METHOD FOR PURIFYING AQUEOUS PHASES IN HYDROMETALLURIGICAL EXTRACTIONS

摘要

A method in which a contaminated aqueous solutionproduced as a result of a hydrometallurgicalextraction operation is passed through a filtering bedmade up of hydrophobic materials, optionally ofdiffering sizes and shapes, formed from materialsincluding plastics and their derivatives,polypropylene, polyester, nylon, teflon, etc., so asto remove organic phase residues, solids, and othercontaminants therefrom. The method is complemented bya back wash stage using air and water to dislodge thecontaminants from the bed to permit subsequentcollection and/or treatment of these materials. Themethod exhibits technical and economic advantages thatare very significant in comparison to traditionalmethods.