Hydrometallurgy

Novasep Process, Applexion has played an important part in the development of ion exchange chemical engineering and has perfected a number of processes which have proven themselves in industry by their simplicity and economy. Some of the main applications regard: Recovery of nickel from secondary waste streams Purification of nickel solutions Purification of cobalt solutions Separation of precious metals and more …

The property of ion exchangers to concentrate and separate different ions contained in a solution takes on a new importance when applied to the elaboration of metallurgical products. The growing requirement of very pure metals in modern industry and the exhaustion of the rich ore deposits are forcing industry to treat the poorer ones often containing high quantities of impurities which are difficult to remove by the classical metallurgical processes.

 

The use of ion exchange resins is one of the processes which the metallurgical extraction industry has been able to apply economically to produce extremely pure metals from poor ones with a high impurity content.

 

 

One of the most interesting applications of ion exchange is the possibility to fix selectively on a resin bed a highly valuable material (Uranium, Cadmium, Nickel or precious metals...) dissolved in a large liquid stream normally going to waste. The material is stripped back into the process by using an existing solution and no external agent is necessary for the regeneration of the resin bed. The operational cost is therefore very low.