and cathode/anode potential did not change significantly with the increase of calcium ion concentration. The experimental results showed that the satisfactory reaction conditions for zinc electrowinning in this electrolyte concentration range were as follows： H2SO4 concentration was 150 g·L−1，Zn2+ concentration was 40 g·L−1，Mn2+ concentration was 2 g·L−1，Mg2+ concentration was less than 15 g·L−1，Ca2+ concentration was less than 0.5 g·L−1，and electrolyte temperature was 40 ℃.
KeyWords AITranslate
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Basic Information:
DOI：10.13373/j.cnki.cjrm.XY23120006
Chinese Library Classification Number:TF803.21
Citation Information:
At present，most enterprises use electrowinning process to produce zinc. In this process，the power consumption of electrolytic zinc accounts for a high proportion，and there are many influencing factors，so it is difficult to reduce the electrical energy consumption of this step. Under the background of energy saving and carbon reduction transformation in the non-ferrous metal industry and improving the utilization efficiency of energy resources，the zinc smelting industry undertakes the important task of saving energy and reducing production costs. The lead-zinc industry standard conditions require that the direct current consumption of electric zinc in the process of the enterprise is not higher than 3050 kWh·t−1，which makes it urgent to reduce electrical energy consumption. In the process of zinc electrowinning，reducing power consumption means that the cell voltage and the current efficiency of the cathode need to be strictly controlled. The ion concentration in the electrolyte has a great influence on the cell voltage and the current efficiency of the cathode，and it is difficult to eliminate. The influence of each ion on the cell voltage and the current efficiency of the cathode is also different. Ca2+ and Mg2+ are alkali metal ions. Calcium and magnesium salts make it difficult to separate and filter the pulp during leaching，and are easy to crystallize during the electrowinning process，which makes the equipment pipeline blocked，which mainly affects the viscosity of the solution and the resistance of the electrolyte. In the electrolyte，on the one hand，Mn2+ can make the anode surface form dense MnO2，which makes the electrode difficult to be corroded，therefore，it is necessary to add appropriate Mn2+ in the electrolyte. On the other hand，excessive Mn2+ in the electrolyte will aggravate the effect of oxygen evolution reaction and affect the quality of cathode zinc precipitation，which mainly affects the anode reaction and the side reaction in electrowinning. Too low concentration of Zn2+ in the system will cause concentration polarization near the electrode，and too high content will reduce the distance between ions，which will reduce the conductivity of the solution and eventually lead to the increase of the cell voltage. This phenomenon is contrary to the concentration of sulfuric acid. The higher the concentration of sulfuric acid in the system，the higher the conductivity of the solution，but at the same time，the higher concentration of sulfuric acid will aggravate the hydrogen evolution reaction and even dissolve the precipitated zinc. In this paper，the effects of different sulfuric acid concentration，zinc ion concentration，manganese ion concentration，magnesium ion concentration，calcium ion concentration，and electrolyte temperature on the cell voltage，cathode/anode potential，and solution resistivity in the process of zinc electrowinning were systematically studied. The experimental results showed that when other variables were constant，the cell voltage and cathode/anode potential decreased with the increase of sulfuric acid concentration. With the increase of Zn2+ concentration，the cell voltage and cathode potential of the system did not fluctuate significantly，indicating that Zn2+ had little effect on the cell voltage in this concentration range. In the experimental range，with the increase of Mn2+ concentration，the potential of cathode and anode gradually increased and then decreased，but the amplitude was different，and the cell voltage rose first and then decreased，the variation was within 20 mV. With increasing Mg2+ concentration，the cell voltage rose from 3.08 to 3.18 V，accompanied by a shift in the cathode potential from –1.55 to –1.6 V and an increase in the anode potential from 1.5 to 1.54 V. When the temperature continued to rise，the cell voltage decreased，and the cathode/anode potential changed less； the cell voltage and cathode/anode potential did not change significantly with the increase of calcium ion concentration. The experimental results showed that the satisfactory reaction conditions for zinc electrowinning in this electrolyte concentration range were as follows： H2SO4 concentration was 150 g·L−1，Zn2+ concentration was 40 g·L−1，Mn2+ concentration was 2 g·L−1，Mg2+ concentration was less than 15 g·L−1，Ca2+ concentration was less than 0.5 g·L−1，and electrolyte temperature was 40 ℃.
quote
| GB/T 7714-2015 | [1] Tongjiang Tian, Weichun Shao, Enze Wang, et al. Zinc Electrowinning Cell Voltage Monitoring and Influencing Factors Analysis[J]. Chinese Journal of Rare Metals, 2025, 49(9): 1363-1375. DOI:10.13373/j.cnki.cjrm.XY23120006. |
| MLA | [1] Tongjiang Tian, et al., "Zinc Electrowinning Cell Voltage Monitoring and Influencing Factors Analysis." Chinese Journal of Rare Metals, vol. 49, no. 9, 2025, pp. 1363-1375, https://doi.org/10.13373/j.cnki.cjrm.XY23120006. |
| APA | [1] Tongjiang Tian, Weichun Shao, Enze Wang, Cunying Xu, & Qibo Zhang. (2025). Zinc Electrowinning Cell Voltage Monitoring and Influencing Factors Analysis. Chinese Journal of Rare Metals, 49(9), 1363-1375. https://doi.org/10.13373/j.cnki.cjrm.XY23120006 |
| IEEE | [1] Tongjiang Tian, Weichun Shao, Enze Wang, Cunying Xu, and Qibo Zhang, "Zinc Electrowinning Cell Voltage Monitoring and Influencing Factors Analysis," Chinese Journal of Rare Metals, vol. 49, no. 9, pp. 1363-1375, 2025, doi: 10.13373/j.cnki.cjrm.XY23120006. keywords: {zinc electrowinning;cell voltage;cathode potential;anode potential;solution resistivity} |