Modelling the effect of temperature and time on the performance of a copper electrowinning cell based on reactive electrodialysis

A temperature- and time-dependent mathematical model for the operation of a laboratory-scale copper electrowinning cell based on reactive electrodialysis (RED) has been developed. The model is zero-dimensional. The cathodic reaction was copper electrodeposition and the anodic reaction was ferrous to ferric ion oxidation. The catholyte was aqueous cupric sulphate and the anolyte was aqueous ferrous sulphate, both in sulphuric acid. Catholyte and anolyte were separated by an electrodialytic anion membrane. The model predicts the effect of temperature and time on: (a) cathodic and anodic kinetics, (b) speciation of catholyte and anolyte, (c) transport phenomena in the electrolytes and (d) ion transport through the membrane. Model calibration and validation were carried out. Its predictions are in good agreement with experiments for: amount of deposited copper, amount of produced Fe(III) species, cell voltage and specific energy consumption.