PbZn 2020: The 9th International Symposium on Lead and Zinc Processing: Secondary Lead
Sponsored by: The Mining and Materails Processing Institute of Japan, Nonferrous Metals Society of China, GDMB: The Society for Mining, Metallurgy Resourcce and Environmental Technology, Metallurgy & Materials Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy & Petroleum, TMS Extraction and Processing Division, TMS: Hydrometallurgy and Electrometallurgy Committee, TMS: Process Technology and Modeling Committee, TMS: Pyrometallurgy Committee, TMS: Recycling and Environmental Technologies Committee
Program Organizers: Andreas Siegmund, LanMetCon LLC; Shafiq Alam, University of Saskatchewan; Joseph Grogan, Gopher Resource; Ulrich Kerney, Recylex; Cheng Liu, China Enfi Engineering Corporation; Etsuro Shibata, Tohoku University
Tuesday 2:00 PM
February 25, 2020
Room: 15B
Location: San Diego Convention Ctr
Session Chair: Stuart Nicol, Glencore Technology
2:00 PM
Operational Overview of RSR North America Corp.: Timothy Ellis1; 1RSR Technologies
RSR North America (RSRNA) is the largest secondary lead (Pb) producer in North America with smelting operations in Middletown, NY, Indianapolis, IN, and City of Industry, CA. Over the last several decades, RSRNA has focused on sustainability, becoming an industry leader in environmental performance by the installation of Wet Electrostatic Precipitators (WESPs) at all three operations. Also through the use of advanced engineering controls, average blood lead levels of plant personnel are well below 10 micrograms per deciliter, approaching background levels for non-industry personnel. With the industry’s need to improve Pb battery performance to maintain sustainability in the marketplace, RSRNA has developed state-of-the-art analytical capabilities, including Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS), to better quantify key elements crucial to Pb battery operation. This has led to the development of several new alloys, including the soft Pb micro-alloyed SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE™ and the high-temperature grid alloy 009-PERFORMANCE GRID™, improve batter performance (e.g. cycle life).
2:20 PM
Refractory Solutions by Laboratory Tests and Fieldworks for Lead Recycling Applications: Katja Reinharter1; Dean Gregurek1; Alfred Spanring1; Camille Fleuriault2; Joe Grogan2; 1RHI Magnesita; 2Gopher Resource
The most common route for secondary lead recycling from battery scrap in the USA is the reverberatory smelting furnace. Detailed knowledge of operating conditions is important for selecting and developing the most suitable refractory materials for such a process route as they influence the refractory performance. This paper describes detailed mineralogical investigations on selected slag samples from a secondary lead smelter followed by laboratory test work (corrosion test with an induction furnace and a crucible test) with magnesia-chromite bricks. Based on the results of those tests refractory bricks with the highest corrosion resistance were selected for use in field trials. Investigations of post-mortem samples are carried out to understand the operational practice-orientated wear mechanism. This work was done to increase the refractory application knowledge of the lead smelting industry as well as providing customized refractory solution to RHI Magnesita’s customers.
2:40 PM
Influence of Minor Elements in Waste Lead Battery Recycling: Yusuke Sakata1; 1Chigirishima Refinery, Toho Zinc Co., Ltd.
Chigirishima refinery of Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. Started its lead smelting and refining operation in 1951 and now produces 95,000 tons of electrolytic lead per annum. At Chigirishima refinery the conventional smelting and refining method was adopted, with series of process of sintering － blast furnace － electrolytic process. We recover some valuable by-product metals such as silver from lead concentrate and also utilize the cupola furnace to recycle the lead electrode in the waste battery. This report describes the influences of minor elements in the lead electrode treatment such as Sb, Ca, Sn, sulfuric acid and organic substances with its measures to against them.
3:00 PM
The FAST Pb Process and Its Impact on Secondary Lead Production: Massimo Maccagni1; Edoardo Guerrini1; 1Engitec Technologies
Today all the lead is produced in pyrometallurgical plants. The secondary lead production is assuming a growing importance but requires to be updated to comply with the more and more stringent regulation that are going to be implemented in the future. Engitec, involved since a long time in the development of an hydrometallurgical lead production, finally through campaigns run on the FAST Pb Process demo plant, demonstrated that the recovery of lead from battery paste through electrochemistry is technically and economically viable. The latest development was based on the use of non desulphurized paste learning that the presence of sulphates in the electrolyte can be controlled and is not causing any additional technical problem. This new approach heavily impacts on the new way of operating the whole battery recycling process simplifying the flowsheet through the removal of some problematic units and achieving a further reduction of the environmental impact.
3:20 PM Break
3:40 PM
Recent Improvements at Hosokura Lead Smelter and Refinery: Hironobu Nakano1; Shinichi Ito1; Shinji Abe1; Nozomu Hasegawa1; 1Hosokura Metal Mining Co. LTD.
Hosokura Metal Mining Co. LTD. operates a secondary lead smelter and refinery, which produces about 30,000 tons of electric lead per year from waste lead-acid batteries and lead residue generated in copper smelters and refineries. Waste water from the closed lead and zinc mines and tailing dams is also treated. Since 2017, our company has carried out a 10-year future plan, which focuses on themes such as safe working environment, compliance, and optimization of lead smelting and refining business.This paper reports major topics about the plan, such as “Improvement of working environment around furnaces”, “Rationalization of the closed mines monitoring”, “Improvements of waste lead-acid battery separation work”, and so on.
4:00 PM
Refractory Corrosion Comparison through a Rotary Drum Furnace Slag Test for the Lead Industry: Daniela Fonseca1; Alfred Spanring1; Felipe Terra Elias1; Geraldo Eduardo Gonçalves1; 1RHI Magnesita GmbH
The simulation of the operating conditions in lead smelters through a rotary drum furnace test is a very useful method to compare the performance of different refractories. Six refractory grades were submitted to corrosion tests in a rotary drum furnace using six Fe2O3-SiO2-CaO synthetic slags with varying contents of sodium carbonate or anhydrous borax. This study aims to gather information about the relationship between different sodium levels in the slag and the corrosion resistance of bricks used in the lead industry. The rebonded magnesia-chromite grade showed the best overall wear resistance. High sodium content in the slag favored the corrosion of the alumina-chromia brick, while low sodium content lead to higher corrosion of the direct-bonded magnesia-chromite grades due to increased amounts of CaO and SiO2 in the slag. The results obtained in this study can be used to recommend refractory grades based on the slag chemical analysis.
4:20 PM
Side Submerged Combustion Bath Smelting Technology ——A New Process for Recovering Lead from Lead Paste of Waste Lead-acid Battery: Zhang Ge1; Yongfeng Qi1; 1China ENFI Engineering Corporation
The current situation of recycled lead resources and recycling in China was described in this paper, as well as the latest development of recycled lead recycling technology. The practical applications of side-brown submerged combustion bath smelting technology (SSC technology) in recovering lead paste were introduced. Lastly, the potential merits and application prospect of SSC technology in solid hazardous waste was also discussed.