Specialized metallurgical processes – compositions for use therei – Processes – Free metal or alloy reductant contains magnesium
Patent
1992-07-13
1993-08-03
Rosenberg, Peter D.
Specialized metallurgical processes, compositions for use therei
Processes
Free metal or alloy reductant contains magnesium
B08B 700, B08B 308
Patent
active
052324893
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a process for the recovery of metals and coatings present on the metals from composite materials by means of the treatment of the composite material with specific solvents at elevated temperatures, whereby the coating is dissolved and recovered from this solution while the metal is separated quantitatively in a pure state from the solution, after which it can be recycled.
The present invention also relates to a device for carrying out the process according to the invention.
The recovery of metals from composite materials, in particular from aluminum laminates, is of considerable economic significance, since such laminates are used on a large scale for packaging purposes.
Composite materials are present in large quantities on the market as packaging materials, for example, for coffee, tea, toothpaste, chemicals, beverages and others. The metal foils in such composite materials generally consist of aluminum, whereas the coating can consist of numerous types of plastics. For example, foils may consist of different polyethylene types, of polypropylene, of polyesters, of polycarbonates, of copolymers such as, for example, ethylene vinyl acetate, ethylene propylene, polyvinyl chloride or epoxy resins. Multi-layered composite materials containing foils of different types of plastics are also available on the market. Furthermore, the metal foil can be coated with materials containing cellulose, for example, paper. Paper coatings can also be present in combination with plastic coatings. The foils can also be joined to each other with or without glues or adhesives. However, composite materials containing metal are not used exclusively as packaging material. Examples of other applications outside the realm of packaging are cables, sheathed wires, closing caps and articles of daily use coated with plastics such as, for example, door handles or tools, also electrical devices, printed circuit boards and numerous other articles of daily use. The more valuable the metal is, the more attractive the recovery of the metals present in composite material becomes; thus, the recovery of copper is also of considerable interest. An important aspect in the recovery of metals can also be the separation of the metals for environmental reasons, since it s known that heavy metals are released into the atmosphere in small quantities when the composite materials are incinerated in their entirety.
Numerous recovery processes are described in the literature.
Thus, East German patent no. 218,313 describes a process in which aluminum and polyvinyl chloride are recovered from an aluminum/polyvinyl chloride foil by means of grinding and mechanical separation.
A mechanical separation process for separating composite materials like electric cables and wires or similar materials is described in French Patent no. 2,528,351.
Japanese patent no. 57,043,941, discloses a process according to which composite materials undergo a pyrolysis operation in which the plastic material degrades and the pyrolysis gases are used as fuel for maintaining the pyrolysis temperature.
According to Japanese patent no. 54,127,983, polyvinyl chloride laminated aluminum foils are treated with carbon tetrachloride, whereby two solvent layers are formed; the lower one contains the aluminum and the upper one contains the polyvinyl chloride.
Analogously, according to Japanese patent no. 54,026,871, copper is recovered from a formaldehyde phenol resin/copper laminate by means of treatment with trichlorethylene.
According to Japanese preliminary published application no. 51,020,976, mixtures of aluminum foils laminated with different thermoplastics are treated with xylene as well as with phenol at various temperatures. The laminates contain polypropylene, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, poly(ethylene)terephthalate, polycarbonate and polyethylene. By applying the solvents under different conditions, the thermoplastic materials can be separated from each other to a certain extent.
According to Japanese patent no. 60,212,434, an aluminum/polyvinyl
REFERENCES:
patent: 4431458 (1984-02-01), Rosen
patent: 4578184 (1986-03-01), Rasmussen
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 10, No. 78 (C-335), JP 60-212434, "Separation and Recovery of Composite Material", Oct. 24, 1985.
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 6, No. 227 (C-134), JP 57-131237, "Recovery of ABS Resin From Metal Adhering Thereto", Aug. 14, 1982.
Loffler Werner
Mertens-Gottselig Dagmar
Rauser Gerd
Rosenberg Peter D.
RWE Entsorgung Aktiengesellschaft
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