Anodic oxygen recovery in nickel and cobalt sulphate electrowinning for reuse in the leaching step

The use of anode and cathode bagging technology is becoming increasingly popular in electrowinning facilities around the world, and offers a number of benefits. These include increased current efficiency and control of acid mist. However, at times, these benefits alone are insufficient to justify the capital commitment needed to modify existing infrastructures to accommodate the longitudinal-pairing arrangement and/or cell modifications required for the anode and cathode bagging technology to work. This paper explores the technical feasibility of a potential added benefit through recovery of oxygen-rich gases generated at the anode for reuse within the process flow sheet. (author)