A. Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia:

O. M. Levchuk, Senior Researcher
A. M. Levin, Leading Researcher
V. A. Bryukvin, Head of Laboratory, e-mail: brukvin@imet.ac.ru
I. D. Troshkina, Senior Researcher

Absence of industrially mastered rhenium deposits in Russia leads to the necessity of recycling of this massif from its production wastes and involving various types of secondary rhenium-containing raw materials in production using efficient extraction process flowsheets. In connection with this, the process of electrochemical dissolution of wastes from tungsten-rhenium alloys VR-5 (ВР-5) and VR-20 (ВР-20) (containing 5 and 20% (wt.) of rhenium, respectively) was researched in Na₂CO₃ and NaOH solutions using alternating sinusoidal electric current. Anodic dissolution has big velocity, current output reaches 97%, and component transfer in electrolyte is proportional to their content in alloy. The carried out investigations showed the principal possibility of rather easy electrochemical regeneration of tungsten-rhenium alloys with obtaining the solutions, containing valuable components. Electrolytes are useful for further processing by the known technological methods with application of pure KReO₄ as rhenium-containing intermediate product. Conversion of KReO₄ into the most wide-spread rhenium precursors (NH₄ReO₄ or HReO₄) has no technological difficulties. It can be carried out by the liquidus extraction methods, ion-exchange sorption or electrodialysis. The carried out investigations offered the principal process flowsheet of tungsten-rhenium alloy waste processing with rhenium extraction as KReO₄.

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