DefinePK

Abstract

The Colombian platinic alluvium metal contains platinum, iridium, osmium and palladium. Iridium and osmium confer a refractory condition that makes the leaching of the alluvium very difficult. This is the first aspect to be solved in the development of a refining process. Acid microwave-assisted leaching offers a higher leaching rate with high recovery levels, so it seems a possible way to solve this problem. A low-cost reactor to microwave-assisted leaching process has been designed using section VIII ASME code, comparison with commercial reactors and both SolidWorks and Ces-Edupack CAE. The 180 ml reactor was design take in account a high pressure of 8.3 MPa (1200 psi), 180°C temperature, chemical resistance to aqua regia, hydrochloric and hydro nitric acid and ergonomic and safety demands.