kurtak
Well-known member
learn2live34
Take some advice from someone (me) that has already tried to do a "large scale" CAT PGM leaching process
Forget it :!: --- you are far better off de-canning the combs from the housing (as suggested by 4metals) & sending it to a company like Johnson Matthey
Here is a link to a thread I posted concerning leaching CATs :arrow: http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=20573&hilit=CATs
At the time I got side tracked & did not quite finish the thread - BUT - I posted enough info to show why trying this is a losing proposition
To put it in perspective - I put a year into the project - working with a local scrap yard (so had access to LOTs of CATs) We had all of our DNR/EPA permits in place - 4 LARGE fume hoods with scrubber in place (for hood fume control) & we had reaction vessels from 20 liter in size up to 30 gallon in size & again set up with a vacuum fume scrubber system hooked direct to the reaction vessels
I admire your desire, drive & approach but I think you are going to find you are chasing a losing proposition - again - speaking from experience
So (again) I suggest you follow this advice given by 4metals ------
Kurt
Take some advice from someone (me) that has already tried to do a "large scale" CAT PGM leaching process
Forget it :!: --- you are far better off de-canning the combs from the housing (as suggested by 4metals) & sending it to a company like Johnson Matthey
Here is a link to a thread I posted concerning leaching CATs :arrow: http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=20573&hilit=CATs
At the time I got side tracked & did not quite finish the thread - BUT - I posted enough info to show why trying this is a losing proposition
To put it in perspective - I put a year into the project - working with a local scrap yard (so had access to LOTs of CATs) We had all of our DNR/EPA permits in place - 4 LARGE fume hoods with scrubber in place (for hood fume control) & we had reaction vessels from 20 liter in size up to 30 gallon in size & again set up with a vacuum fume scrubber system hooked direct to the reaction vessels
I admire your desire, drive & approach but I think you are going to find you are chasing a losing proposition - again - speaking from experience
So (again) I suggest you follow this advice given by 4metals ------
I have found that catalytic converters are processed in Europe in plasma arc furnaces at very reasonable rates, much better rates than you will spend on chemistry to solvate the PM's and equipment to recover the metals.
You need a Cat Guillotine to de-can the converters and separate the matrix that holds the PM's from the steel housing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf5YgUBCAWY Then you can crush and blend and prepare homogeneous samples to know what you have before you ship.
You can accomplish the same thing with a shear and dust collectors but these units make life easier and the workplace cleaner and healthier.
Kurt