Mond process

The Mond process, sometimes known as the carbonyl process, is a technique created by Ludwig Mond in 1890, to extract and purify nickel. The process was used commercially before the end of the 19th century, and particularly by the International Nickel Company in the Sudbury Basin. This process converts nickel oxides into nickel metal with very high purity being attainable in just a single step. This process involves the fact that carbon monoxide combines with nickel readily and reversibly to give nickel carbonyl. Few other elements other than nickel, iron, and cobalt form carbonyl compounds under the mild conditions used in the process. This process has three steps: 1. Metal Feed (consisting of primarily Nickel oxide) reacts with hydrogen at 200 °C to give nickel. Other impurities including iron and cobalt are also reduced. 2. The impure nickel reacts with carbon monoxide at 50–60 °C to form the gas nickel carbonyl, leaving the impurities as solids.