Strategic Metals and Value-Added Products from Recycled Waste Streams via Process Electrification

在各种初级商品中，有些金属被包括加拿大在内的发达国家视为战略性的。它们对于当今和未来先进的清洁和高科技行业至关重要，如可再生能源、电动汽车、电气和电子设备、航空、军事设备和新兴的量子计算机/电信。然而，从三个不同的角度来看，提取这些金属存在严重的问题：1）由于技术，经济和环境限制，从初级（自然）资源中提取不是一条令人感兴趣的道路。2)大量此类金属嵌套在复杂的报废（EOL）材料基质中，被填埋或储存在墓地中，但缺乏高效，清洁和有目的的回收过程。3)金属废物流通常在其附近含有塑料，由于其危险的卤化阻燃剂和呋喃，如果填埋或回收不当，将造成严重的健康和环境问题。因此，随着EOL发电率的不断增加，我们面临着环境问题和资源效率的恶化。我认为应该完全从堆填区转移。没有什么是浪费！我们需要向大自然学习：一个物种的废物是另一个物种的资源。因此，我将重点关注价值链：从废物到增值材料，为循环经济做出贡献，同时提供环境保护或可能的改善。我提出的研究计划的长期目标是开发创新的过程电气化概念，用于开发价值稳定技术，以从金属废物流中提取战略金属（如锂，稀土元素，贵金属，电子金属和难熔金属）以及增值产品。过程电气化是实现燃料、化学品和材料低碳足迹制造的可持续途径。 我的短期目标是正确理解EOL材料的物理化学性质，以创造性的方法采用感应加热作为实现长期目标的起点。两名本科生，一名硕士生和两名博士生将在平等，多元化和包容性的研究环境中接受培训。至少，9篇研究文章，5篇会议文章，2项专利，最有可能的是一个新的分拆公司，预计从我的研究计划。 这项研究的结果将有利于加拿大确保其高要求金属的供应链，从垃圾填埋场转移塑料，外国供应商的独立性，环境保护，创造不同专业水平的就业机会，技术转让，并成为先进电气化工艺技术发展的全球领导者。获得HQP的专业知识和资格将在行业和加拿大的高需求。

Among various commodities, some metals are considered strategic in developed countries including Canada. They are essential for today's and tomorrow's advanced clean- and high-tech industries such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, electrical and electronic equipment, aviation, military devices, and emerging quantum computers/telecommunications. However, there are serious issues in extraction of such metals from three different perspectives: 1) The extraction from primary (natural) resources is not an interesting path due to technical, economic and environmental constraints. 2) A considerable mass of such metals, nested in a complex matrix of end-of-life (EOL) materials, is landfilled or stored in graveyards, but there is a lack of efficient, clean, and purposeful recycling processes. 3) Metals waste streams usually contain plastics in their vicinity, which would cause serious health and environmental issues if landfilled or recycled improperly due to their hazardous halogenated flame retardants and furans. Consequently, having rate of EOL generation ever increasing, we are facing with environmental issues and deterioration of resource efficiency. I believe there should be a total diversion from landfills. Nothing is a waste! We need to learn from nature: the waste of a species is the resource of another. Thus, I am going to focus on the value chain: from wastes to value added materials, contributing to the circular economy, while providing environmental preservation or, possibly, improvements. My long-term objective of the proposed research plan is to develop innovative process electrification concepts for development of valorization technologies to extract strategic metals (such as lithium, rare earth elements, precious metals, electronic metals and refractory metals) as well as value added-products from metals waste streams. Process electrification is a sustainable path to low-carbon-foot-print manufacturing of fuels, chemicals, and materials.   My short-term objectives are about a proper understanding of physicochemical properties of EOL materials to employ induction heating with creative approaches as a starting point to reach out the long-term objective. Two bachelor's students, one master's student and two PhD students will be trained at an equal, diverse and inclusive research environment. At least, 9 research articles, 5 conference articles, 2 patents, and most likely a new spinoff company are expected from my research plan.  Outcomes of this research will be beneficial to Canada in terms of securing a supply chain of its demanding metals, diversion of plastics from landfilling, independency of foreign suppliers, environment protection, creation of jobs at different levels of expertise, technology transfer, and as a global leader in development of advanced electrified process technologies. Acquired expertise and qualifications of HQPs will be in high demand in the industry and Canada.