Taguchi Optimisation of Process Parameters for Electrowinning of Praseodymium Metal in Molten Salt Electrolysis

Electrowinning of praseodymium (Pr) metal from its chloride melt has been investigated above its melting point employing molybdenum as cathode and graphite as anode. Experiments for the electrolysis were carried with wide range of conditions based on Taguchi method. This approach has been adopted to arrive at optimum conditions for the electrowinning of Pr metal with maximum current efficiency. The percentage effect of process parameters such as temperature, electrolyte composition, current density on current efficiency was also studied. The electro-deposited product was characterised by X-ray diffraction, Wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence and ICP-AES techniques.