Reduction and deposition of arsenic in copper electrolyte

The influences of temperature, H2SO4 concentration, CuSO4 concentration, reaction time and SO2 flow rate on the reduction of arsenic(V) with SO2 were studied and the deposition behavior of arsenic (III) under the effect of concentration and co-crystallization was investigated in copper electrolyte. The results indicate that reduction rate of arsenic (V) decreases with increasing temperature and H2SO4 concentration, but increases with increasing SO2 flow rate and reaction time, and it can reach 92% under appropriate conditions that reaction temperature is 65°C, H2SO4 concentration is 203 g/L, CuSO4 concentration is 80 g/L, reaction time is 2 h and SO2 gas flow rate is 200 mL/min. To remove arsenic in the copper electrolyte, arsenic (V) is reduced to trivalence under the appropriate conditions, the copper electrolyte is concentrated till H2SO4 concentration reaches 645 g/L, and then the removal rates of As, Cu, Sb and Bi reach 83.9%, 87.1%, 21.0% and 84.7%. The XRD analysis shows that crystallized product obtained contains As2O3 and CuSO4·5H2O.