Waste Management Solutions for Metal Manufacturing Industry - Metal
There are several challenges faced by the metal manufacturing industry. Firstly, there is a drive to recover as much metal credit as possible before disposal of by-products as wastes. Secondly, there is a requirement to minimise waste generation or alternatively minimise the costs of managing the disposal of any hazardous waste material generated during the manufacturing process. Finally, keeping the company competitive by generating value or by reducing costs in the manufacturing process. Any solutions that can overcome these challenges must be considered. Tetronics can assist with a range of metal manufacturing waste challenges, including:
Applications Overview
Spent Potliner
Spent Potliner (SPL) is a contaminated graphite/ceramics cell waste generated in the primary production of aluminium and worldwide is estimated at a rate of over 500,000 tonnes per year. It is a common challenge for many companies within this industry and in many countries, this waste has been identified as an extremely problematic hazardous waste because it contains concentrations of cyanide and fluoride and gives off noxious and flammable gases when in contact with moisture. These contaminants readily 'leach' into the surrounding soils and groundwater during both short term and long term storage and can cause potential contamination of drinking water reserves. Because of this concern, SPL must be managed and disposed of in an appropriate manner. Tetronics is currently working with a range of Aluminium manufacturers on their Spent Potliner challenge.
Steel Plant Waste
During the manufacturing of steel, a significant amount of hazardous baghouse dust can be produced that contains zinc and other metals and minerals generated from their steel smelting process. This dust is typically extracted by the air pollution control system on an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF). The traditional means of disposing of EAF dust is at a hazardous waste landfill site where although the tonnage cost varies from country to country, a common factor is that landfill costs continue to rise. Steel plant waste is difficult to recycle back through the primary steel plant facility due to environmental compliance issues and/or their physical form as particulates/dusts. Tetronics’ plasma‐enhanced metal recovery plants can process this dry dust, in a single stage without pre-treatment, in order to extract the Zinc and other metals and minerals from the dust. Want to know more,
Tundish Heating
Controlling the temperature of the steel entering the mould is a central feature of all steelmaking practice. Great efforts are made throughout the steelmaking and casting process to ensure that the steel has the correct superheat at each stage of its journey. However, significant variations in casting temperature still occur and these variations lead to a range of problems in steel quality and caster operation. A Tetronics Tundish Heater enables the steelmaker to keep the superheat within the optimum range at the last point before it enters the mould.