Cementation of copper on zinc in an unsubmerged jet reactor

Removal of copper by cementation on zinc disc from dilute copper sulfate solution in a recirculating batch reactor which consisted of a horizontal zinc disc impinged by an axial turbulent unsubmerged jet was studied. The effect of different parameters such as initial copper ion concentration, solution velocity, nozzle diameter, and the axial distance between the zinc disc and the unsubmerged jet on the rate of copper ion removal was investigated. The rate of cementation was found to increase with increasing both the solution velocity and the nozzle diameter and decreasing the axial distance between the zinc disc and the unsubmerged jet. The rate of diffusion-controlled cementation of copper ions was expressed in terms of the mass transfer coefficient, the data were correlated by a dimensionless correlation. The high rate of mass transfer of the jet reactor qualifies the reactor for diffusion-controlled heavy metals removal from wastewater and metallic coating by cementation.