Project Synopsis
Develop an FEL-1 preliminary process design of a process that recovers precious metals from spent catalytic converters.
Project Summary
Process Engineering Associates, LLC (PROCESS) was contracted by the client, an international process engineering and design company, to develop a preliminary FEL-1 process design scaled up from an operating pilot-plant system for the ultimate client, a precious metals processing company. This batch process uses an aqueous solution to leach precious metals (platinum and palladium) from crushed catalytic converter material which are then recovered by electro-winning. The new system was designed to accommodate future process refinements which might include variations in temperature, pH, additive concentration, etc.
The following process design tasks were completed for this project:
- Process design basis preparation
- Development of heat and material balances using both CHEMCAD and OLI Flowsheet simulation software
- Process flow diagram (PFD) preparation
- Preliminary layout drawing preparation
- Alternative evaluations of key unit operations
- Utility and emission summaries
- Preliminary sized equipment list development
- Preliminary cost estimate preparation.
The client is currently moving to further plans for construction of the new process.
Industry Type
Precious Metals Recovery and Recycling
Utilized Skills
- FEL-1 preliminary process design
- Scale up design from pilot to commercial
- Process simulation.