A Study on the Effect of Different Additives in Electrolyte in Zinc Electrowinning Process Using Taguchi Statistical Experimental Design Methodology

The main goals in zinc electrowinning process are decreasing of power consumption and increasing of current efficiency. In this study, the electrowinning of zinc in the presence of different additives in electrolyte were established and Arabic Gum, Gelatine, sodium lauryl sulphate and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate in the five levels using Taguchi method was examined. In our previous researches, using orthogonal array, effect of zinc electrowinning parameters such as anode type, current density, sulphuric acid concentration, temperature and zinc ion concentration was studied and the optimized conditions for zinc electrowinning was obtained. Anode composition: Pb-Ag 0.5%-Sn2%-Sb1%, current density (A/m(2)):500, acid concentration (g/l):165, temperature: 60 degrees C, zinc ion concentration (g/l):70. The main goals in zinc electrowinning process are decreasing of power consumption and increasing of current efficiency. In this research, the effect of four additives: Gum Arabic, Gelatine, sodium lauryl sulphate and an organic material in the four levels with Taguchi method was examined. In fact the effect of electrolyte environment and determining the best electrolyte under the optimized conditions is the main aim of this study.