Method for refining metal by using electrolytic reduction and electrolytic refining processes

Abstract

According to the present invention, a method for refining a metal comprises: an electrolytic reduction step of manufacturing, through electrolytic reduction using a first metal, which is the metal ofa binary metal oxide and a metal anode having a eutectic point, an alloy of the first metal and a second metal, which is the metal of the liquid metal anode; and an electrolytic refining step of recovering the first metal from the alloy by electrolytically refining the solidified alloy.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a metal refining method, specifically, a metal refining method capable of producing high-purity metals using metal oxides as raw materials in an environmentally safe manner and capable of producing high-quality metals with significantly low oxygen content. Background technique [0002] As a representative method of the conventional reduction process of zirconium and titanium metal oxides, the Kroll process (US Patent No. 5,035,404) can be mentioned. The Kroll process is a process based on the chlorination process, and uses magnesium to reduce zirconium or titanium chloride. Therefore, the process is complicated, the chlorine gas generation rate is high, and there are environmental problems, and there is a problem that the stability of the process is lowered. As a process that can replace the existing Kroll process, the electrolytic reduction process has been studied. Although this process has various advantages such as ...

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Problems solved by technology

To overcome this, the specific surface area should be reduced so that re-oxidation of the Ti and Zr target metals generated by the electrolytic reduction reaction in the electrolyte does not occur, but in the case of Ti and Zr, the reduction of the specific surface area due to melting is practically impossible. of

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