Electrochemistry Sulfuric cell heat

[Pumice]

I always read about sulfuric cells building up heat. I have had really good success using a sulfuric cell and have recovered about 20 grams of gold from it so far.

I use a 1L bath and power the cell at 12 volts/3 amps. But the cell has never even reached 40°C even after over 2hrs continuous use.

The cell seems to work well with good results. But why does our cell never get hot? Are we doing somethin wrong? Should we do something different? As I said it seems to work good, but could it be better?

 

[butcher]

Good then you would not have to worry about cooling it.

 

[Palladium]

Heat produced is in proportion to amperes consumed. 3 amps ?

 

[Pumice]

Yes it seems we dont have to worry about cooling. I was just wondering if it was an indication of a problem. But thank you Butcher.

 

[Pumice]

Yes Palladium we run 3 amps in a 1L bath. Does this mean we could increase our amperage and get better results? Or should we stick with what we have as it seems to work well?

 

[Palladium]

It's really according to how much you want to process at any given time. Amperes consumed also not only controls cell temperature, it also controls stripping time which can correlate into depth stripped verses time stripped verses heat produced. You have to base your system on what your trying to do, how quick you want to do it, and how often.

 

[mikeinkaty]

I started running my hobby shop sized cell at 6 amps but did not like the characteristic of the crystals produced. I lowered it to 3 amps and got bigger / grainier crystals that were easier to recover, rince, and melt. I did notice minor elevation of temperature at 6 amps but none at 3 amps. Lowering to 3 amps caused the process time to almost double but in my opinion that was a worthy trade-off.

Mike

 

[philddreamer]

Mike, this cell is for de-plating gold; you don't get gold crystals with the sulphuric cell. At least, I haven't! :roll:
Take care!
Phil