Summary for nickel and tin recovery Discussion
Nickel and tin recovery from waste is discussed as a chemistry problem rather than an electroplating one. Wan Rozina asked whether nickel sludge could be leached with sulfuric acid and then precipitated with sodium hydroxide to make a high-concentration nickel hydroxide, and whether the same approach would work for tin sludge. Gene Packman cautioned that a recovery plant should have access to a chemist for safe operation. Lyle Kirman gave the clearest technical guidance: if the sludge is tin hydroxides mixed with other metal hydroxides, hot sodium hydroxide will dissolve the tin and leave most other metals behind, and tin can then be electrowon from that solution. The thread does not provide a direct answer for nickel beyond the original proposed acid-leach/caustic-precipitation idea, and it suggests tin may require a different treatment route than nickel.
Q. I am a new recovery plant in Malaysia. Actually we want to recover nickel. Instead of using electroplating, can I leach out the nickel sludge by using sulfuric acid and then precipitate out using sodium hydroxide to get high concentratration of nickel hydroxide?
Also, same for tin sludge, can I use the same method as for nickel? Or does tin need another acid to leach out?
Wan Rozina
resources conservation – Selangor, Malaysia
2006
A. I find it hard to believe that your company does not have a chemist on staff or access to someone with this knowledge. It would seem that this would be a necessity for safe operation in your chosen field of endeavor.
Gene Packman
process supplier – Great Neck, New York
2006
Gene is reliably helpful — I think we caught him on a bad day :-)
We’re working hard to build a technical resource here, not shame people away from contributing to it. An inquirer might well hold a PhD in chemistry, have other chemists working for him, already have proven his theory in the lab — and yet still be looking for practical input from his peers. For example, while nickel and tin can be dissolved in acids, there might be a fufu juice that can be tweaked in which improves some aspect of the recovery process.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
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A. If the sludge is tin hydroxides mixed with other metal hydroxides, then hot sodium hydroxide will dissolve the tin and leave most of the other metals in the sludge. It is possible to electrowin tin from this solution.
Lyle Kirman
consultant – Cleveland Heights, Ohio
2006
Q. I’m looking for some ideas about recovering nickel and tin from some solutions that have been used in circuit making.
Dhumketu shah
– baroda,gujarat, India
September 6, 2008