# Catalyst in 2000c furnace



## kjavanb123 (Jun 23, 2012)

All,

During melting my gold powder, I noticed the lab has a furnace that is capable of reaching 2000C heat using electricity. Now can a typical car catalyst converters containing all 3 PGMs which their melting points beside Rh which is 2000C be crushed and fined and put into a crucible and put into this furnace? I wonder what happens to Al, and other metals inside the fine honeycomb. Is there a precipitant metal like lead that can be added to catalyst powder in this furnace that would melt and collect all the PGMs in the powder? 
Just curios

Thanks and regards,
Kevin


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## nickvc (Jun 23, 2012)

Kevin I fear that the temperature of that furnace will not be anywhere near the required heat to melt PGMs in the matrix from convertors, the big boys use massive arc furnaces to melt the powders into bars and I think they get a tad hotter than that.


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## kjavanb123 (Sep 22, 2013)

Induction furnace I visited can reach 2800 c it is not going to melt ceramic but certainly all PGMs are melting in the temprature.

Regards
Kevin


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## butcher (Sep 23, 2013)

I am not sure if I can explain this.

If you cannot get the whole melted, with a flux and possibly a collector metal you will not get the metals to (flow) together in the melt, to be released from the ceramic.

The ceramic would need to be molten.

If the ceramic was not molten the collector metal could not come in direct contact with all of the PGM, it would not flow around in the non melted ceramic, the PGM coating would remain a PGM coating on the ceramic, not being able to flow together. The metals would not be able to move around like they would need to in the melt, or collect with each other.

They would not be able to flow though the melt to form a button at the bottom of the melt.

If you could get it hot enough to make the ceramic molten, with the proper flux and collector, the metals would flow together and collect with the added metal, in the molten fluid of ceramic and metal, then pouring into a cone mold the heavier metals would come together in the bottom point of the cone mold, ceramic mixed with flux would form an upper layer of slag


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## kjavanb123 (Sep 23, 2013)

Hi,

Thanks I just read a very intereting post regarding PGM smelting using induction furnace where members talked about flux to use to melt ceramic and silver or copper as collector.
Just curios do cats need to be powdered prior to smelting?

Thanks
Kevin


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## butcher (Sep 23, 2013)

My thoughts are it would mix better with the flux if crushed.
And that flux would probably eat at your crucible too.


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## kjavanb123 (Sep 23, 2013)

Here is this great post related to what I was refering. The flux to molten ceramic is Cryolite.

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=9394&start=20


Regards
Kevin


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