Scale-up and demonstration of Carbomex: a novel system to treat & recycle hazardous Spent Pot Liner, creating secondary resources with zero waste to landfill

铝是仅次于钢的第二大常用金属。原铝冶炼（从开采的原材料-铝土矿中提取金属）是一个主要的全球产业; 2018年生产了约6430万吨铝。随着越来越多的金属产品的轻量化，产量将在未来几年进一步增加。原铝冶炼产生的主要废物流是废锅衬（SPL）。2018年生产了约140万吨SPL。电解槽内衬是电解槽或“电解槽”的碳和耐火材料内衬，其中电解用于从氧化铝中提取铝金属。随着时间的推移，在电解槽运行期间，包括铝和氟化物在内的物质被吸收到衬里中。经过一段时间的使用（几年）后，衬里失效，需要更换。在欧盟、美国和世界上许多其他地方，SPL被指定为危险废物，因为：* 它含有有毒的氟化物和氰化物，可在水中浸出。*它具有腐蚀性-由于碱金属和氧化物而具有高pH值。*它与水反应，产生易燃、有毒和爆炸性气体。不幸的是，目前很少有很好的解决方案。目前，大多数SPL要么永久储存在冶炼厂现场，要么送往受控的垃圾填埋场。这些都是昂贵的解决方案，可能会造成未来的问题。Ultromex开发了一种创新的工艺来处理SPL，去除所有有毒化合物，不向大气排放气体，不产生有害废水，也不留下废物;该工艺的所有产出都转化为二次资源，供其他行业使用。该工艺采用Ultromex工厂和设备，设计用于在冶炼厂现场运行，并且购买和运行具有成本效益。从概念验证开始，Ultromex现在寻求建立一个小规模的商业示范工厂，以展示技术并验证技术经济性能。一旦商业部署，Ultromex工厂将成为行业一直寻求的解决方案，以处理当前的SPL精炼。这意味着可以减少库存的SPL，甚至以前填埋的SPL，永久地、可持续地并以经济的价格解决SPL问题。

Aluminium is the second most used metal after steel. Primary aluminium smelting (extracting metal from mined raw material - bauxite) is a major global industry; some 64.3M tonnes of aluminium were produced in 2018\. With light weighting of more and more metal products, production is set to increase further in the years to come.A major waste stream arising from primary aluminium smelting is Spent Pot Liner (SPL). Some 1.4M tonnes of SPL was created in 2018\. The pot liner is the carbon and refractory lining of the cell or 'pot' where electrolysis is used to extract aluminium metal from alumina. Over time during the operation of the cell, substances, including aluminium and fluorides are absorbed into the lining. After a period of use (several years) the lining fails and needs to be replaced. The old 'spent' liner is SPL.In the EU, USA and many other parts of the world, SPL is designated as a hazardous waste because:* It contains toxic fluoride and cyanide compounds leachable in water.* It is corrosive - having high pH due to alkali metals and oxides.* It is reactive with water - producing flammable, toxic and explosive gases.Unfortunately there are few good solutions available for SPL. Presently, most SPL is either permanently stored at the smelters' site or sent to controlled landfills. These are expensive solutions and may create future problems.Ultromex has developed an innovative process for treating SPL removing all toxic compounds, evolving no gases to atmosphere, creating no hazardous effluent and leaving behind no wastes; all outputs from the process being turned into secondary resources for use by other industries. The process, using Ultromex plant & equipment is designed to operate at the smelters' site and be cost effective to purchase and operate.Developed from proof of concept Ultromex now seeks to build a small-scale commercial demonstration plant to showcase the technology and validate the techno-economic performance.Once deployed commercially, Ultromex plants will be the solution the industry has been seeking to deal with current SPL arisings, stockpiled SPL and even previously landfilled SPL, resolving the SPL problem permanently, sustainably and at an economic price point.