Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, Vol. 34, No.4, pp.

303-310,1995
Copyright 1995 Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0008-4433/95 $9.50+0.00

~ Pergamon
0008-4433(95)00020-8

A REACTOR MODEL FOR GOLD ELUTION FROM

ACTIVATED CARBON WITH CAUSTIC CYANIDE SOLUTION
T. M. SUNt and W. T. YEN~
t Asia Minerals Corp., Vancouver, B.C., Canada

t Department of Mining Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

(Received 16 December 1992; in revised/arm 3 May 1994)

Abstract-A model for the Zadra elution process was developed based on pore diffusion inside the carbon
particles, the dispersed plug flow in the elution column, and the gold desorption from carbon as a first
order reaction. A set of process description equations was obtained. Numerical solutions for the system
equations are given using the finite difference method, and the stability for the method was also analyzed.
Fitting of experimental elution concentration profiles using this model was presented. The model can fit
both the concentration profile and the recovery curve, and can simulate the elution process up to the final
stage. It was found that the elution process is controlled by a first order rate constant and the effective
intraparticle diffusivity in the carbon particle. The parameter analysis showed that the rate constant was
dependent on the elution temperature and the chemical composition of the eluant. The effective intraparticle
diffusivity was relatively constant under the experimental conditions.

NOMENCLATURE
BN,PN

C
C(t,y)
Ccal
Cexp

Cp
Cp(t,y, r)
dp

DI
De
D1B

k;
km
L
n

number of the equal intervals for column and particle,

respectively
concentration of gold cyanide in the column solution
(mol dm :")
concentration of gold cyanide in the column solution at
t, y (mol dm -3)
calculated concentration of gold cyanide at the exit of the
column (mol dm :")
experimental concentration of gold cyanide at the exit of
the column (mol dm -3)
concentration of gold cyanide in the carbon particle pore
(mol dm ")
pore concentration of gold cyanide at t,y, r (mol dm ")
particle diameter (em)
axial dispersion coefficient (em" S-I)
effective intraparticle diffusivity (cnr' S-I)
molecular diffusivity of gold cyanide in dilute solution
(em? S-I)
rate constant for gold desorption (S-1 or h- 1)
external mass transfer coefficient in particle surface
(em S-1)
length of the carbon packing area in the column (em)
number of carbon particles

INTRODUCTION

N
Pe
Q
Qo

e,

r
rAu
R
Re

S
t
u
W
Wt
y
IX, {3, W
(J

r
8p
8

f1
P
Pc

>

number of moles of gold in a subvolume at time t

Peclet number
carbon loading of gold (kg t- 1)
initial carbon loading of gold (kg r ')
average initial carbon loading of gold (kg r ')
radial distance in carbon particle (em)
rate of gold desorption per unit volume carbon (mol
cm- 3)
radius of carbon particle (em)
Reynolds number
column cross-sectional area (em")
time (s)
interstitial flow velocity (em S-I)
mass flux of gold (mol s -I cm -2)
weight of carbon (g)
distance along the column axial direction (em)

S-1

constants
constriction factor for carbon pores
tortuosity of carbon pores
porosity of carbon particle
void fraction of the packed column
viscosity of solution (g cm- I S-I)
density of solution (g em -3)
density of carbon particles (g em:")
sum of the squares of the deviations (g em -3)

commonly used methods in the gold industry are the Zadra,

Anglo American Research Laboratories (AARL) and Micro
processes. The Zadra process is carried out by pumping a hot
caustic cyanide solution through the column and then to an
electrowinning cell for gold deposition [1]. The barren electrolyte is recycled to the column as eluant. In the AARL elution
process, the loaded carbon is acid washed and soaked in a hot
caustic cyanide solution for 1 h [2]. Hot de-ionized water is then
passed through the column. In the Micro process, the eluant
contains large amounts of organic solvents such as methanol,

The carbon-in-pulp (CIP) process for the recovery of gold from

cyanide leach pulps is used widely in modern gold-producing
plants. The success of the CIP process is attributed to the
development of elution methods for gold and silver from the
loaded carbon. Carbon elution is usually carried out at high
temperature in a column in which the eluant is pumped through
a packed carbon bed in the upflow direction. The operation
is isothermally carried out in a batch mode. The three most
303

304

T. M. SUN and W. T. YEN: GOLD ELUTION FROM ACTIVATED CARBON

acetone, or acetonitrile [3]. The elution requires 6-48 h for

completion depending on the method employed. The long elution time is primarily due to the slow diffusion of the aurocyanide ion within the micropores
of the relatively large
particles of activated carbon.
Unlike the adsorption
process, which has received considerable attention, little work has been done on the modelling
of gold cyanide elution from activated carbon. The first attempt
to model the gold elution in the Zadra process was presented
by Adams and Nicol [4]. They used a semi-empirical kinetic
model to quantitatively describe the elution kinetics, in which
the pore diffusion in the carbon particles was not considered.
The experiments were conducted in a batch stirred tank system,
not in an elution column. A similar model was further studied
by Adams [5], as well as Vegter and Sandenbergh [6]. The effects
of chemicals on the Zadra elution were considered, but the
elution profile was still not simulated very well. Some modelling
work has been performed on the AARL elution process [7,
8]. A preliminary model for the AARL elution process was
developed on the assumption that the elution behavior of gold
was dominated by the changing sodium concentration
during
the washing cycle [7]. Van der Merwe and Van Deventer [8]
also demonstrated an intraparticle-film
diffusion model with a
shifting equilibrium, which could be used to simulate AARL
elution curves.
This paper aims to analyze and establish a kinetic model for
the Zadra elution system. The elution kinetics are based on the
pore diffusion model and the dispersed plug flow model. After
the development of a set of system description equations and
its numerical solution, the model was affirmed by experimental
elution data.

of eluant in the packed column and the intraparticle diffusion

flow of gold cyanide within the porous carbon particles to the
surface.
Dispersed plug flo\\' model
The eluant flow in the gold elution column is principally of the
plug flow type superimposed with some degree of back mixing or
intermixing because of the packed carbon particles. The flow
field may be modelled by a dispersed plug flow model. In the
plug flow reactor, the gold is continually desorbed from the
carbon particles as eluant flows through the length of the reactor. The plug flow reactor may be divided into a number of
subvolumes, and the reaction rate is assumed as spatially uniform within each subvolume (as shown in Fig. 2). A subvolume
located a distance )' from the entrance of the plug reactor
contains three types of material changes: bulk flow (in and out);
dispersion (in and out) and desorption of gold from carbon
particles. A mass balance on gold cyanide in a subvolume at
any instant in time t yields the following equation:
rate of\
( in-out )bulk

(rate of\
flow

in-out

)axialdispersion

(1)
rate of gold desorptiOn)
from particles

+(

rate of

= accumulation

The mass flow of gold cyanide per unit time may be defined as
follows:
entering by bulk flow = eliSCy;

KINETIC MODEL FOR CARBON ELUTION

The Zadra elution system is schematically shown in Fig. 1.
The elution process can be divided into two parts: the plug flow

leaving by bulk flow = ellSCy ...!'.y;

entering by axial dispersion

leaving by axial dispersion

-(EDIS~~)I ;
C)

.I'

-(eDIS~~)1
CJ

;
y+!'.y

Loaded Carbon

rate of desorption

from carbon = (l-e)S~y(rAu);

rate of accumulation
Substituting
gives

of gold cyanide

ac
eS~Yat'

all these terms into eqn (1) and dividing by eS~y

Elution
Column

C,H,-C,

-u ..

~)'

. +D1

~~I)HY-~~I,
+

~)'

l-e

--rAu

ac

= ---;::-.(2)
ct

Heat
~F(L)

Exchanger

,L----------:"<:.-.--~---------Eluted
Carbon

Fig. 1. The Zadra elution process.

Fig. 2. Carbon elution column.

T. M. SUN and W. T. YEN: GOLD ELUTION FROM ACTIVATED CARBON

305
(8)
2

where W is the mass flux of gold cyanide (mol S-l cm- ) and
km is the mass transfer coefficient (cm S-l). Defining rAu as the
gold desorption rate per unit volume of carbon in mol S-l cmc-3,
i.e. rAu = W(4nR2)/(~nR3), we have
3km
rAu =:: -'R [Cplr=R - C].
Initialand

boundary conditions

Before the loaded column is subjected to elution with a pure

eluant, there is no gold in solution, either.in the pores of carhon
or in the column. Thus, the initial gold concentration
in the
elution column is

Fig. 3. Single carbon particle.

C(t, y)
As ~y .~ 0, the above equation
oC

at =

becomes:

02C
oC
D1 oy2 -u oy

1-

(3)

+ -G-rAu'

(4)
where kc is the rate constant (S-l) and -oQ/ot
is the gold
desorption rate per unit weight of carbon.
Then, a mass balance (molls) for gold cyanide between rand
r + ~r in the spherical particle is

2)1

GP.

( -Dey
oCp4nr 2)1
2

The first
the normal
desorption.
pendent of

0;

(10)

in the pores of the carbon particle

at

(11)

Qo(r)

at

0,

(12)

where Qo(r) is the initial gold distribution in the carbon particles

along the direction of the radius (r).
The gold elution column is a closed reactor in the Zadra
process. Because the eluant is pumped into the column at a slow
flow rate of two bed volumes per hour, there is no dispersion or
radial variation in the eluant concentration,
either upstream
(closed) or downstream (closed) of the reaction section of the
column; The closed-closed vessel boundary conditions [9] are
taken for eqn (3) as follows:
at the outlet of the column,
oC

-=

oy

at

y =L;

(13)

at

(14)

and at the inlet of the column,

D10C

oQ
2
oCp
~rpCat = 4nr ~rGp7it.

OCp)_
or

we obtain

~ oQ.
Gp ot

C = - - u oy
(5)
the

(6)

term on the right hand side of eqn (6) represents

diffusion and the second term is the rate of gold
If the effective intraparticle diffusivity De is indethe radial distance r, eqn (6) may be rearranged as:
oCp = De(02Cp
ot
or2

Q(t, y, r)

r+~r

When ~r ~ 0, and rearranging the equation,

following partial differential equation:
oCp = ~ ~(r2De
ot
r2 or

Gp

-4nr

the initial gold concentration

is

at

and the gold loading on the carbon at the initial time is

The desorption of gold cyanide from a porous carbon particle

involves the simultaneous processes of carbon desorption and
pore diffusion. Assuming the carbon particle is spherical and
the radius is R, as shown in Fig. 3, the gold cyanide diffuses at
location r through a small distance I1r per unit time. For
simplicity, the desorption rate of gold cyanide at layer r inside
a carbon particle can be assumed as a first order reaction with
respect to the carbon loading at any instant in time t:

ey

Cp(t,y,r)

Pore diffusion model for gold desorption from carbon particle

( -D oCp4nr
r

(9)

+ ~ OCp) _
r or

~ oQ .
Gp ot

y = O.

Boundary conditions (13) and (14) are the Danckwerts boundary conditions [10]. The spherical symmetry condition is
applied to the carbon particles:
oCp
or

-=

at

At the surface of the carbon particle,

continuous at the surface, thus:

=0

(15)

the molar flux must be

(16)

(7)
PARAMETER

When Cp, the gold concentration inside carbon particle pores,

is found by solving eqn (7), the rate of gold desorption from
the carbon particle in eqn (3) can be calculated from the average
mass flux of gold cyanide from the surface of the carbon particle
to the bulk fluid in the column:

ESTIMATION

Gold distribution within activated carbon particles

During the adsorption process, the gold cyanide penetrates
the carbon particle with a reasonably sharp front moving into
the particle with increasing time .. The gold distribution within

T. M. SUN and W. T. YEN: GOLD ELUTION FROM ACTIVATED CARBON

306

the carbon particles is generally not homogeneous. It requires

a prolonged adsorption time to achieve a uniform distribution.
According to the SEM analysis with a dispersive X-ray system
[11], the distribution of gold in the carbon particle can be
assumed as a linear distribution along the radial direction of a
particle at an adsorption time less than 24 h. Thus, the initial
distribution of gold on carbon, Qo, can be expressed as:
(17)
where Qav is the average initial carbon loading of gold, and R
is the average radius of the carbon particles.

direction, 111' in the radius direction and uniform time increment

~t in the t direction.
According to Carnahan et al. [15],the derivatives with respect
to t, y and l' are replaced in a particular way by finite difference
ratios, dividing the range of R into PN equal intervals of ~r,
and dividing the range of L into BN equal intervals of ~y.
Cp .. is the gold concentration at column position j and inside
pa~iicle position k at time i. The values of j and k are equal to
o at t = 0 and increase by 1 as the time increment passes by !1t.
Ci.j is the gold concentration at the column positionj at time t.
For 1 ~j ~ BN and 1 ~ k ~ PN -1, eqn (4) becomes:
(22)
For eqn (7):

Dispersion coefficient (D1)

In a packed column, such as in the Zadra elution process, the

dispersion coefficient can be related to the Peclet number by the
following equation [9]:
ud
D1=-p'

P/.1ok

..

+(1-2w)C

P\I-l).j.(k-l)

(19)

Although the applicability of eqn (19) for a packed column

under desorption conditions was not verified, this equation
suggests that the Peclet number for axial dispersion under the
present condition is approximately independent of the flow
velocity under elution conditions, owing to the very low particle
Reynolds number (Re) for the elution system.

w=D-e

Ci,j

(24)

1-8

+ (rt.+ !3)CU-I) .U-I)+--l1t

8

The external mass transfer coefficient km in eqn (9) can be

estimated by the following correlation [13]:

)0.67

33

UO.

rt.=D1--,

II

I1t

(21)
where /1b and /12' are the liquid viscosities at temperatures T1
and T2, respectively.

NUMERICAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE PARTIAL

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
Partial derivatives can be approximated by finite differences
in many ways. All the approximations introduce truncation
errors. Equations (3), (4) and (7) can be reduced to "equivalent"
discrete equations using uniform space increment ~y in the y

(25)

(26)

(11.1')2
~t
211y'

(27)

And for eqn (9) we have

(28)

(20)

where D iB is the molecular diffusivity of gold cyanide,

Au(CN)2' in dilute solution, 1.8 x 10-5 cm2 S-I at 61C [14]. It
can be converted to higher temperatures by eqn (21) [9]:

1'Au,

where

13 =

8;p

I1t
(111')2 .

= (rt.-!3)Cu-1),u+I)+(1-2rt.)Cu-I),j

External mass transfer coefficient

DO

PI/-I}.).,'.()

Then, for eqn (3) we have

048

km = 1.09(

k+l
+w--Ck

where

where d is the particle diameter and Pe is the Peclet number.

The following equation is a generally accepted correlation
for the axial dispersion in packed columns [12]:
0.2 0.011
Pe=-+--Re'

..

P\I-I).j);

(18)

k-l
C .. =w--Ck

For the interface point, Cp

appendix.

..

was derived as shown in the

l.j.P:-;

Because explicit representations have been used for the

numerical solutions, the results computed by eqns (23) and (25)
must be examined for stability. For the dispersed plug flow
model, mass conservation dictates that the first three coefficients
on the right side of eqn (25) sum to one for all values of DI~ ~t
and l1y. According to the method detailed previously [16, l7]~
it was found that (rt.-!3), (1-2L1.)and (LI.+!3)should be positive
and (rt.-!3)+(1-2L1.)+(rt.+!3) ~ 1 to avoid instability. Hence,
the stability criteria are:
!1t
D --~1 (~y)2

D1

-~-

~
II

l1y ~ 2'

(29)

2'

(30)

Because the presence of a lower-order linear term in the para-

T. M. SUN and W. T. YEN: GOLD ELUTION FROM ACTIVATED CARBON

307

Table 1. Specifications of the loaded carbon samples

(33)
Qo (kg t-I)
Bp
B

rc (g cm-3)

Sample A

Sample B

Sample C

9.63
0.55
0.4
0.45

8.03
0.55
0.4
0.45

4.61
0.55
0.4
0.45

bolic partial differential equation does not influence the stability

bounds [18], the stability constraint for equation (23) is given
as
~t
D--~e (~r)2
"

I
2'

Equations (3), (4) and (7) were used to calculate the gold
concentration profile and recovery as a function of time. Figures
4(a), 5(a) and 6(a) demonstrate the gold concentration profile
of the eluant at the exit of the column. The corresponding
recovery curves for the elution process are shown in Figs 4(b),
5(b) and 6(b). The results demonstrate that the calculated curves
agree well with the experimental data, both in concentration
profiles and recovery curves. The recovery curve is the integrated desorption curve of the gold concentration against the
bed volume of the elution. It is apparent that both De and kc

(31)
1500

The truncation error tends to zero as ~r, ~y and ~t go to

zero. This implies that the solutions of the finite difference
equations converge to the exact solution of the partial differential equations as ~r, ~y and ~t go to zero. It is also noted
that the requirement of convergences places a severe restriction
on the interval sizes in the rand y direction and hence results
in long computing times.

1350
....J

........
0'1

1200

.2 1050

"

C
Q)

k =0.70

900

-1

-5

2
em

/s

750

::J

De=1.11x10

FITTING TO EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

experimental
fitted curve

600

Q)

Fitting the numerical results to the experimental results is

conducted using the least squares method. The objective of this
method is to minimize the sum of the squares of the deviations
between the experimental and theoretical elution profiles. This
is expressed mathematically as

::J
W

300
150
0

<I> =

450

[Cexp -

Ccalf,

(32)

where Cexp is the experimental result and Cca1 is the gold concentration predicted by the model at the exit of the elution
column.
To minimize the objective function <I> for the given search
parameters, the combination of two series of search values, De
and kc' are calculated on an IBM mainframe with a FORTRAN
program.
Experimental data from a laboratory elution column (2.5 cm
dia., 20 cm high) were used to examine the model. A mass of
50 g of loaded carbon was packed in the column, which was
then filled with water and heated to the desired temperature
with an electrical heating pad. The temperature was maintained
at 2C with a Parr temperature controller. The eluant was
prepared by dissolving analytical grade reagents in de-ionized
water. The elution flow rate of two bed volumes per hour was
controlled by compressed nitrogen gas.
Three different loaded carbon samples were obtained from
the production CIP circuits of Canadian gold mines. The specification of the carbons is shown in Table 1. Other parameters
used in the model, such as particle porosity, void fraction of
packed column and density were assumed to be the same for
all samples at no measurements.
The average equivalent particle radii, R, were determined by
measuring the weight (Wt) of about 200 randomly selected
particles (n) and calculated by the following equation:

4
Time

k=1

(Hour)

Fig. 4(a). Elution of gold from the carbon with NaCN-NaOH : NaCN,
1 g 1-1; NaOH, 10 g 1-1; 148C; Q = 9.63 kg t-1 Au.

100
90

~
-0.

80

experimental
Calculated

70

60

k=0.70

()

'0

>

-1

-5

De=1.11x10

(])

em

/s

50

(])

40
30
20
10

4
Time

(Hour)

Fig. 4(b). Elution of gold from the carbon with NaCN-NaOH: NaCN,
1 g 1-1; NaOH, 10 g 1-1; 148C; Q = 9.63 kg t-I Au.

T. M. SUN and W. T. YEN: GOLD ELUTION FROM ACTIVATED CARBON

308

400

1500
1350
....J

....J

"-

"-

01

E
c-

.2

1200

experimental

fitted

c-

curve

1050

~
~

"
C
Q)

900

k =0.78 h
c
De=1.11x10

750

-1

C
Q)

-5

/s

cm

250
k =0.40
c

-0
W

100

/s

0
2

345

Time

(Hour)

Fig. 5(a). Elution of gold from the carbon with NaCN-NaOH:

4 g 1-1; NaOH, 10 g 1-1; 148C; 2 BV h-I.

NaCN,

(Hour)

Fig. 6(a). Elution of gold from the carbon with NaCN-NaOH : NaCN,
2 g 1-1; NaOH, 10 g 1-1; 140:lC; 2 BV h-I.

100

100

0000

90

90

80

experimental

70

Calculated

"0

""6
<.:>

""6
<.:>
60

k =0.78

De=1.11x10

50

'0

h-

-5

2
cm

/s

Q)

>

o
--

80

experimental
Calculated

70

60

k =0.40

-1

-5

De=1.11x10

50

2
cm

/s

u
Q)

cm

o
Time

lY

-5

50

>

-1

150

Q)

:J

450

150

curve

De=1.11x10

200

300

'0

fitted

:J

Q)

-0

-6

experimental

<{

600

Q)

:J
W

o
-

300

:J

<{

350

01

Q)

40

0:::

40

30

30

20

20

10

10

345

Time

(Hour)

4
Time

Fig. 5(b). Elution of gold from the carbon with NaCN-NaOH:

4 g 1-1; NaOH, 10 g 1-1, 148C; 2 BV h-1

are sufficient to describe the characteristics

column.

NaCN,

of gold elution in a

DISCUSSION
The numerical solution to the pore diffusion-axial dispersion
model, using the finite difference method, fits the experimental
elution profiles and the recovery curves of the pressurized Zadra
process. The finite difference approximation
of the model is
accurate as long as the convergence criteria [eqns (29}-(31)] are
satisfied. The agreement between the experimental and fitted
concentration profiles also indicates that the difference equation

(Hour)

Fig. 6(b). Elution of gold from the carbon with NaCN-NaOH:

2 g 1-1; NaOH, 10 g 1-1; 140::C; 2 BV h-I.

NaCN,

system [eqns (3), (4) and (7)] is accurate for the gold elution
column.
A long tail in the elution profile, as shown in Figs 4(a), 5(a)
and 6(a), indicates that the elution of a small portion of the
gold cyanide is delayed by the pores inside the core of the
carbon particles. The demonstrated ability to fit the long tail is
seen as an indication of the importance of the porous diffusion
in the elution of gold cyanide from loaded carbon. The suggested model can simulate the complete elution process. Other
carbon elution models, such as that seen in Ref. [4], are hardly
applicable to the final stage of elution, owing to neglect of the
porous diffusion inside carbon particles.

T. M. SUN and W. T. YEN: GOLD ELUTION FROM ACTIVATED CARBON

In this model, the elution profile is characterized by the effective intraparticle diffusivity, De' and the rate constant for gold
desorption, kc. Using the fitted parameters it is possible to
quantitatively
study the effect of experimental conditions on
the elution process, which can provide a better understanding
of the mechanism of gold cyanide elution from activated
carbon. The experimental conditions and the fitted parameters
are summarized in Table 2.
From Table 2 it is clear that, although the initial carbon
loading and the chemical conditions were different, the effective
intraparticle
diffusivities were the same within the range of
experimental conditions and samples tested. Hence, the rate
constant, ko of gold desorption in the carbon is the key factor
for the gold elution, and it is a function of the elution temperature and chemical composition of the eluant.
The effective diffusivity value of 1.11 x 10-5 cm2 S-1, which
was caculated from the experiments, is smaller than the gold
cyanide diffusivity of 5.06 x 10-5 cm2 S-1 estimated by eqn (21).
This is because the pores in the carbon particles are not straight
and cylindrical; rather, they consist of a series of tortuous,
interconnecting paths of varying cross-sectional areas [19]. The
effective intraparticle diffusivity in the study can be related to
the physical properties of carbon by eqn (34) [9]:
De

D1B(J

=--

309

desorption process, the porous diffusion and the dispersed plug

flow in a gold elution column have been considered. The gold
desorption was assumed to be a first order reaction.
A numerical solution for the model using the finite difference
method has been obtained. The stability conditions were also
given. The model has been programmed in FORTRAN
on an
IBM mainframe.
The elution profiles of experimental and calculated results
have a reasonable
fit. The model can describe the complete elution process, including the long concentration
tail
in the elution profile at the final elution stage. The model
has two parameters,
De and kc' besides the physical and
initial parameters. The kinetics constant kc is related to the
elution conditions in the column. The effective intraparticle
diffusivity of gold cyanide in carbon is not significantly affected
by the composition
of the eluant with these experimental
conditions.

Acknowledgements-The research was partially supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
The authors wish to thank Dr R. M. Erdahl in the Department of
Mathematics and Statistics in Queen's University for many helpful
discussions.

(34)

,
!

where (J is the constriction factor, which accounts for the variation in the cross-sectional area of carbon particle pores and is
a function of the ratio of maximum to minimum pore areas,
and! is the tortuosity.
Typical values of the system are: ! = 3-5, (J = 0.8 [9], so
De/D1B = 0.26-0.16. For the experiments, the ratio of De/D1B
is 0.22, which indicates that the pores inside the carbon particles
reduce the diffusivity of gold cyanide complex within the carbon
particles to about 22 % of that in a normal dilute solution. This
further confirms the importance of pore diffusion within the
carbon particles for the gold elution process.

CONCLUSIONS
A model for the Zadra carbon elution process was developed
and the system description equations and the initial and boundary conditions have been defined. In this model, the gold

Table 2. The experimental conditions and the fitted parameters

Sample A
Initial carbon loading:
Qo (kg t-I)
Elution conditions:
Temperature caC)
NaCN (g I-I)
NaOH (g I-I)
Flow rate (BV h -1)*
Fitted parameters:
kc (h-I)
Dex 105(cm2 S-I)

* BV h-1,

bed volume per hour.

9.63
148
1.0
10
2.0
0.70
1.11

Sample B
8.03
148
4.0
10
2.0
0.78
1.11

Sample C
4.61
140
2.0
10
2.0
0.40
1.11

REFERENCES
1. J. B. Zadra, A. L. Engel and H. J. Heinen, Rep. Invest. Bur. Mines.
4843 (1952).
2. R. J. Davidson and D. Duncanson, J. S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall. 77,
254 (1977).
3. D. M. Muir, Hydrometallurgy 14(1), 47 (1985).
4. M. D. Adams and M. J. Nicol, Gold 100 Proc. Int. Con! on
Gold, Vol. 2, Extractive Metallurgy of Gold. SAIMM, p. 111,
1986.
5. M. D. Adams, Trans. Inst. Min. Metall., Sect. C. 99, C71 (1990).
6. N. M. Vegter and R. F. Sandenbergh, Hydrometallurgy 28(2), 205
(1992).
7. W. Stange, Miner. Engng 4(12), 1279 (1991).
8. J. S. J. Van Deventer and V. E. Ross, Miner. Engng 4(7-11), 667
(1991).
9. H. Scott Fogler, Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering, 2nd
Edn. Prentice-Hall, pp. 543-92, 759-94, 1992.
10. P. V. Danckerts, Chem. Engng Sci. 2, 1 (1953).
11. N. M. Vegter, Hydrometallurgy 30, 229 (1992).
12. C. Y. Wen and L. T. Fan, Modelsfor Flow Systems and Chemical
Reactors. Marcel Dekker, p. 570, 1975.
13. E. J. Wilson and C. J. Geankoplis, Ind. Engng Chem. Fundam. 1,9
(1966).
14. G. M. Schmid and M. E. Curley-Fiorino, Encyclopedia of Electrochemistry of the Elements, Vol. IV. Marcel Dekker, pp. 87-178,
1975.
15. B. Carnahan, H. A. Luther and J. O. Wilkes, Applied Numerical
Methods. John Wiley & Sons, NY, pp. 429-519, 1969.
16. A. Constantinides, Applied Numerical Methods with Personal Computers. McGraw-Hill, pp. 458-519, 1987.
17. B. A. Finlayson, Nonlinear Analysis in Chemical Engineering.
McGraw-Hill, p. 216, 1980.
18. L. Lapidus and G. F. Pinder, Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations in Science and Engineering. John Wiley & Sons,
NY, pp. 149-350, 1982.
19. G. J. McDougall and C. A. Fleming, in Ion Exchange and Sorption
Processes in Hydrometallurgy (edited by M. Streat and D. Naden).
The Society of Chemical Industry, pp. 56-126, 1987.

310

T. M. SUN and W. T. YEN:

GOLD

ELUTION

FROM

ACTIVATED

CARBON

Interface

APPENDIX

Finite-difference
solution

approximations

When the gold cyanide diffuses from the core of the carbon particle
to its surface, the mass flow at the interface between carbon and solution
behaves as shown in Fig. AI. We wish to derive the relevant finitedifference approximation
for gold concentration
Cp at point PN on the
interface between carbon and solution. The following procedure is
based on the continuity of molar flux at the interface.
In carbon (from Taylor's expansion) we have, approximately,
C

Pi,j.(P:-i-I)

The subscript
i.e. :

_
Pi.j.P:-i

dr(aCp)
ar

PN.c

l'

2
(A)2

~--

PN.c

[C

(ac)ar

+dr
Pi,j.P:-;

is approximated

p)

p)

PN . .11'

cr

Pc Qu

PN,c

...I),j.PN -

Qi,j.PN

(A4)

dt

l;p

Then, from eqns (A4) and (7), it follows that

.

(A2)
CPU.I),j.P:-; =

PN,c

[rc. +?wC
~

I,J

P(i-I).j.(P:-;-1l

- ~(Q('.
p

1-

-Q. t,},'PN)]I(1

I) .p .
,J,.~

+C+2w)
-

by

Cp(i+ll.j.P:-i

PN,c -

dt

CPi.j.P:-;

of eqns (A2) and (A3) into eqn (4) gives

D(_2_[c

-_Cp-'----ij_.P:-;
=
dt
e (dr)2

_C_P(i+_!l-'----.j.P_:-i

between carbon and solution.

_2_ (8:

(A3)

where
v

Substitution

PN

(AS)

ac

( at

Fig. A I. Interface

(AI)

PN,c

_P

IJ.r

Also, the time derivative

'" 2

in carbon at the interface,

-C

Pi.j.(P:-i-ll

p
C )

or

-_P

PN-2 PN-l

+ (dr)2
2

(PN, c) denotes the derivative

(aaC)2

(a

solution

Carbon

at the interface between carbon and

-C
P(i+l).j.(P:-;-I)

P(i+I).j.P:-;

+.1r(_aC_p)]
ar PN.c

~-

2(1 +PN)dt
PN.1r
Dedt

w=--.
(dr):!

k
m

(A6)

(A7)