CEReS : Co-processing of coal mine and electronic wastes: Novel resources for a sustainable future (07/2016 – 06/2019)
Summary
The co-processing approach behind the CERes Project employs AMD-generating coal wastes as a cheap source of leaching solution (lixiviant) to recover metals from processed e-wastes. The novel flow-sheet (i) removes the AMD-generating potential of coal wastes through accelerated bioleaching, ensuring their long term environmental stability while expanding avenues for their safe reuse; and (ii) enables selective recovery of base metals from waste PCBs, while concentrating precious and critical as well as rare earths into enriched substrates. Compared to current best available technologies, CEReS has numerous economic and environmental benefits by bringing together two waste streams from opposite ends of the supply chain; harvesting each as a novel resource for a single, coherent ‘grave-to-cradle’ process.
The overall aims of CEReS are the development and integration of innovative solutions for the co-processing of coal mining wastes and e-waste and the technological, socio-economic and environmental validation of this concept. This involves major technology improvements leading to the design of a full-scale e-waste/mine waste co-processing plant in order to improve both treatment of AMD sources and recycling of e-waste (based on collected volumes). The validation of the integrated process will be strongly based on industrial ecology considerations, including a life cycle thinking approach at global and local scales.
At the University of Liège, GeMMe is responsible as lead beneficiary for work package of char leaching, utilizing the lixiviant produced from coal-waste bioleaching by BRGM and solid catalytic cracking residue (char) produced from pyrolysis done in Comet Traitement. The aim of this work package is to demonstrate the feasibility for utilization of the acidic leachates generated from coal wastes bioleaching, as leaching agent for extraction of the base and high-value metals contained in the char originating from the pyrolysis of PCB’s. Apart from that, University of Liège is also responsible to assist other partners on different work packages, such as BRGM for coal-waste bioleaching and Comet for PCB pyrolysis.
Researcher
Funding Scheme
EU RFCS (Research Funds for Coal and Steel)
Consortium
- University of Exeter (coordinator, UK)
- University of Liège-GeMME (Belgium)
- Comet Traitements SA (Belgium)
- Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (France)
- Caspeo (France)
- Glówny Instytut Górnictwa (Poland)
- Tauron Wydobycie Spółka Akcyjna (Poland)
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