An NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center

Recycling Metals Conference

JUNE 18-20, 2019Indianapolis, IN

Recycling Research in an Industry- University Collaborative NSF Center

Brajendra Mishra

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Resource Sustainability

Mission

Helping industry to create our sustainable future by advancing technologies that recover, recycle and reuse materials

throughout the manufacturing process.

Successful Partnership Between Academia and Industry: Innovation leading to

Competitiveness

Key Challenges

• Scarcity of feed stock materials and increasing cost of material resources

• Increasing amounts of waste from industrial processes as well as end-of-life products

• Need for solutions for resource recovery, reuse, and recycling of critical materials

• Need for energetically favorable, environmentally compatible, and economically viable industrial processes

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Colorado School of Mines

KU Leuven

University of Tokyo

University Partners

Brajendra Mishra Diran Apelian

Corby G. Anderson Bart Blanpain Toyohisa Fujita

Our Team

Our Members

▪ Aurubis

▪ East Penn Manufacturing

▪ General Motors

▪ Global Mineral Recovery

▪ Gopher Resource

▪ Heritage Environmental

▪ Indium Corp.

▪ Israel Chemicals Ltd.

▪ Metallo Belgium

▪ SMS Group

▪ Tianqi Lithium

▪ Umicore

▪ U.S. Army Research Laboratory

▪ Yunnan Long

As a CR3 member your company…

• submits and votes on research projects

• networks with global industry leaders

• has royalty-free IP rights

• may opt to sponsor company-proprietary research

• has access to findings from large-scale projects

Value to Industry

As a CR3 member your company…• can recruit top students from various engineering

disciplines• has access to all CR3 technical reports and process

data• membership fee is used for project expenses only

➢No institutional overhead

• has access to facilities at all member institutions • can consult CR3 faculty• can sponsor student projects (senior thesis) and

industrial internships

Value to Industry

Current Projects

Vacuum Distillation of Complex Lead Bullion

Alternative fluxes for lead Bullion Refining

Waterborne Paint Sludge Recycling

Electro-Oxidation of Metals & Inorganics in Metallurgical Operations

Optimization of Inorganic Polymers for 3D Printing

Online Slag and Bullion Analysis by LIBS

Moisture Analysis of Heterogeneous Solid Material Flows

Copper Separation from Steel

Near-Real Time Sub-ppm Detection of Elements in Pure Metals/Alloys

Optimized Sorting and Separation Techniques for Remanufacturing with Product-Centric Recycled/Reclaimed Scrap

Pretreat for Metal Recovery from Li-ion Battery Waste

Completed Projects

1 - Development of Aluminum-Dross Based Materials for Engineering Application

2 - Physical and Chemical Beneficiation for Recycling of Photovoltaic Materials

3 - Recovery of Rare Earth Metals from Phosphor Dust

4 - Recycling of Bag-House Dust from Foundry Sand

5 - Molten Metal Compositional Sensing to Enhance Scrap Recycling

6 - Rare-Earth Recovery from Magnets, Catalysts, and other Secondary Resources

7 - Metal Recovery via Automated Sortation

8 - Recovery of Value-Added Products from Red Mud and Foundry Bag House Dust

9 - Dezincing of Galvanized Steel

10 - Development of a Novel Recycling Process for Li-Ion Batteries

11 - Recovery of Zinc and Iron from EAF Dusts

12 - Synthesis of Inorganic Polymers from Metallurgical Residues

13 - Recovery of Valuable Metals from Fines

14 - Battery Design for Disassembly in Support of Materials Reuse

15 - Rare Earth Metals Recovery from Bauxite Residue

Sample Projects

Title: Novel Recycling Processes for Li-Ion Batteries

• Objective: Develop a closed loop process for the end of life lithium-ion batteries

• Focus Group: Yucong Wang (Chair, GM), Mark Caffarey(Umicore), Jeff Webster (wTe), Larry Stevens (Indium), George Martin (Veolia)

• Achievement: Follow on Funding: ~$2M has been received to further support the follow-on research.

Sample Projects

Title: Novel Recycling Processes for Li-Ion Batteries

• Objective: Develop a closed loop process for the end of life lithium-ion batteries

• Achievement: Follow on Funding: ~$6M has been received to further support the follow-on research.

Sample Projects

The WPI recycling process can recycle lithium ion batteries with any size, any shape and any chemistry, and the recovered cathode powder has equivalent battery performance than commercial powder.

• Zou, H., et al., A novel method to recycle mixed cathode materials for lithium ion batteries. Green Chemistry, 2013. 15(5): p. 1183-1191.

• Gratz, E., et al., A closed loop process for recycling spent lithium ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 2014. 262: p. 255-262.

• Sa, Q., et al., Synthesis of high performance LiNi 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 O 2 from lithium ion battery recovery stream.Journal of Power Sources, 2015. 282: p. 140-145.

• Heelan, J., et al., Current and prospective Li-ion battery recycling and recovery processes. Jom, 2016. 68(10): p. 2632-2638.

• Sa, Q., et al., Synthesis of Diverse LiNi x Mn y Co z O2 Cathode Materials from Lithium Ion Battery Recovery Stream. Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy, 2016. 2(3): p. 248-256.

• Y. Wang, et. al., Patent Issued, 2012• Y. Wang, et. al., Patent Pending, 2014• Y. Wang, et. al., Patent Pending, 2016

Title: WPI Patented Closed Loop Recycling Process

Sample Projects

Title: Organic Polymers: KU Leuven

• Objective: Development of inorganic polymers from member residues

• Achievement: Valorized metallurgical residues as building materials

Sample Projects

Sample Projects

3 billion metric tons and counting!

Sample Projects

Sample Projects

Sample Projects

Title: Future of Auto Aluminum Scrap

350 lbs. (2012)

547 lbs. (2025)

Po

un

ds

pe

r V

eh

icle

(P

PV

)

Year

What is the need?

✓ Automakers - Increasing Aluminum Use

16% by 2025 (10% 2015)+ ~6.5 kg/yr. – Next 10 years

Compared to…

+ ~3.2 kg/yr. – Past 40 years

✓ Emerging Applications – Closures and Body

Closures - 26% by 2025Body - 18% by 2025

Sheet and Extrusions average: + 58 kg/veh. (avg.)

How will this added aluminum be

recovered and recycled?

What do the material collectors,

processors and consumers need

to know?

Source: Ducker Worldwide and DriveAluminum.org

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Sample Projects

2010-2018

Publications:

• Journals: 79 (from solicitation)

• Conference proceedings: 52

• Conference presentations: 68

Journal Launched:

• Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy (Springer)

PATENTS: 11 (full & provisional)

Our Achievements

Research Funding 2010-2018

Industry Membership: 5.2 million USD

Federal funding: 1.8 million USD (NSF to WPI/CSM)

Leveraged Federal Funding: 6.5 million USD

Leveraged External Funding: 6.5 million USD(international partners)

Our Achievements

• Air Liquide

• Battery Resourcers

• Boston Power

• Copper Consulting of Anaconda

• FTI Consulting

• Gopher Resources

• Honeywell

• Idaho Natl. Lab.

• Intel

• Pohang Steel Company

• Radikal Therapeutics

• Severstal Steel

• State Development and Investment Corporation of China

• Umicore

• UTRC

• VJ Technologies

• WPI

Our Graduates

Employers of Graduates