Rotating Cylinder Electrode cells enable Geokinetics to recover high purity metal resources from contaminated sites waste streams. RCE's combine a rotating cathode to promote very high mass transfer and potentiostat control of the process. This controls plating conditions precisely so that very high purity metal dendrites can be produced.
Integral scrapers remove the deposits as a powder during continuous operation.
High purity dendritic powders of Zn, Cu, Fe and other metals command a significant price premium and are in short supply. High shear rate is used to control electrochemical conditions so that the maximum efficient deposition rate is achieved whilst at the same time minimizing secondary reactions. It is easily removed from the cathode surface as powder after which it can be separated from the electrolyte by mechanical filtering or cyclone processes. Removal occurs as an integral part of the RCE operation and does not require stripping out of cell components or mechanical fettling as with electrowinning, for example. Divided RCE's are used in flow processes, arranged in a cascade whereby each RCE element operates in a concentration reduction range as metal ion is sequentially removed.