Antimony (III) Removal from Electrolyte of Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex Refinery Using CEC370 and Purolite S957 Resins

The major goal of electric copper refinement is to manufacture high-purity cathode copper and minimize development expenditures. Elements (Bi, As, and Sb) have an adverse impact on the consistency of the ultimate cathode. Antimony is the key element in the moving sludge formation during the electrolysis phase. Increasing the electrolysis time increases the antimony content in the electrolyte and the cathode-based antimony toxicity. This research used CEC370 and Purolite S957 resins to isolate antimony (III) from the electrolyte. To evaluate the kinetics of the mechanism in static (discrete) conditions, pseudo-first and second-order, interparticle diffusion, and Elovich models were used. The results demonstrate that the pseudo-second-order model, with the greatest correlation coefficient (for CEC370 resin R²=0.991 and for Purolite S957 resin R²=0.997), can better estimate the kinetics of adsorption processes for both CEC370 and Purolite S957 resins. Furthermore, the results of the control phase of the ion exchange mechanism through the intraparticle diffusion models revealed that the phase of antimony (III) ions arrival at the adsorbent film occurred at the highest rank. This may be triggered mostly by the agitation of the solution. The slope the rating diagram (interparticle diffusion models) of CEC370 resin suggests a smaller adsorption rate than Purolite S957 resin. The saturation phase of Purolite S957 resin was achieved upon moving around 16 liters of electrolyte over the resin, and the saturation phase of CEC370 resin was achieved after moving about 10 liters of electrolyte over the resin in the ongoing process of antimony (III) elimination from the electrolyte (comprising 286 ppm antimony).