Recovery of Lead from Lead Chloride by Fused-Salt Electrolysis.

摘要

The electrochemical reduction of lead chloride (PbCl2) was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Mines as a method for producing lead without the pollution problems associated with smelting. It was determined that high-purity metal (99.9pct Pb) could be obtained in this way,using PbCl2prepared by ferric chloride leaching of galena concentrate. Optimum results in small-scale electrolytic tests were achieved with a bath consisting of 40-70 PbCl2dissolved in KCl/LiCl eutectic,and operating temperature of 450C, a current density of 2.5amp/in,and an electrode spacing of 0.5inch. In large-scale tests made to develop a cell design for commercial application,the optimum electrode arrangement proved to be a bipolar configuration with horizontal plates. This gave a current efficiency of 86pct with an energy requirement of 0.52kW-hr/lb lead.