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Title of the thesis: Thermodynamic modelling and experimental investigations of aqueous copper and nickel sulfate solution in mineral processing units

Thesis defender: David Sibarani
Opponent: Prof. Gisele Azimi, University of Toronto, Canada
Custos: Prof. Daniel Lindberg, Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering

Copper and nickel, in the form of either pure metals or metal sulfates, are widely used across various industries, including battery manufacturing, agriculture, aquaculture, electroplating, textiles, metal production, and laboratory research. A ternary system comprising copper or nickel sulfate, sulfuric acid, and water is commonly encountered in the production and/or beneficiation processes of these metals and their sulfate compounds. Consequently, numerous experimental studies have been conducted to measure the thermodynamic properties of these aqueous systems. The present study employs Pitzer formalism to create consistent thermodynamic models of CuSO₄–H₂O, NiSO₄–H₂O, and NiSO₄–H₂SO₄–H₂O systems based on available experimental data.

The generated models are capable of predicting thermodynamic properties from the eutectic temperature up to 423.15 K for the copper sulfate system, and up to 523.15 K for nickel sulfate systems. In addition, experimental measurements on freezing point depression data were conducted for CuSO₄–H₂O, CuSO₄–H₂SO₄–H₂O, NiSO₄–H₂O and NiSO₄–H₂SO₄–H₂O systems. The binary systems data presents good agreement with the literature values at dilute condition, while the ternary systems data are novel and presented here for the first time.

Keywords: copper sulfate, nickel sulfate, aqueous, thermodynamic, Pitzer, freezing point

Thesis available for public display 7 days prior to the defence at . 

Contact information: 
david.sibarani@aalto.fi