Recovering Nickel
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If your objective is simply to remove it so you don't discharge it with the solution, it will precipitate on scrap steel, although it's slow to come down. All copper will precipitate first, then the nickel. I have no clue how to recover it in such a way as to make it marketable.
Harold
Harold
Badastro.
In what quantity is it carcinogenic? In what form? Under what conditions? Can you name any chemical that isn't carcinogenic or lethal, in certain quantities? If you drink 35# of water, there's a 50% chance of your dying. Everything we do or use is dangerous. Nickel is way down the list. Everything is poisonous. Look at the stuff under your sink. The trick is to learn to work with it safely and not to harm ourselves and anyone else, which is 100% possible. It's all dangerous. Just keep it out of your mouth.
In what quantity is it carcinogenic? In what form? Under what conditions? Can you name any chemical that isn't carcinogenic or lethal, in certain quantities? If you drink 35# of water, there's a 50% chance of your dying. Everything we do or use is dangerous. Nickel is way down the list. Everything is poisonous. Look at the stuff under your sink. The trick is to learn to work with it safely and not to harm ourselves and anyone else, which is 100% possible. It's all dangerous. Just keep it out of your mouth.
Please don't.
Of course you are right. Nickel salts are carcinogenic. But, so are many chemicals that we all use in our everyday life. I was surprised to learn that even wood dust was a carcinogen. The coins that we handle everyday contain nickel. The outer portion of dimes and quarters are 25% nickel. We ingest nickel in all the food we eat. The gov allows up to 1/10 ppm nickel in bottled water. The most common plated metal is nickel. It is commonly plated from large vats (often, 1000 gallons, or more) of solution containing 1/2 pound of nickel per gallon. People work around these nickel tanks all day long, in a safe manner that is established by gov agencies such as OSHA. All of the chemicals and metals we work with are toxic. Some are carcinogenic. We all need to study the characteristics and dangers of the stuff we work with act accordingly. Even mercury, cadmium, lead, and cyanides are safe if you know what you're doing and treat them with the proper respect.
Of course you are right. Nickel salts are carcinogenic. But, so are many chemicals that we all use in our everyday life. I was surprised to learn that even wood dust was a carcinogen. The coins that we handle everyday contain nickel. The outer portion of dimes and quarters are 25% nickel. We ingest nickel in all the food we eat. The gov allows up to 1/10 ppm nickel in bottled water. The most common plated metal is nickel. It is commonly plated from large vats (often, 1000 gallons, or more) of solution containing 1/2 pound of nickel per gallon. People work around these nickel tanks all day long, in a safe manner that is established by gov agencies such as OSHA. All of the chemicals and metals we work with are toxic. Some are carcinogenic. We all need to study the characteristics and dangers of the stuff we work with act accordingly. Even mercury, cadmium, lead, and cyanides are safe if you know what you're doing and treat them with the proper respect.
Irons
Well-known member
Some people get contact dermatitis from nickel in jewelry.
Here's another 'everything but the squeal' suggestion for Nickel recovery:
Precipitate it as the Sulphide with Sodium Sulphide and use the resulting Nickel Sulphide as a flux to remove PGMs from molten Gold. The Nickel can be recycled in a closed loop system where the Sulphide, loaded with PGMs is dissolved giving off H2S gas which is then used to precipitate a previous nickel solution and give back more Nickel Sulphide.
Most metals easily precipitate as the Sulphide. This works especially well for Mercury since a saturated solution of Mercury Sulphide has only a few molecules per Liter. This is a good way to safe solutions from Amalgam digestion.
One warning. Mole per Mole, H2S is more toxic than Cyanide but it smells so bad, even in minute quantities, that few people ever get poisoned.
Here's a document from the World Bank that discusses the issues of refining Nickel:
http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/gui_nickel_WB/$FILE/nickel_PPAH.pdf
Here's another 'everything but the squeal' suggestion for Nickel recovery:
Precipitate it as the Sulphide with Sodium Sulphide and use the resulting Nickel Sulphide as a flux to remove PGMs from molten Gold. The Nickel can be recycled in a closed loop system where the Sulphide, loaded with PGMs is dissolved giving off H2S gas which is then used to precipitate a previous nickel solution and give back more Nickel Sulphide.
Most metals easily precipitate as the Sulphide. This works especially well for Mercury since a saturated solution of Mercury Sulphide has only a few molecules per Liter. This is a good way to safe solutions from Amalgam digestion.
One warning. Mole per Mole, H2S is more toxic than Cyanide but it smells so bad, even in minute quantities, that few people ever get poisoned.
Here's a document from the World Bank that discusses the issues of refining Nickel:
http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/gui_nickel_WB/$FILE/nickel_PPAH.pdf
