# Large Scale Catalytic Converter Recycling



## Tomac1 (Nov 5, 2011)

How are the big boys doing it? I know their not using wet chemistry in home depot buckets like me??? 

What kind of machinery is involved in a large scale catalytic converter recycling operation? By large scale I mean one gentleman on here told me he was processing 15,000 a month.

He must have large machinery that allows him just to dump in big loads of ground up ceramics.

Tomac1


----------



## samuel-a (Nov 5, 2011)

Tomac1 said:


> What kind of machinery is involved in a large scale catalytic converter recycling operation?




The recycling techniques of the "big boys" is usually a proprietary knowledge and i doubt any of them reading here will disclose data.

I i would to guess... a large mill and a large arc furnce would be the first step.


----------



## goldsilverpro (Nov 5, 2011)

Plasma arc furnaces are often used.


----------



## Tomac1 (Nov 5, 2011)

So I guess run the reference material through a ball bearing grinder, put the resulting powder and some flux into the plasma arc furnace, fire her up and waamoo pgms separated .The pgms you get from that melt would be a conglomerate, do you use wet chem from that point?


----------



## goldsilverpro (Nov 5, 2011)

They probably ship all the mixed PGMs to Johnson Matthey.


----------

