Cyclic electrowinning/precipitation (CEP) system for the removal of heavy metal mixtures from aqueous solutions.

The description and operation of a novel cyclic electrowinning/precipitation (CEP) system for the simultaneous removal of mixtures of heavy metals from aqueous solutions are presented. CEP combines the advantages of electrowinning in a spouted particulate electrode (SPE) with that of chemical precipitation and redissolution, to remove heavy metals at low concentrations as solid metal deposits on particulate cathode particles without exporting toxic metal precipitate sludges from the process. The overall result is very large volume reduction of the heavy metal contaminants as a solid metal deposit on particles that can either be safely discarded as such, or further processed to recover particular metals. The performance of this system is demonstrated with data on the removal of mixtures of copper, nickel, and cadmium from aqueous solutions.