CEReS: Co-processing of Coal Mine and Electronic Wastes

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1 3rd PROMETIA Scientific Seminar 14 th -15 th December, 2016 Berlin CEReS: Co-processing of Coal Mine and Electronic Wastes Dr Chris Bryan, Camborne School of Mines University of Exeter, UK

2 Introduction Key Details Received funding from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) Administered by the EC, but outside of H2020 etc 50 million every year to innovative projects to enhance the safety, efficiency and competitive edge of the EU coal and steel industries Seven partners from four countries University of Exeter (Coordinator) UK BRGM; Caspeo FR Université de Liège; Comet Traitements BE GIG; TAURON Wydobycie PL

3 Introduction Key Details Three-year R&D project from June 2016; project budget ~3.2M Use Poland as case study region Will explore application across whole of Europe Prove technical feasibility of individual unit processes At (mini) pilot-scale Integrate through modelling and simulation Demonstrate viability of concept Include economic and environmental assessment

4 Concept CEReS: Industrial Context Poland is Europe s largest hard coal producer ~72 Mt pa ~90 % electricity generation Produces ~30 Mt coal waste pa ~90 % reused in civil/geotechnical engineering Many coal production wastes contain sulfides (pyrite) Microbial decomposition causes acid mine drainage (AMD)

5 Concept CEReS: Industrial Context AMD treatment facilities do not address formation Indefinite lifetime Capping and other methods prevent formation, but do not remove potential Continuous monitoring, potentially limited lifespan Significant AMD discharge from Polish waste heaps Issues where sulfidic material has been used in construction

6 Concept CEReS: Industrial Context Tauron Wydobycie SA own Janina & Sobieski coal mines Largest coal reserves in Poland Both mines produce sulfidic wastes Investigating alternate routes for wastes to improve economic and environmental performance Need for long-term solution to AMD-generating wastes

7 Concept CEReS: Industrial Context EU-reliance on importation of Raw Materials welldocumented Importation of EEE an open-loop Net influx of RM to non/minimally-producing regions Recycling of WEEE/EoL consumer products complex Requires sophisticated disassembly, separation and value recovery processes Problem of diminishing returns

8 Concept CEReS: Industrial Context Comet Traitements, part of Groupe Comet Cover entire recycling and valorisation chain Currently recover 95 % of an ELV for reuse Developed pyrolytic process to process light shredder residues (LSR) High organic content Produces hydrocarbon fuel, carbon-rich concentrates and metal-bearing char Wish to broaden application to scrap PCB

9 Concept Industrial Ecology & Symbiosis Industrial Ecology views industrial activities as analogous to metabolic processes within a living cell No wastes, only feeds for other processes

10 Concept Industrial Ecology & Symbiosis Industrial Ecology views industrial activities as analogous to metabolic processes within a living cell No wastes, only feeds for other processes

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12 Concept Industrial Ecology & Symbiosis WEEE ROM Disassembly Comminution & Beneficiation Casing, Batteries, etc. Further Processing High Grade Value Recovery PCB Low Grade Sulfidic Waste Tailings Disposal or Reuse Coal Energy

13 Concept Integrated Process Coal Mine site AMD generating Coal Production Wastes PCB Existing E waste handling programme i ii Non AMD generating solids Preprocessing & catalytic cracking Liquid hydrocarbon fuels, halogen brine, C rich concentrates iii Lixiviant production (H +, Fe 3+ ) Char leaching Raffinate iv PLS for metal recovery Solid residue processing Metal (Cu) and separate concentrates (precious metals, Sn Pb, REEs, Ga and Ta) Benign residues, Fe based products

14 Work Programme Work Programme

15 Work Programme WP1 - Raw Material Characterisation Identify, Tauron characterise mines produce and four collect tailings waste materials Within Poland DMS, Jig, Spiral and sludge Coal production wastes from mine Low-grade PCBs from e-waste handling stream Using spiral tails from Janina mine ~15 pyrite, relatively fine grain Cross-map acidogenic waste production with e-waste collection and processing sites across Europe Textural analysis with QEMSCAN Identify viable sites for CEReS replication Required development of novel method to analyse coal-rich samples

16 Work Programme WP2 - PCB Processing Optimisation Initial pyrolysis of PCB tests pre-treatment done by Comet unit Technology transfer from OSR processing to PCBs Mechanical Results show pre-treatment, PCB amenable catalytic to pyrolysis cracking and product concentration Less fuel produced than from OSR Management strategies for primary and secondary products Char contains mainly glass, Fe and Cu Char Ga etc not determined yet Heat, fuels, halogens

17 Work Programme WP3 - Bioleaching & Stabilisation Develop Currently & comparing optimise bioleaching enrichment circuit cultures from mine Microbial consortium selection waste with lab-consortia 30 C, 42 C & 48 C Characterisation of bioleaching residues Environmental stability Temperature choice will be compromise between rate and soluble iron Develop novel reuse options for stabilised waste Iron will need to be managed at some point Construction Continued validation of Biokinetic test for AMD prediction

18 Summary CEReS R&D project aiming to prove concept of integrated process Example of Industrial Symbiosis Production of RM using wastes from opposite ends of value chain Alternate reprocessing route for sulfidic mine wastes Permanently removes acid-generating potential Economically/Environmentally viable option for valorisation of low grade PCB

19 Summary CEReS Aim to scale up to fully integrated pilot plant Following successful validation of individual unit processes Explore application to other regions and wastes Metal mine wastes, e.g. tailings Upgrade metal content Exciting research project generating novel methods and data Follow ceres.biohydromet.net for updates the journey has just begun!

20 3rd PROMETIA Scientific Seminar 14 th -15 th December, 2016 Berlin Thank you