Abstract: A waste lithium battery recovery system includes a feeding device, a steam generating device, a supercharger, a water ion generating device, a lithium battery processing device, a condensate tank, a plasma exhaust device, and a recovery processing device. In practice, the steam generating device produces saturated steam. The supercharger heats the saturated steam into superheated steam. The water ion generating device transforms the superheated steam into water ions. The lithium battery processing device performs reactions of molecular scission, pyrolysis and carbonization, and electrolytes and separators of the waste lithium batteries are treated by the water ions to form carbon residues, gas-liquid wastes, and inorganic wastes. The gas-liquid wastes are processed by the condensate tank and the plasma exhaust device to form harmless gases and liquids. The inorganic wastes are processed by the recovery processing device to produce the metals.

Abstract: A process and an apparatus are disclosed for improved recovery of metal from hot and cold dross, wherein a dross-treating furnace is provided with a filling material with capacity to store heat. This filling material is preheated to a desired temperature by injection of an oxidizing gas to burn non-recoverable metal remaining in the filling material after tapping of the recoverable metal contained in the dross and discharging of the treatment residue. When dross is treated in such furnace, the heat emanating by conduction from the filling material is sufficient to melt and separate the recoverable metal contained in the dross, without addition of an external heat source, such as fuel or gas burners, plasma torches or electric arcs and without use of any salt fluxes. Furthermore, the recovered metal being in the molten state can be fed to the molten metal holding furnace without cooling the melt.

Abstract: Process for melting scrap metal in a furnace comprising the steps of feeding a charge of solid scrap metal to the furnace, supplying fuel and an oxygen-rich oxidant to the furnace and combusting the fuel with the oxidant to generate heat inside the furnace, melting the charge of solid scrap metal in the furnace by means of the heat, withdrawing the molten metal from the furnace. Following the step of feeding the charge of solid scrap metal to the furnace, the fuel is combusted with the oxidant so as to generate one or more visible flames in the furnace above the charge and before the step of withdrawing the molten metal from the furnace, the fuel is combusted with the oxidant so as to generate flameless combustion in the furnace above the molten metal.

Abstract: A simple, compact burner achieves a more optimal melting of a solid charge followed by performance of combustion under distributed combustion conditions. The burner achieves this by fluidically bending the flame towards the solid charge during a melting phase with an actuating jet of oxidant, redirecting the flame in a direction away from the charge, and staging injection of oxidant among primary and secondary portions during a distributed combustion phase.

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for the separation and recovery of non-ferrous metals from zinc-bearing residues, in particular from residues produced by the zinc manufacturing industry. The process comprises the steps of: —subjecting the residue to a flash or agitated bath fuming step, thereby producing an Fe bearing slag and Zn- and Pb-bearing fumes; and —extracting the Zn- and Pb-bearing fumes and valorising Zn and Pb; characterised in that CaO, SiO2 and MgO are added as a flux before or during the fuming step so as to obtain a final slag composition with: formula (I) all concentrations being expressed in wt %. The invention also relates to a single-chamber reactor for Zn-fuming equipped with one or more submerged plasma torches as heat and gas sources. [ Fe ] [ SiO 2 ] + [ CaO ] [ SiO 2 ] + [ MgO ] 3 > 3.5 ; 0.1 < [ CaO ] [ SiO 2 ] < 1.

Abstract: The method relates to a pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical process for the recovery and recycling of lithium and vanadium compounds from a material comprising spent rechargeable lithium batteries, particularly lithium metal gel and solid polymer electrolyte rechargeable batteries. The method involves providing a mass of the material, hardening it by cooling at a temperature below room temperature, comminuting the mass of cooled and hardened material, digesting with an acid its ashes obtained by incineration, or its solidified salts obtained by molten salt oxidation, or the comminuted mass itself, to give a mother liquor, extracting vanadium compounds from the mother liquor, separating heavy metals and aluminium therefrom, and precipitating lithium carbonate from the remaining solution.

Abstract: A processing apparatus capable of separating and recovering resins and metals, respectively, from an object being processed, which has resins and metals as its constituent, comprises a first gastight area (102), in which temperature and pressure are regulated so as to permit selective thermal decomposition of resins from the object (150) being processed, a second gastight area (103), which is partitioned from the first gastight area by an openable and closeable partition (105C) and in which temperature and pressure are regulated so as to permit selective vaporization of metals from the object, first recovering chamber (111) connected to the first gastight area for recovering gases produced by thermal decomposition of resins, and second recovering chamber (115) connected to the second gastight area for recovering vaporized metals.

Abstract: A treating method of recovering zinc in the metal state from a waste containing the zinc in the oxide state, lead, chlorine, fluorine, and water comprising a mixing process 90 of obtaining a to-be-treated mixed material 70 by mixing a steel dust 7 and a reducing material 8 together; a chlorine recovery process 91 of recovering the chlorine and the water by heating the to-be-treated mixed material 70; a lead recovery process 92 of recovering fluorine and lead by heating the to-be-treated mixed material 70 under vacuum; a zinc recovery process 93 of recovering metallic zinc by heating the to-be-treated mixed material 70 at a temperature higher than that in the lead recovery process 92 with the vacuum state maintained so as to reduce and vaporize zinc; and a residue recovery process 94 of recovering a residue 79 of the to-be-treated mixed material 70. This construction allows the metallic zinc to be recovered at a high purity from a zinc oxide-containing waste and an on-site treatment to be accomplished.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for the recovery of metallic lead from exhausted lead-acid batteries. According to the invention, the metallic scrap obtained thereof is treated by a smelting operation which is carried out under a layer of a molten flux. The flux comprises alkali hydroxide and optionally also carbonate(s) and sulfate(s) of said alkali. The temperature which is maintained during the smelting is between 350.degree. C. to 600.degree. C. and most preferably in the range of between 450.degree. C. to 550.degree. C. The preferred weight ratio between the metallic scrap and the flux is between 15 to 45. Generally, the alkali flux is selected from sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide and mixtures thereof. The process is characterized by a very extent of lead recovery compared with the known processes and absence of exhausted gases.

Abstract: Apparatus and a method for recovering solder from dross. Dross is poured into a heated chamber (1). The heated dross is then compressed by a piston (21) to force good solder out of the dross into a collecting tray (17).

Abstract: A mobile system for the remediation of a mixture of lead-contaminated soil and waste lead-acid battery casings includes a plasma arc furnace unit having a plasma arc torch which operates at a sufficiently elevated temperature to (i) convert the battery casings in the mixture into a combustible gas, (ii) volatilize lead contaminants which are present in the mixture and entrain the volatilized lead contaminants as a vapor in the combustible gas, and (iii) vitrify the soil, whereby lead contaminants that were present in the mixture are substantially removed therefrom. An internal combustion engine-driven generator supplies the plasma arc furnace with electrical power. In this regard, the internal combustion engine-driven generator receives the combustible gas from the plasma arc furnace as a fuel source in order to drive the generator.

Abstract: Lead-contaminated soil and battery casings are remediated using a plasma arc furnace which pyrolyzes the soil and waste battery casings so as to form a vitrified slag and a combustible gas, respectively. The combustible gas along with volatilized lead (and other heavy metals which may be present) are transferred to, and used as a primary fuel by, a conventional smelting furnace. The volatilized lead that is entrained in the combustible gas is thus transferred to the recovery and environmental protection/control equipment associated with the smelting furnace. The soil, on the other hand, is convened into a non-toxic (i.e., according to the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure) vitrified slag by the plasma arc which may be crushed and used as a commercial material (e.g., roadway aggregate, asphalt filler material and the like) or simply transferred to a landfill where it poses no environmental threat.

Abstract: Lead-contaminated soil and battery casings are remediated using a plasma arc furnace which pyrolyzes the soil and waste battery casings so as to form a vitrified slag and a combustible gas, respectively. The combustible gas along with volatilized lead (and other heavy metals which may be present) are transferred to, and used as a primary fuel by, a conventional smelting furnace. The volatilized lead that is entrained in the combustible gas is thus transferred to the recovery and environmental protection/control equipment associated with the smelting furnace. The soil, on the other hand, is converted into a non-toxic (i.e., according to the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure) vitrified slag by the plasma arc which may be crushed and used as a commercial material (e.g., roadway aggregate, asphalt filler material and the like) or simply transferred to a landfill where it poses no environmental threat.

Abstract: A process is described for treating spent batteries of any type, comprising essentially the following stages:a) disintegrating the spent batteries in water to a piece size of less than 7 mm followed by stirring in water, then screening to obtain a pulverlent aqueous turbid fraction (underscreen fraction) and a coarse fraction (overscreen fraction);b) stirring the pulverulent aqueous turbid fraction at a pH of between 7 and 8, followed by filtering by which the solids are separated from the aqueous solution, which is fed to water treatment;c) removing mercury both from the coarse fraction of point a) and from the separated solids of point b) in an indirectly heated continuously rotating mercury removal furnace operating in total absence of air and to which calcium hydroxide has been added, to obtain residues essentially free of mercury.

Abstract: A process for producing a laminated material for slide elements including at least one backing layer and at least one functional layer of a material frozen in the amorphous state and the backing layer.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for recovering cadmium in used nickel-cadmium batteries by heat treatment. According to the invention, a plastic case for a battery can be separated from a battery body easily without leaking cadmium. High purity cadmium can be recovered by volatilizing cadmium in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.

Abstract: Indium-containing feedstocks, such as flue dusts from a refining or smelting process, are treated to increase the concentration of indium and at the same time to reduce the concentrations of lead, copper, and arsenic. The flue dusts are treated in a sodium-doped lead bath at temperatures of 675.degree. to 800.degree. C. Soda ash in the amount of 15 to 35 weight percent is blended with the feed stock and added to the sodium-doped lead bullion. The sodium reacts with the dusts to form a liquid dross, which is removed, cooled, and crushed. The powdered dross is water leached to remove the sodium salts. The indium remains in the filler cake and can be processed by conventional methods for the recovery of indium. About 95% of the indium reports to the filter cake, while lead retention in the filter cake is only about 5-15% of the initial lead content in the dust. A majority of the zinc also reports to the filter cake.

Abstract: Spent oxidic catalyst, such as vanadium pentoxide from a sulphuric acid manfacturing process, is rendered into an environmentally acceptable non-leachable form suitable for disposable by incorporation into a vitrified amorphous slag formed of oxidic slag forming agents such as CaO, SiO.sub.2, FeO and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3. The vitrified slag may be formed as part of a conventional ferrous or non-ferrous smelting process, or may employ a pre-existing slag from such a process.

Abstract: This invention relates to the metallurgy of iron and particularly to the separation and recovery of metals from electric arc furnace (EAF) dusts. While the invention discloses a process for the separation and recovery applicable to zinc, lead, cadmium and antimony contained in such EAF dusts, the invention is particularly applicable to the separation and recovery of zinc. This invention describes a method for reducing the zinc contained in an EAF dust, volatilizing the metallic zinc so produced from the mass of the dust, and reoxidizing the metallic zinc to zinc oxide along with the simultaneous regeneration of hydrogen which can be recycled to treat additional EAF dust.