Industrial tests of composite porous Pb-Ag anode in zinc electrowinning plant

In this work, the frame structure composite porous Pb-Ag (0.8wt.%) anode with the size of 975 mm x 620 mm x 6 mm was fabricated by the semi-integral foaming process of counter-gravity infiltration and was endured a 16-day industrial test in zinc electrowinning plant in comparison to the traditional flat plate anode with the same size and alloy metals. The results show that, compared with flat plat anode, the composite porous anode can save the DC, reduce the anodic corrosion rate by 71% and then enhance the quality of zinc product, and inhibit the depletion of Mn2+ in electrolyte and then decrease the formation of anode slime by about 51.8%. Furthermore, the apparent porosity of composite porous anode was about 38%, which means an obvious reduction of capital cost for the electrowinning process.

Automated summary

Through industrial testing, it was found that the frame structure composite porous anode has advantages over the traditional flat plate anode in terms of saving DC, reducing corrosion rate, improving product quality, reducing the depletion of Mn2+ in the electrolyte, and decreasing the formation of anode slime. Furthermore, the apparent porosity of the composite porous anode leads to a significant reduction in capital cost for the electrowinning process.