Recovery of mercury from mercury compounds via electrolytic methods

摘要

A process for electrolytically recovering mercury from mercury compounds is provided. In one embodiment, Hg is recovered from Hg2Cl2 employing as the electrolyte solution a mixture of HCl and H2O. In another embodiment, Hg is electrolytically recovered from HgO wherein the electrolyte solution is comprised of glacial acetic acid and H2O. Also provided is an apparatus for producing isotopically enriched mercury compounds in a reactor and then transporting the dissolved compounds into an electrolytic cell where mercury ions are electrolytically reduced and elemental mercury recovered from the mercury compounds.