Metal recycle and recovery

Abstract

The development of techniques for the removal and recovery of metals from industrial effluent taking account of the consequences of the definition of waste in the Basel Convention on transfrontier shipment of waste is reported. The use of fluidised bed cell electrolysis in the recovery of metals from dilute solutions is investigated, and the conditions for recovery optimised. For the first time the application of a novel activated carbon cloth concentrator cell to recover metals from effluent solutions is reported and the conditions for its use optimised. Comparative studies using conventional mesh and plate electrodes, and novel activated carbon cloth electrode for the recovery of cobalt from dilute solution, and copper from three different hydrometallurgical solutions viz (i) Cu/Zn, (ii)Cu/Zn/Fe and (iii) Cu/Zn/Cd containing effluents were carried out. Application of concentrator cell technology including activated carbon cloth and ion exchange resin to the recovery of metals, including precious group metals, from industrial as-supplied samples is reported. Optimisation leads to successful recovery of iridium and palladium from very dilute solutions. The alternative recovery of metal as added-value chemicals is also investigated. The Basel Convention is concerned with transfrontier shipment of waste from developed to developing countries and has produced a need to investigate the leachability of metals in various forms. In this work the leachability of copper and zinc is studied under various conditions that model environmental situations and the results have been used to develop a methodology to determine whether a metal containing material would be subject to a shipment ban under the Convention. As part of the development of the methodology, leaching studies were also carried out on single chemical compounds of copper, zinc, cadmium and lead, and their bioavailability determined.