Studying electrical parameters of contact and contactless polarization of particles under the electrochemical treatment of mineral suspensions

Abstract

Introduction. Electrochemical treatment of mineral suspensions is used in electrochemical conditioning of flotation pulp and electrochemical dissolution of minerals and metals in the processes of gold-bearing products electrochemical chlorination. Research objective is to develop and implement the procedures for determining the values of the liquid phase resistance, contact resistance under contact polarization, and ion discharge energy loss resistance under contactless polarization of the electrically conductive part. Methods of research. Equivalent circuits of electrochemical processes have been built for various electrochemical cells. Circuits for various polarizations of electrically conductive particles are established. A formula is proposed for calculating the electrically conductive particle resistance through the electrical resistivity of a unit of volume. A procedure has been developed for calculating the liquid phase resistance through the resistance increment under changing distance between the electrodes. The contact area and pressure influence on the value of the contact resistance is studied through the contact of pyrite and chalcopyrite with an iron electrode. Results. When studying the electrical resistivity of the liquid phase, it was found that increased distance between the current-carrying electrodes leads to an equivalent increase in the liquid phase resistance. It has been established that increased pressure and contact area between the contacting particles and the current-carrying electrode results in decreased contact resistance. The contact resistance between the particle and the electrode in the electrolyte solution is much less than the contact resistance under dry surfaces contact. This phenomenon is explained by electrons tunneling through the electrolyte film. The obtained experimental data on the determination of the liquid phase resistance, contact resistance and ion discharge energy loss resistance make it possible to mathematically describe the processes of electrochemical chlorination under a large number of particles in the pulp. Conclusions and scope of results. Procedures have been developed and specific data have been obtained on the liquid phase resistance, contact resistance, and ion discharge resistance. They can be used for practical application when implementing electrochemical technologies for mineral suspensions treatment.