GB2094669A - Extracting plastics-free lead products from scrap accumulators - Google Patents

Extracting plastics-free lead products from scrap accumulators Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2094669A
GB2094669A GB8207299A GB8207299A GB2094669A GB 2094669 A GB2094669 A GB 2094669A GB 8207299 A GB8207299 A GB 8207299A GB 8207299 A GB8207299 A GB 8207299A GB 2094669 A GB2094669 A GB 2094669A
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United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
sorting device
slurry
heavy
lead
mixed material
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Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB8207299A
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Kloeckner Humboldt Deutz AG
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Kloeckner Humboldt Deutz AG
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Application filed by Kloeckner Humboldt Deutz AG filed Critical Kloeckner Humboldt Deutz AG
Publication of GB2094669A publication Critical patent/GB2094669A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01MPROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/54Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste accumulators
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02WCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
    • Y02W30/00Technologies for solid waste management
    • Y02W30/50Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
    • Y02W30/84Recycling of batteries or fuel cells

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Electrochemistry (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Separation Of Solids By Using Liquids Or Pneumatic Power (AREA)
  • Treatment Of Sludge (AREA)
  • Processing Of Solid Wastes (AREA)

Abstract

A method of extracting the lead content of used scrap accumulators comprises crushing the accumulators, classifying the crushed material and separating the coarse mixed material obtained suspended in a heavy slurry into specifically heavy lead components and specifically light plastics components by means of the sink/float method. The fine mixed material obtained during classification is sorted in a spinal sorting device in suspension in a heavy slurry into a specifically heavy plastics-free lead product and specifically light plastics components. The invention also includes apparatus suitable for carrying out the method.

Description

SPECIFICATION A method and apparatus for extracting plastics-free lead products from scrap accumulators The invention relates to a method of and apparatus for extracting the lead content of used scrap accumulators which are first of all crushed and then the crushed material is classified. The coarse mixed material which is obtained and which is in suspension in the heavy slurry is separated out into specifically heavy lead components and specifically light plastics components by means of the sink float method of separation while the fine mixed material obtained during classification is separated out into a fairly coarse and fairly fine lead-containing slag.
Moreover, the invention relates to an apparatus for carrying out the method.
Reclamation of lead from used accumulators takes on considerable economic significance when it is considered that almost 40% of the world's lead production is used to produce accumulators for use in vehicles and in industry. Before the scrap accumulators can be put into suitable metallurgical furnaces in order to reclaim the lead, the lead-containing components such as metallic lead, lead oxide and lead sulphate are usually obtained as useful products by mechanical dressing and are separated off from the casting materials of the accumulators as well as from the separators which are located inside the accumulators. The casing material of the accumulators consists frequently of hard rubber, polystyrene, polyethylene or polypropylene, whereas the separators essentially comprise PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or hard paper.In this patent application the materials of the accumulator casings and the separators are described jointly as "Plastics".
In a known mechanical process for dressing scrap accumulators (German Patent Specification No 1533129), the accumulators are emptied of acid and crushed with the aid of tumble crushers and impact crushers. The crushed accumulators are classified on a screen into coarse mixed material, which is approximately 80-to 5 mm and fne mixed material which is between 0 and 5 mm.The coarse mixed material is supplied as a screen overflow to a heavy slurry sink float separator, namely a lifting wheel separator, which separates the coarse mixed material into specifically heavy lead components and specifically light plastics components while the fine mixed material is supplied together with rinsing water as the throughput through the screen to a spiral classifier which separates the fine mixed material into a fairly coarse lead-containing product with a grain size of approximately 0.5 to 5 mm and a fairly fine lead containing slag with a grain size of 0.5 mm. The more coarse lead-containing product which is 0.5 to 5 mm makes up approximately 35% by weight of the total material put through the dressing plant as a proportion and approximately 75% is lead-components and approximately 5% plastics components i.e. there is a mixed product.
This lead-and plastics-containing mixed product has up to now either been heated together with the fine slag obtained as a filter cake and mixed with the blast furnace charge from a subsequent shaft furnace or fed together with the metallic lead product to a short drum furnace and processed into lead. With this necessary pyro-metallurgical futher processng, it is disadvantageous if the fairly coarse lead slag fraction which is 0.5 to 5 mm, and is described as a mixed product contains at least 5% plastics components, because these cause the formation of sulphur and chlorine compounds, during combustion, in the waste gases and the compounds are combined chemically and isolated and can no longer be let into the atmosphere for reasons of pollution.The cost of apparatus for this may be so great that it undermines the economic viability of dressing the accumulator scrap while reclaiming the valuable substances: namely on the one hand lead and on the other hand plastics.
In order to separate off the plastics components from the mixed product during the process of dressing the accumulator scrap, it is known to pass the fine mixed material leaving the rinsed screen as throughput through the screen which is betwen 0 and approximately 7 mm, not to a spiral classifier, but rather a hydrocyclone in which the fine mixed material in suspension with the circulating water is separatedout into specifically heavy lead components and specifically light plastics components (German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2726361). However the hydrocyclone enlarges the constructional height of the dressing plant and products obtained from the hydrocyclone still have a substantially higher moisture content despite subsequent dewatering than they do in the spiral classifier.Thus, if the lead slag which consists of lead oxide and lead sulphate is supplied for pyrometallurgical further processing then there is a high cost in terms of energy in processing the very moist product. In addition, when using a hydrocyclone, there is the danger of enriching the fine lead slag in circulation.
Furthermore pumping up the fine mixed material which comes from the rinse screen on to the hydrocyclone requires special control for safe operation.
The invention seeks to improve the method of dressing scrap accumulators such as is known from German Patent Specification No. 1533129 by means of dressing techniques and apparatus simply, i.e. by producing a lead product of approximately 0.5 to 5 mm which is plastics free so that none of the damaging sulphur or chlorine compounds can occur when further processing this lead product by pyrometallurgical means, without using a hydrocyclone to separate off the plastics components from the lead slag.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of extracting the lead content of used scrap accumulators comprising crushing the accumulators, classifying the crushed material, and separating the coarse mixed material obtained suspended in a heavy slurry into specifically heavy lead components and specifically light plastics components by means of the sink/float method of separation, wherein the fine mixed material obtained during classification is sorted in a spiral or helical sorting device in suspension in a heavy slurry into a specifically heavy load product which is free of plastics and specifically light plastics components.
Apparatus for extracting plastics-free lead products from scrap accumulators, comprising a crushing device, a classifying device for broken portions of accumulator for producing a coarse mixed material and a fine mixed material, and a heavy slurry sink'float separating device for separating the coarse mixed material into specifically heavy lead components and specifically light plastics components wherein a spiral sorting device is provided for separating the fine mixed material into a specifically heavy lead product which is free of plastics and specifically light plastics components.
The fine mixed material which comes out of the classifying process with a grain size of 0 to approximately 5 to 7 mm may be sorted in a special spiral or helical sorting device in suspension in a heavy slurry into a specifically heavy plastics-free lead product and specifically light plastics components. The spiral sorting device may be operated with a heavy surry having a density of approximately 1.5 to 1 .7g/cm2 so that the plastics components carried along in the lead slag float in the trough of the spiral sorting device whereas the lead product itself sinks and may be extracted by a conveyor element such as a screw conveyor. The plastics components which are floated in the trough of the spiral sorting device may flow out with the aid of a rotating paddle arranged above the trough together with the heavy slurry which is circulated.Therefore the method in accordance with the invention uses a set of machines similar to a spiral classifier in the first instance and is used chiefly as a wet sorting device or sink/float heavy slurry separating plant and this is something which was not previously possible. In any case, the lead product extracted by the spiral sorting device with a grain size of approximately 0.5 to 5 or 7 mm in a plastics free form is much drier than a lead slag drawn off by a hydrocyclone so that this lead product can be further treated without difficulty in a subsequently connected pyrometallurgical machine.
When the method in accordance with the invention is used, not only can these coarse-grain pieces of lead which are 5 to approximately 80 mm (lead grids and pole tops) be further treated by pyrometallurgic al means but also can the lead slag which is 0.5 to Smm (lead oxide and lead sulphate) be treated without danger to the environment so that there is no necessity to keep plastics-containing lead slag unused on dumps in order to comply with the stringent pollution regulations.
The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawing, the single figure of which shows a flow chart of a method in accordance with the invention.
Scrap accumulators are transported by a loading device 10 from a dump 11, in which they have already been broken up to a large extent by being turned over and moved around and have had at last a considerable part of their acid content removed.
The loading device 10 loads the scrap accumulators into a feed chute 12 and on to an upwardly moving conveyor belt 13. From there the material is supplied to a crushing machine 14, shown as rotating blades in the present embodiment, in which the parts of the ccumulators are drawn in by a plurality of interengaging and slowly rotating cutter plates and are crushed to a size, for example 80 mm which corresponds to the gap width between the cutter plates. The crushed material passes via a further belt conveyor 15 to a classifier screen 16 which has a water sprinkling device 17. In accordance with a mesh width of the screen 16, of for example 7.5 mm, a coarse grain mixed material which has a grain size of 7 to 80 mm is provided as the screen overflow and is supplied through pipe 18 to a heavy slurry lifting wheel separator 19.The heavy slurry separator lifting wheel 19 operates in accordance with the sink/float process. The floating plastics components are passed together with the slurry through pipe 20 to a dewatering screen 21. There they are separated from the heavy slurry and pass through a pipe 22 to a dump 23. The specifically heavier lead components are passed separately through pipes 24 and 25 to the dewatering screen 21. There, any heavy slurry is removed and the remainder passes to a dump 27 via pipe 26 (in the form of lead grids and pole tops in a grain size of 7 to 80 mm).Thick slurry having a density of approximately 1.8 to 1.9 g/cm 3 (corresponding to 1,200 g of lead per litre) is used as the heavy slurry for the lifting wheel separator 19 and is drawn off through pipes 28 in a downward direction from the dewatering screen 21, is collected in a container 29 and is passed back to the lifting wheel separator 19 by a pump 30 along a pipe 31. The thin surry flows from the dewatering screen 21 through pipe 32, container 33 and pump 34.
The throughput through the screen of the classifying screen 16 is passed together with sprinkling water through pipe 35 in the form of fine mixed material, with grain size of O to approximately 7 mm, to the comparatively large trough 36 of a spiral sorting device 37, this spiral sorting device sorting the fine mixed material which is suspended in the heavy slurry into a specifically plastics-free lead product which is between 0.5 and 7 mm in grain size and specifically light plastics components. In addition to the pipe 35 there is a heavy slurry inlet pipe 38 which opens into the trough 36 of the spiral sorting device 37. The density of the heavy slurry is adjusted in the trough 36 to approximately 1.5 to 1.7g/cm3 in order that the plastics components contained in the fine mixed material 35 float easily. The floating plastics components are supplied, with the aid of the paddles 38,39 which rotate above the trough 36, together with the outwardly flowing heaving slurry through pipe 40 to a screen 41 and are classified at a grain size around 0.8 mm. While the heavy slurry flows through the screen 41 and passes through pipe 42 into a thickener 43, the plastics components are added, as the screen overflow via pipe 44, to the plastics dump 23. The material 45 which sinks to the bottom of the thickener is passed through pump 46 and pipe 47 to a slag filter 48 and from there to a dump 49 comprising fine lead slag of about 0.8 mm.
On the other hand, the mateial 45 which sinks to the bottom of the thickener is circulated via control valves 50 and pipes 51 and 38 to the trough of the spiral sorting device 37.
In order that the plastics components which have floated to the top in the trough 36 of the spiral sorting device do not get into the screw conveyor 52 of the spiral sorting device 37, which transports in an upward direction, there is a weir 53 which dips into the upper surface of the heavy slurry close to the screw conveyor 52. As a result only specifically heavier lead product which has sunk to the bottom of the trough 36 reaches the screw conveyor in platics-free form through pipe 54 to the dump 55.
The base of the spiral sorting device 37 may be connected to a vibration generator or shaking device 56 in an area above the level of the heavy slurry in order to dewater the sinking material (i.e. the plastics-free lead product), which is transported upwards by the screw conveyor 52, more successfully.
In order to maintain the density of the heavy slurry which is approximately 1.5 to 1.7 g/cm3 in the spiral sorting device 37, a lead oxide/lead sulphate concentration of only 600-850 9/1 would be required. Since the material 45 which sinks to the bottom of the thickener achieves a lead slag concentration of up to 1000 9/1, there would be direct metering of the appropriate quantity of underlying material in the thickener mixed with the sprinkled water from the spinkling device 17. lfthefine mixed material 35 should be diluted too greatly by too much sprinkled water for the required density of the heavy slurry of 1.5 to 1.7 to be achieved in the spiral classifying device 37, then, in accordance with a further feature, thick slurry 28 having approximately 1.8 to 1.9 g/cm3 may be added in metered amounts to the circulation of heavy slurry through the spiral sorting device. As a result, in accordance with a further feature, the circulation 51,38 of heavy surry through the spiral sorting device 37 is connected to the thick slurry circulation 28,31 of the lifting wheel separator 19 via a connecting pipe which has a control valve 57. The overflow in the thickener is drawn off via pump 58, control valve 59 and pipe 60 and may be used as sprinkling water for the water sprinkling device 17.

Claims (13)

1. A method of extracting the lead content of used scrap accumulators comprising crushing the accumulators, classifying the crushed material, and separating the coarse mixed material obtained suspended in a heavy slurry into specifically heavy lead components and specifically light plastics components by means of the sink/float method of separation, wherein the fine mixed material obtained during classification is sorted in a spiral or helical sorting device in suspension in a heavy slurry into a specifically heavy lead product which is free of plastics and specifically light plastics components.
2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the heavy slurry drawn off from the spiral sorting device is supplied to a thickener after the plastics components which have foated to the top have been separated off and the material underneath the floating plastics components is supplied to the spiral sorting device in circulation in the form of a heavy slurry medium.
3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the density of the slurry is set to approximately 1.5 to 1.7 g/cm2 in the spiral sorting device as a function of the quatity of the underlying material in the thickener which is supplied in circulation and/or as a function of the rinsing water which is passed through with the fine mixed material.
4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the circuit of the thick slurry of the sink/float separation process which is designed to sort the coarse mixed material is connectable to the heavy slurry circuit in the spiral sorting device which is designed to sort the fine mixed material and the thick slurry may be added in metered amounts to the spiral sorting device in or order to increase the density of the slurry.
5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the thick circulating slurry has a density of 1.8 to 1.9 g/cm2.
6. Apparatus for extracting plastics-free lead products from scrap accumulators, comprising a crushing device, a classifying device for broken portions of accumulator for producing a coarse mixed material and a fine mixed material, and a heavy slurry sink/float separating device for separating the coarse mixed material into specifically heavy lead components and specifically light plastics components wherein a spiral sorting device is provided for separating the fine mixed material into a specifically heavy lead product which is free of plastics and specifically light plastics components.
7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the spiral sorting device is connected by its comparatively large trough to an inlet pipe for the fine mixed material which comes from the classifying device and in addition to this is connected to an inlet for heavy slurry, and the base region of the spiral sorting device has a conveyor element for transporting the plastics-free lead product which has sunk in the sink/float process to an outlet opening and on the opposite upper edge of the trough, the spiral sorting device has an extraction element for outlet of the floating material and the heavy slurry.
8. Apparatus accordng to claim 7 wherein a weir, which dips into the upper surface of the heavy slurry is arranged at the surface of the trough of the spiral sorting device between the outlet element for the floating material, which is formed as a rotating paddle and the outlet screw element which servces for outlet of the sinking material and close to the said outlet screw element.
9. Apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the overflow from the spiral sorting device is connected to a screen and its throughput pipe is connected to a thickener, the underlying material on the one hand being supplied in circulation to the trough of the spiral sorting device and on the other hand to a slag filter while the screen overflow contains all of the separated plastics components.
10. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the base of the spiral sorting device is in connection, in an area above the level of the slurry, with a vibration generator which is designed to dewater the sinking material which is transported upwards by the screw transportation device.
11. Apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the heavy slurry circulation from the sink/float separating device, which is designed to separate off the coarse mixed material, and the heavy slurry circulation from the spiral sorting device, which is designed to separate off the fine mixed material, are connected together by means of a connecting line which has a control valvue.
12. A method of extracting the lead content of used scrap accumulators substantially as described herein with reference to the drawing.
13. Apparatus for extracting the lead content of used scrap accumultors substantially as described herein with reference to the drawing.
GB8207299A 1981-03-12 1982-03-12 Extracting plastics-free lead products from scrap accumulators Withdrawn GB2094669A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE19813109448 DE3109448A1 (en) 1981-03-12 1981-03-12 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OBTAINING PLASTIC-FREE LEAD PRODUCTS FROM OLD ACCUMULATORS

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GB2094669A true GB2094669A (en) 1982-09-22

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GB8207299A Withdrawn GB2094669A (en) 1981-03-12 1982-03-12 Extracting plastics-free lead products from scrap accumulators

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GB (1) GB2094669A (en)
NL (1) NL8200967A (en)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1038581A1 (en) * 1999-03-22 2000-09-27 Eco-Bat S.p.A. Equipment and process to make separations and reactions among solids in aqueous suspensions and/or among liquids and solids
WO2005017216A2 (en) * 2003-08-14 2005-02-24 K & K Tecnologias Industrias S.A. Recycling process for sludges and dusts from blast furnace and steel works

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19826857A1 (en) * 1998-06-17 1999-12-23 Uvr Fia Gmbh Verfahrensentwick Fast recycling of used lead accumulators
CN114682375A (en) * 2022-04-12 2022-07-01 东北大学 Method for recovering lead from low-grade lead ore

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1038581A1 (en) * 1999-03-22 2000-09-27 Eco-Bat S.p.A. Equipment and process to make separations and reactions among solids in aqueous suspensions and/or among liquids and solids
WO2005017216A2 (en) * 2003-08-14 2005-02-24 K & K Tecnologias Industrias S.A. Recycling process for sludges and dusts from blast furnace and steel works
WO2005017216A3 (en) * 2003-08-14 2005-03-24 K & K Tecnologias Ind S A Recycling process for sludges and dusts from blast furnace and steel works

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Publication number Publication date
NL8200967A (en) 1982-10-01
DE3109448A1 (en) 1982-11-04

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