Application of Electro-membrane for Regeneration of NaOH and H2SO4 from the Spent Na2SO4 Solutions in Metal Recovery Process

Abstract

Electro-membrane technology is a process for separating and purifying substances in aqueous solution by electric energy using an ion exchange membrane with selective permeability, such as electrodialysis (ED) and bipolar electrodialysis (BMED). Electro-membrane technology is attracting attention as an environmental friendly technology because it does not generate by-products during the process and the recovered base or acid can be reused during the process. In this paper, we investigate the principles of ED and BMED technologies and various characteristics and problems according to the cell configuration. In particular, by investigating and analyzing research cases related to the treatment of waste sodium sulfate (Na 2 SO 4 ), which is generated in large amounts during the metal recovery process.