Primary production and recycling of critical metals

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeChapterScientific

    218 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Metals are important engineering materials, and are produced from non-renewable natural resources. This chapter starts with the criticality and scarcity issue of metals and metal resources. Then various available extraction and refining technologies and processes are introduced for primary production and recycling of metals. The principles of pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy and electro-metallurgy (electrowinning and electro-refining) are described for primary production of metals. The applications of metallurgical technologies to metals recovery from secondary resources (metal scrap and waste residues), i.e. recycling of metals, are discussed. As the last part, the extraction and recycling of cobalt, one of the most critical metals, is given as an example to illustrate how different metallurgical technologies are used and combined to extract a metal from different types of raw materials.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationCritical Materials
    Subtitle of host publicationUnderlying Causes and Sustainable Mitigation Strategies
    EditorsErik Offerman
    Place of PublicationLondon, UK
    PublisherWorld Scientific
    Chapter15
    Pages315-342
    ISBN (Print)978-981-3271-04-3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

    Publication series

    NameWorld Scientific Series in Current Energy Issues
    Volume5
    ISSN (Print)2425-0163
    ISSN (Electronic)2425-0171

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Primary production and recycling of critical metals'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this