JSC “Gintsvetmet” Institute, Moscow, Russia:
E. I. Gedgagov, Head of Laboratory of Metallurgy and Dressing, e-mail: egedgagov@gmail.com

PLC “KazGidroMed”, Karaganda, Kazakhstan:
S. V. Zakharyan, Deputy Head of Research Laboratory, e-mail: szakharyan@yandex.ru
I. V. Terenteva, Geology, e-mail: irina_ter64@mail.ru
A. U. Serikbay, Research Engineer of Research Laboratory, e-mail: shakeev1986@mail.ru

A technology for fine cleaning of cobalt solutions from nickel and accompanying metal-impurities was developed. It is based on usage of chelating sorbent with a high selectivity as regards nickel cations in solutions with a predominant nickel concentration. The article presents the results of laboratory and pilot tests of the process of fine cleaning of sulphuric- and nitrogen acid cobalt solutions from nickel impurities by using chelating sorbent. It was shown that the weakly basic anionite Lewatit MonoPlus TP 220 with functional groups of bis-picolylamine and additional modification guarantees the desired level of removal of nickel. The basic parameters of the dynamic version of the cleaning process were determined: throughput rate of the solution, run through the dense layer of ionite, is 4–12 specific volumes per hour, temperature is 20–30 ^оС, size of sorbet’s grains is 0.5 mm. It was shown that the maximum level of cleaning of cobalt solution from nickel impurity is reached when pH is 0.65–2.2. The influence of cobalt concentrate in the cleaned solution on the length of the elution curve’s refining section during sorption of nickel was also determined. Kinetic researches have determined a high speed of reaching the balance in the ionite – solution system, which is reflected on elution curve’s slope angle during sorption of nickel from a technological solution. The conditions of displacement flushing for removal of saturated ionite from cobalt macro-cation were developed. It is carried out by applying the method of so called frontal-gradient cleaning of the direct phase of the saturated ionite. This technique enables a quantitative removal of metalimpurities from the phase of chelating ionite. The conditions of desorption of nickel with saturated anionite and reaching a low residual capacity in the resin after desorption were proposed. It enables a multiple usage of the same batch of sorbent. A two-stage counter-current process of a sorption removal of nickel was developed. It is based on the dynamics of sorption in the dense layer of ionite which guarantees the desired cleanness of compound cobalt products. Columns with an immovable layer of sorbent were proposed as devices for a sorption cleaning method. They guarantee minimal losses of sorbent in the process of repeated sorption – desorption cycles.

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