China Nonferrous Metallurgy

Anode passivation and floating anode slime are the main factors that affect the production of copper electrolytic refining, which will cause Weakening productivity, Increased power consumption, and the decrease in the quality of cathode copper. The main reason is that anode copper and electrolyte contain impurities. The formation mechanism of anodic passivation in the present literature includes: arsenic content can promote or inhibit anodic passivation; CuSO4 salt film formed on the surface of anode copper causes passivation; copper oxide and zinc powder together cause passivation; impurities Bi, Ni, Pb, Ag, Se, Te and O accelerate anodic passivation. As, Sb and Bi are the impurity elements with high content in floating anode mud, while Cu, Pb and Ag are the impurity elements with high content in normal anode slime. In this paper, the research results in this field are analyzed and summarized. The formation mechanism and control technology of anode passivation and floating anode slime in copper electrolysis are comprehensively introduced. The technical points of stabilizing copper electrolysis production and improving the quality of cathode copper are put forward.