E-waste recycling technology remains complex metallurgical challenge
When properly collected, the recycling of waste electronic and electrical equipment, or WEEE for short, remains a complex metallurgical challenge. The complexity arises from the diverse and functional combination of metals and other materials, making recycling and recovery more challenging compared to conventional metal scraps. High recycling rates can only be achieved with a profound understanding of the metallurgical processes in combination with extensive experience in plant engineering. Ideally, digital twins and simulations are used to determine the best process route and the design of the various plants.
Over recent decades, SMS have developed numerous processes to offer tailored solutions for recycling WEEE, more specifically circuit boards that contain valuable elements. SMS provides pyro- and hydrometallurgical solutions, as well as combinations of both, designed to effectively address the challenges of recycling complex metal-containing waste.
Its WEEE recycling solutions range from standalone technologies that produce copper-rich alloys consisting mainly of valuable metals such as copper, cobalt, nickel, gold, silver, platinum, and palladium as an intermediate product, to complex plants producing all relevant metals as well as slag and energy. The larger plant concepts can be complemented with rectangular copper anode refining furnaces, which also allow the recycling of various copper scraps.
The current design offers an annual capacity of 3,000 to 120,000 t of WEEE concentrates. The BlueSmelter and the TBRC are key units for smelting the WEEE scrap. Compared with each other, the BlueSmelter can handle lower-grade WEEE concentrates with higher organic contents, while the TBRC can handle bulky material or higher viscous slags. To establish the most effective recycling processes, SMS offers various technology options and customer-specific process combinations.
The BlueSmelter for WEEE smelting is designed to process a wide range of secondary raw materials containing copper and precious metals, with a focus on low qualities and high organic content but with significant monetary value. The improved bath smelter furnace enables maintenance-free blowing of the media via the patented injectors, which provides better turbulence for rapid reactions in the vessel.
The Aurubis project
The key component of the new multi-metal recycling plant for Aurubis is a top-blown rotary converter (TBRC), used to recover copper, nickel, tin, zinc, precious metals, and platinum group metals from complex recycling materials. This technology also has its origins in the steel industry. The scope of delivery includes sampling and off-gas cleaning facilities. Aurubis and SMS group have also signed a cooperation agreement, establishing a long-term collaborative partnership.
