Copper precipitation from copper sulphate solution

[sayf]

Hello every one , am wishing to extract copper also from waste boards
i incenerated sample boards just about 2 kilgrans of them and crushed them into tiny pieces
I leached the copper using a mixtuer of 0.5 M sulphuric acid and 0.8 M H2O2 at a temperature of 60 degrees and got fast great results
As copper has dissolved well and got blue solution of copper sulphate
Can any one tell me a cheap and easy method to precipiate metalic copper from the solution?

 

[FrugalRefiner]

I believe you'll want to electrowin the copper from solution. A search should get you started in the right direction.

Dave

 

[Lino1406]

Do the used copper boards contain another metal, e.g. tin? Lead?

 

[sayf]

Do the used copper boards contain another metal, e.g. tin? Lead?

No lino they contain only copper

I already removed tin by hcl and precipitated it by aluminum
I still need to precipitate the copper from copper sulphate

 

[Lino1406]

In this case - iron chips will do, but could you not incinerate the boards and melt directly?

 

[sayf]

In this case - iron chips will do, but could you not incinerate the boards and melt directly?

Well, i didnt think about that
But will it give me clean copper if done directly after incineration and tin removal?

 

[Lino1406]

Yes, pure copper

 

[J.Najam]

Hello all,

Recently I came across a video where it shows precipitating copper from copper sulphate using aluminum as the process is this :
1,
i, Dissolve 1kg product in 500 ml boiling water,
ii, Precipitate copper using aluminum,
2, Decant solution leaving precipitant behind
3, Distill the leftover to obtain Alum sulfate crystals
4, If decently profitable, I may upscale.

So the basic question is this,

Calculations : 107.92 grams of Alum from 1 kg CuSO45H20 would precipitate approx. 250 grams of copper

However, this link and one other shows in order to precipitate copper from 50 grams of cuso45h20, 4 grams of alum is required. I carried out the calculation and got 5.403 grams.


I was using the basic formula : weight of reagent / molar mass = Ans 1

Ans 1 X molar weight of precipitating agent would give me the required weightage of Alum to use.

What may I be doing wrong?

Any guidance would be highly appreciated

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hello all,

Recently I came across a video where it shows precipitating copper from copper sulphate using aluminum as the process is this :
1,
i, Dissolve 1kg product in 500 ml boiling water,
ii, Precipitate copper using aluminum,
2, Decant solution leaving precipitant behind
3, Distill the leftover to obtain Alum sulfate crystals
4, If decently profitable, I may upscale.

So the basic question is this,

Calculations : 107.92 grams of Alum from 1 kg CuSO45H20 would precipitate approx. 250 grams of copper

However, this link and one other shows in order to precipitate copper from 50 grams of cuso45h20, 4 grams of alum is required. I carried out the calculation and got 5.403 grams.


I was using the basic formula : weight of reagent / molar mass = Ans 1

Ans 1 X molar weight of precipitating agent would give me the required weightage of Alum to use.

What may I be doing wrong?

Any guidance would be highly appreciated

I can't see that buying a product and reverting it to a pre processed state can be done economically.

 

[J.Najam]

I can't see that buying a product and reverting it to a pre processed state can be done economically.

I appreciate your concern here, but its the calculation that has me wearing down. What am I doing wrong here is something I'm trying to figure out.

 

[Martijn]

You are dissolving aluminum with H2SO4, without it needing to displace copper. H2SO4 dissolves aluminum without the redox or displacement reaction. So stoichiometry does not completely apply here imo. Which reaction is favorable? Not sure. but i guess dissolving of aluminum.
Something to think of (which i do not know): does it take one Aluminum atom to reduce one Copper atom? Or is it a ratio 2:1 1:2 or 4:3?

 

[Martijn]

It's like cementing silver on copper with a 1Molar nitric solution.

 

[J.Najam]

It's like cementing silver on copper

Yes, its a displacement reaction like this, but since I know how much copper to expect and simultaneously knowing how much Alum is now in solution to ensure the output of Alum Sulfate by weight and concentration. Hence, the stoic is necessary ; waste reduction and estimated output.

does it take one Aluminum atom to reduce one Copper atom

The ratio I read is 2:3.

 

[murugan subramanian]

Hello all,

Recently I came across a video where it shows precipitating copper from copper sulphate using aluminum as the process is this :
1,
i, Dissolve 1kg product in 500 ml boiling water,
ii, Precipitate copper using aluminum,
2, Decant solution leaving precipitant behind
3, Distill the leftover to obtain Alum sulfate crystals
4, If decently profitable, I may upscale.

So the basic question is this,

Calculations : 107.92 grams of Alum from 1 kg CuSO45H20 would precipitate approx. 250 grams of copper

However, this link and one other shows in order to precipitate copper from 50 grams of cuso45h20, 4 grams of alum is required. I carried out the calculation and got 5.403 grams.


I was using the basic formula : weight of reagent / molar mass = Ans 1

Ans 1 X molar weight of precipitating agent would give me the required weightage of Alum to use.

What may I be doing wrong?

Any guidance would be highly appreciated

Please try this copper sulphate with table salt like 100gms cuso4 50gms table salt 200 ml water ...pour in aluminium vessle ...30 min you got 65% copper

 

[J.Najam]

Please try this copper sulphate with table salt like 100gms cuso4 50gms table salt 200 ml water ...pour in aluminium vessle ...30 min you got 65% copper

conceptually i'm reacting the copper with aluminium here... will it not corrode the vessel??

 

[Martijn]

conceptually i'm reacting the copper with aluminium here... will it not corrode the vessel??

Be carefull with advice from new members, they tend to leave out some details or be plain wrong!

Yes the vessel will corrode. Without copper as well. Now murugan did not advise a catch basin or a 20mm thick vessel, right?

Which was my point: you have two reactions going on:
1: copper salt being displaced by Aluminum, and
2: aluminum dissolving by H2SO4.
Which reaction is favorable and in what ratio do these two reaction take place? I do not know.
So as far as stoichiometry goes: all the aluminum you will add will dissolve until there is no more H2SO4 left.
All the copper you have in solution will displace until there is no more copper in solution.

what is the purpose of this experiment if i my ask?

 

[Martijn]

Please try this copper sulphate with table salt like 100gms cuso4 50gms table salt 200 ml water ...pour in aluminium vessle ...30 min you got 65% copper

Welcome to the forum, Murugan.

We tend to avoid giving this kind of advice: put this and that in a vessel, watch and step back!

We prefer to make our members understand what and why they are doing thing or do a bit of research on the known chemical reactions.

What do you mean with 65% copper? 65% of the lot, or 65% pure?

Details and disclaimers, or no advice at all, please!
We get a lot of monkey see monkey do here that needs attention after it's gone bad.

 

[J.Najam]

So as far as stoichiometry goes: all the aluminum you will add will dissolve until there is no more H2SO4 left.

This is almost exactly why the stoic is needed, so that the alum in solution isn't in high excess. Somewhere close to a little more than required to precipitate Cu would be good to ensure complete displacement, but not a whole lot. The figures I shared may not be a small difference on a small scale, but when calculated for large scale the 4g can become 400g(from the video) and 5.4g can become 540g. So, you can see that the difference isn't negligible.

what is the purpose of this experiment if i my ask?

Ill skim out the details and make the long story short : Found a reasonable supplier price wise for CuSo45h20, for product to metal conversion and the profit margin is somewhat okay to run a not so lavish lifestyle which is fine. But even for that, alum sulfate would be required to fatten up the margin to make it a more economical activity. Hence, why I'm simultaneously going through this mind boggling study and research of which vessels wouldn't react with heated Al2(SO4)3(aq) to distill and reuse the water. I came across fiberglass sheet and Teflon sheets but now I'm in the process of figuring out how they can be seamlessly applied to the inner side of a large steel dish (Boiler, Cauldron, Pot, Steamer, Teakettle, Vat and Vessel.). In order to retain the solution as well as for faster distillation since the industrial standard glass fused tanks doesn't seem like a viable option.

As per the italics if anyone knows a better solution, please do let me know.

 

[Martijn]

I would go for electrolysis to get copper metal and sulfuric acid.
So you are also aiming to make aluminum sulfate to sell? Do you have a buyer for that? And can you get it as pure as the customer needs? I'm sure you have that figured out.

Will the teflon lining hold up to the temperature needed for distillation? I think the teflon will insulate the heat and not heat the solution enough to make it dry and become to hot from the metal outside.

A glass evaporation oven tray can be refilled until dry. I use that to evaporate liters of weak sulfuric and copper sulfate. Or a corningware pyroceram dish should work. You could make a filtered ventilated box to keep dust out and evaporate in it.

 

[J.Najam]

I would go for electrolysis to get copper metal and sulfuric acid.

Honestly, this is the easiest but the commercial costs/unit electricity is unfortunately too high for economic viability.

So you are also aiming to make aluminum sulfate to sell? Do you have a buyer for that? And can you get it as pure as the customer needs? I'm sure you have that figured out.

Quite rightly so yes. I haven't searched for a buyer yet but I do have know that they sell. As for the purity, I haven't searched on how to check its purity but I would certainly know the Al concentration of the total output and based on that I may be able to pitch a product. This is where the stoic would be useful for % determination. So after a small scale test carried out, I'll have most of these answers.

Will the teflon lining hold up to the temperature needed for distillation?

I read the material as a heat transfer conductor, hence became an option. Please do correct me if I'm wrong here. Also what are your thoughts about fiberglass lining here?

glass evaporation oven tray can be refilled until dry. I use that to evaporate liters

It matters how big that tray is? how many liters? per day or per week? Because I'm thinking in terms of large scale if needed.

You could make a filtered ventilated box to keep dust out and evaporate in it.

May I know the reason for this please? I guess a visual here would be very helpful.