Gas–Liquid Oxygen Mass-transfer; from Fundamentals to Applications in Hydrometallurgical Systems

Abstract

Oxygen gas is used as a reactant in many hydrometallurgical processes. However, oxygen is sparingly soluble in aqueous electrolyte solutions, and the driving force for its masstransfer from the gas to the aqueous phase is also very low. Hence, the mass-transfer of oxygen depends significantly on the interfacial area between the gas and the liquid phase, which in turn depends on the mixing conditions inside the reactor. A change in the solution composition or the presence of solids can further alter the rate of oxygen masstransfer. All such phenomena related to the gas-liquid oxygen mass-transfer in hydrometallurgical unit operations are critically reviewed in the present article – from the basic thermodynamics and kinetics of oxygen dissolution in aqueous solutions to the most recent advances in oxygen mass-transfer systems.

Keywords::

• Hydrometallurgy
• oxygen
• mass-transfer
• kinetics
• thermodynamics