SMS group is taking the path to base future solutions in the non-ferrous metals sector on the circular economy (CE). Therefore, the recycling of valuable metals is one of the key enablers for the CE. SMS group offers numerous recycling solutions to recovery metals and other valuable substances from metal scraps, electronic wastes, batteries, catalysts, etc. which are based on a sequence of pyro- and/or hydromet-allurgical process steps. SMS group provides solutions for the efficient recycling of WEEE to recover the contained metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, nickel, and cobalt as are part of the BlueMetals family. Up to 98 % of these metals can be completely recovered and converted to pure products. The recycling of batteries and accumulators depends greatly on the chemical and physical properties of the input material. The necessary pyro- and hydrometallurgical units are available in the SMS group product portfolio. As an example, SMS group offers a py-ro-hydrometallurgical process route for the recycling of Li-ion batteries combining the advantages of both routes, called BlueBattery process. The hydrometallurgical processes are based on leaching technology. Here, SMS group formed the joint venture primobius for the development of a recycling concept for Li-ion batteries. A demonstration plant will be installed and operated in Germany by SMS group. Our BlueCAT process assures the recovery of the majority of the PGM's contained in the catalysts. SMS group conducted an internal study showing that more than 40 mill, t of slags are produced globally by the Cu, Pb, Zn, Sn and ferro alloy industry still containing valuable metals. Electric slag cleaning furnaces are primarily used in the nickel, copper, lead, and PGM (Platinum Group Metals) industries recovering metals from slags and SMS group/Metix has supplied more than 40 units to date. The new BlueSlag follows a two-step principle, ladle treatment station and slag-settling furnace, and was primarily developed for the treatment of copper and nickel slag. Our goal is to reduce Cu content in discard slag to under 0.3 %. Impurities in copper slag, such as Zn, Pb, or As, are also reduced to obtain slag as a product. For the recycling of copper scrap, SMS group has developed a new generation of fire refining furnaces - either tilting refining furnaces (TRF) or elliptical tilting refining furnaces (ETRF) optionally expanded with top blown rotary converter (TBRC) -, thus opening up the possibility of producing anode copper and FRHC copper from copper scrap. In the pyrometallurgical recycling sub-units hydrogen can be used either as a fuel or for refining. SMS group developed special burners and injectors, which can run either on hydrogen-enriched media or 100 % hydrogen. Furthermore, SMS group successfully demonstrated the positive refining effect of the use of hydrogen by purging the metal and slag bath. In several recycling plants the dedusting systems plays a significant role in the recovery of the non-ferrous metals, especially those that can be distributed to the gas phase and subsequently be recovered as condensed species. © 2021 GDMB Gesellschaft fur Bergbau, Metallurgie, Rohstoff- und Umwelttechnik e.V.. All rights reserved.
