Process Chemist: Metal Recovery & Ion-Exchange

Kunin; Chattanooga (TN); On-site; USD 90,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

Kunin Technologies in Chattanooga, TN is seeking a Laboratory Process Development scientist to execute chlorination, hydrolysis and calcination experiments on metal-bearing oxides and feeds. You will run bench and mini-pilot campaigns and help convert bench results into a design basis.

Reporting to the Lead Organic Chemist, you will work with process engineers and analytical chemists, manage mass balances, and document data for plant design.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in chemistry or chemical engineering required; Master's preferred.
• 2+ years of laboratory process development in hydrometallurgy, inorganic or specialty chemicals; experience with chlorination, acid leaching, precipitation or calcination preferred.
• Comfortable handling chlorine, concentrated hydrochloric acid and moisture-sensitive chlorides under nitrogen in glass and PFA equipment.
• Competent with ICP-OES sample preparation, mass balance spreadsheets and clear experimental write-ups.
• Ability to work in fast paced and demanding atmosphere
• Creative problem solving that brings together inorganic chemistry, careful experiment and plant thinking to turn bench results into a design basis.

Responsibilities

• Bench chlorination, hydrolysis and calcination experiments on metal-bearing oxide and solid feeds; chlorine and HCl handling
• Ion-exchange loading and elution runs on dilute metal liquors with Kunin media: breakthrough, elution, cycling and fouling studies
• Metal and impurity mass balances across chlorination, distillation, hydrolysis, recovery and calcination
• Continuous mini-pilot operation in campaigns, including shift coverage, sampling plans and campaign reports
• Preparation and documentation of product samples and the experimental record that supports the plant design basis

Skills

Chlorination

Acid leaching

ICP-OES

Mass balances

Documentation

Problem solving

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in chemistry or chemical engineering

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Kunin Technologies in Chattanooga, TN is seeking a Laboratory Process Development scientist to execute chlorination, hydrolysis and calcination experiments on metal-bearing oxides and feeds. You will run bench and mini-pilot campaigns and help convert bench results into a design basis.

Reporting to the Lead Organic Chemist, you will work with process engineers and analytical chemists, manage mass balances, and document data for plant design.