The GENIALL process for generation of nickel-iron alloys from nickel ores or mattes

摘要

A new process, called GENIALL (acronym of Generation of Nickel Alloys), for nickel recovery as ferronickel alloys from ores or mattes without previous smelting is presented in this paper. Its core technology is a new electrolytic concept, the ROSEL~R cell, for electrowinning of nickel-iron alloys from concentrated chloride solutions. In the GENIALL Process the substitution of iron-based solid wastes as jarosite, goethite or hematite, by saleable ferronickel plates provides both economic and environmental attractiveness. Another advantage is that no associated sulfuric acid plant is required. The process starts with leaching of the raw material (ores or mattes) with a solution of ferric chloride. The leachate liquor is purified by conventional methods like cementation or solvent extraction, to remove impurities or separate by-products like copper and cobalt. The purified solution, that contains a mixture of ferrous and nickel chlorides is fed to the cathodic compartment of the electrowinning cell, where nickel and ferrous ions are reduced together to form an alloy. Simultaneously, ferrous chloride is oxidized to ferric chloride in the anodic compartment, from where it is recycled to the leaching stage. The new electrolytic equipment has been developed and scaled up from laboratory to pilot prototypes with commercial size electrodes of 1 m~2. Process operating conditions have been established in continuous runs at bench and pilot plant scale. The technology has shown a remarkable capacity to produce nickel-iron alloys of a wide range of compositions, from 10 percent to 80 percent nickel, just by adjusting the operating parameters. This emerging technology could be implemented in many processes in which iron and other non-ferrous metals are harmful impurities to be removed, or valuable metals to be recovered as a marketable iron alloy. Other potential applications of this technology are regeneration of spent etching liquors, and iron removal from aqueous effluents.