Iron removal in the nickel industry is achieved by precipitation and filtration, and for enhanced process efficiency, the filtration step must be improved. A mixed-suspension-mixed-product-removal (MSMPR) reactor set-up operating at steady-state was established, simulating industrial conditions, and the effect of temperature and residence time on filtration performance of the precipitated akaganéite was investigated. Increasing the reaction temperature and residence time improved the filtration performance, where temperature had the most prominent effect, reducing the specific filter cake resistance with over one order of magnitude from 25 °C to 75 °C. However, there must be a trade-off between temperature increase and cost-effectiveness. A lower moisture content in the filter cakes was also observed with increasing residence time and temperature, which is advantageous in terms of handling of waste and for potential reuse of the iron precipitates. Elevated temperatures resulted in formation of particles with higher crystallinity, lower surface area and higher stability towards aggregation. These particle characteristics were explained by the significant decrease in supersaturation at steady-state at higher temperatures. Variation in residence times, on the other hand, did not affect the solution supersaturation but was still an important parameter on the particle characteristics, which in turn had implications on the filtration performance. The significant changes observed in specific filter cake resistance and filter cake moisture content, but not in supersaturation, with varying residence times were explained by internal rearrangements and locally induced ageing of the particles.

镍工业中的铁去除是通过沉淀和过滤实现的，为了提高工艺效率，必须改进过滤步骤。模拟工业条件，建立了在稳态下运行的混合悬浮混合产物去除（MSMPR）反应器装置，并研究了温度和停留时间对沉淀的高铝矾土过滤性能的影响。提高反应温度和停留时间可改善过滤性能，在该温度下效果最显着，将比滤饼阻力从25°C降低到75°C超过一个数量级。但是，必须在温度升高和成本效益之间进行权衡。随着停留时间和温度的增加，滤饼中的水分含量也降低了，就废物处理和铁沉淀物的潜在再利用而言，这是有利的。升高的温度导致形成具有较高结晶度，较低表面积和较高聚集稳定性的颗粒。这些颗粒特征可以通过较高温度下稳态下过饱和的显着降低来解释。另一方面，停留时间的变化并没有影响溶液的过饱和度，但仍然是颗粒特性的重要参数，这反过来又对过滤性能产生了影响。内部重排和颗粒的局部老化解释了在特定的滤饼抗性和滤饼水分含量上观察到的显着变化，但过饱和时间却没有发生过饱和，这是由内部重排和颗粒的局部老化引起的。