Recycling and remediation of metal from advanced alloy waste

Introduction

High-performance steels and alloys necessary for modern applications comprise of a plethora of valuable and critical metal resources such as nickel, cobalt, tantalum, niobium, and rhenium, which are currently poorly recycled. To promote circularity of resource and sustainable manufacturing, new processes are required for the recycling of these alloys and their wastes. Current methods of metal recycling are often energy intensive or use harsh acids and organic solvents which generate large volumes of contaminated liquids.

Challenge

SEM wanted to look at potential routes to the recovery of metals which can then be re-used.

Solution

Feasibility funding from IBioIC enabled SEM and Professor Jason Love from the University of Edinburgh to work together on the project.

SEM technology was used to demonstrate industrial use by remediation of the raffinates and solvents which were previously untreatable and detrimental to the environment.

Professor Love evaluated a new chemical metal separations process, developed at the University of Edinburgh, and demonstrated that this technology was extremely successful in recovering high-value rhenium from alloy waste.

Outcome

The project was extremely successful in demonstrating high rhenium recovery rates from alloy waste and subsequent treatment of the raffinate effluent used in the recovery process.

This technology has the potential to create a whole new industry which will enable the recover and reuse of valuable metallic species without the requirement for new mining operations.