Review of Developments in Electrometallurgy 1982

Few papers appeared in 1981 on new or improved plants, reflecting the lower rate of expansion of the electrometallur­ gical industry in the late 1970s. There were some useful reviews of the state of the art, and fundamental research continued at a healthy level. The second volume of the "Comprehensive Treatise of Electrochemistry," edited by Bockris et aI., is welcome; it features two excellent chapters on electrometallurgy. Ettel and Tilak1 deal with electrolytic refining and winning in aqueous solutions, and Haupin and Frank2 discuss the electrometallurgy of aluminum. Reviews of advances in the smelting of aluminum3 and magnesium4 and the production of titanium, zirconium, and hafnium5 were presented at the U.S.A.-China Bilat­ eral Conference on metallurgy. Jacobi6 discussed recent developments and future prospects for electrolytic processes in hydrometallurgy. ELECTRO REFINING An issue of EMJ high current efficiency and low labor costs were achieved in a small conventional plant through automation and improved technology . There were significant developments and continuous prog­ ress at older existing refineries. Perry et al.9 reported the successful use of permanent stainless steel cathodes and the automatic stripping at the Copper Refinery Pty., Ltd. plant in Australia. Tobback et al.lO described the auto­ matic stripping and the handling of starting sheets at Metallurgie Hoboken Overpelt in Belgium, and Dompas et al. 11 updated their previous report on the casting of anodes with integral lugs at the same plant. McCririck12 discussed the relative merits of periodic current reversal versus direct current from the viewpoints of operating costs and capital costs for new copper refineries. Braun13 calculated the energy balance and showed its rela­ tion to the water balance in refining or electrowinning tank houses. Somers et al. 14 discussed energy conservation opportunities in copper refining facilities and their poten­ tial economic return.