Measurement of Cathode Mass Transfer Coefficients in Electrowinning Cells

Abstract

A recently developed, simple technique for determining cathode mass transfer coefficients in full scale electrowinning cells is discussed. The approach involves the determination of the limiting current for mass transfer controlled codeposition of silver in the cathode deposit. A rotating disk electrode was used to establish the validity of the method. Examples demonstrate the usefulness of the method for mapping local values of the mass transfer coefficient on the cathode under typical natural and forced convection flow regimes in electrowinning cells.