• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.18-29
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• 2021

Platinum group metals (PGMs) are used in a wide range of application fields such as catalysts, electronic devices, electrodes, electrical devices, fuel cells and high temperature materials due to their excellent electrical and thermal conductivity as well as chemical resistivity. Platinum group elements are generally associated with nickel-copper sulfides in magmatic rocks. Depending on the relative concentrations of the PGMs, they are produced either as the primary products or as by-products of the nickel and copper. However, PGMs natural resource deposits are strictly limited in countries such as South Africa and Russia. The annual supply of PGMs is only under 500 t. Considering the limited supply of PGMs, there will be a noticeable increase in the supply risk associated with PGMs in the near future. Therefore, it is extremely important to recover PGMs from secondary resources such as spent catalysts. This paper reviews on overview of PGMs extraction and recycling processes.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.3-12
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• 2010

Platinum group metals with high purity are important raw materials for high technology industry. Since there are no domestic ores containing PGMs, it is of importance to develop a separation process by which ultra pure PGMs can be recovered from diverse spent resources. Data on the chemical properties and dissolution behavior of PGMs were obtained from the literature. A method for the thermodynamic analysis of the HCl solution with chlorine gas was introduced. Utilizing the difference in the chemical properties and dissolution behavior of PGMs would lead to an efficient separation process to recover ultra pure PGMs.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.36-45
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• 2011

The recovery of platinum group metals (PGMs) from the leach solution of spent auto-catalyst and the wash solution of the leach residue was investigated in the laboratory scale experiments by the cementation process using metal powders as the reductant. In this study, the effect of Al, Mg and Zn powders on the cementation process was particularly examined. Aluminum powder was selected as the most suitable reductant for the cementation of PGMs. At the cementation time of 10 minute under the aluminium stoichimetric amount of 19.3 and the reaction temperature of $50{\sim}60^{\circ}C$, the recovery of platinum group metals from the leach solution of the spent auto-catalyst was found to be 99.3%, 99.4%, 90.2% for Pt, Pd and Rh, respectively. Under the same conditions with the aluminium stoichimetric amount of 45, the recovery of platinum group metals from the wash solution of the leach residue of spent catalyst was observed to be 97%, 97% and 90% for Pt, Pd and Rh, respectively. In addition, it was possible to upgrade the platinum group metals in the precipitates obtained from the cementation process by about 10% through the removal of metal impurities by the nitric acid leaching at ambient temperature.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.28-36
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• 2008

The effect of attrition scrubbing on the recovery of platinum group metals (PGMs) from automobile catalytic converters has been investigated. Catalytic converters were first crushed into particles less than 2 mm and attrition scrubbed in the range of 60 min, and then they were sieved with several screens. The catalyst layer, $\gamma$-alumina, was dislodged from the surface of the supporting matrix into fine particles less than $45{\mu}m$ by attrition scrubbing. The fraction of fine particles less than $45{\mu}m$ increased as the residence time for attrition scrubbing increased. The composition of the fine fraction obtained at a residence time of 40 min was $CeO_2$ 19.3%, $ZrO_2$ 1.9% and PGMs 419 ppm. In the fine fraction, the recovery of y-alumina increased proportionally to the residence time. Simultaneously, the recovery rates of $CeO_2$, $ZrO_2$ and PGMs increased to 82.9%, 78.7% and 78.9%, respectively. The production of the fine fraction less than $45{\mu}m$ and the recovery of $\gamma$-alumina increased when the solid concentration and initial feed size increased. Therefore, the attrition scrubbing as the comminution and separation process was concerned to be effective for the recovery of catalyst layer from ceramic supporting matrix by physical impact and shearing action between particles in the scrubbing vessel.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.74-81
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• 2011

The dry method and wet method are currently used for the recovery of platinum group metals (Pt, Rh, Pd) contained in spent automobile catalysts. The study herein aims to identify the melting condition and optimum collector metal in accordance with a comparison of each concentration change in melting waste catalysts, using Fe and Cu in a basic experiment to recover waste catalysts through application of the dry melting method. As a summarized result of the experiment herein, it was determined to be more advantageous to use Fe as a parent material rather than Cu from the aspect of recollection rate, and the concentration change rate of platinum group metals within slag was greatly enhanced at $1,600^{\circ}C$ melting condition rather than at $1,500^{\circ}C$ in terms of melting processing temperature. The mean concentration of platinum group metals - Rh, Pd and Pt - within slag after a melting process at $1,600^{\circ}C$ were 6.21 ppm, 5.98 ppm and 6.97 ppm. The Rh and Pd were 50.58% and 55.31% respectively greater than the concentration change rate of platinum group metals in slag at a melting temperature of $1,500^{\circ}C$. However, since the initial concentration of Pt within the waste catalysts was 12.9 ppm, is relatively low, it was difficult to compare concentration change rates after the melting process.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.3-16
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• 2014

Recycling of spent autocatalyst that includes the platinum group metals (PGMs), namely palladium, platinum and rhodium, is a very profitable endeavor. In order to ensure an efficient promotion of an appropriate policy-making and the technical development of the recycling process of spent autocatalyst in Korea, the generated amount, trading conditions, and recycling technology for spent autocatalyst were surveyed. The generated amount of spent autocatalyst was estimated by analyzing the domestic statistical data of registration & disuse of automobiles and the records of autocatalyst installation to new cars. The review of the recycling technology was carried out by surveying the recycling processes of 'Heesung PMTech Ltd.', which is the largest company in the recycling industry for spent autocatalyst in Korea. In addition to the above, some policy suggestions for the improvement of recycling industries for spent autocatalyst were offered.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.574-581
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• 2008

The optimum regeneration conditions for the regeneration of three way spent catalysts (TWCs), which were taken from automobiles with different driving conditions, were investigated to evaluate the suitability as alternative catalysts for removing VOCs. The spent catalysts were washed with five different acids ($HNO_3$, $H_2SO_4$, $C_2H_2O_4$, $C_6H_8O_7$, and $H_3PO_4$) to remove contaminants and examine the optimum conditions for recovering the catalytic activity. The physicochemical properties of spent and its regenerated TWCs were evaluated by using nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, XRD, and ICP. The relative atomic ratios of contaminants and platinum group metals (PGMs) of the spent TWCs were greatly dependent on the placed positions. The main contaminants formed were lubricant oil additives and metallic components. Also, the regeneration treatment increased the PGMs ratio, BET surface area, and average pore diameter of TWCs. The catalytic activity results indicated that the spent TWCs have the possibility for removing VOCs. Moreover, the employed acid treatments greatly enhanced the catalytic activity of the spent TWCs. Especially, nitric and oxalic acids provided the most improvement in the catalytic behavior. The catalytic activities of the regenerated TWCs were significantly influenced by the containing platinum ratios rather than the removal ratios of contaminants and the changes in the structural properties offered by the acid treatments.