Critical raw materials recovery laboratory

Infrastructures
Research areas
  • Engineering & Technology
Contact
Available for external users?
Yes
Description

A laboratory equipped with the infrastructure and resources required to recover critical raw materials (rare earth elements, Co, W, Li, Ni, Mn, graphite, etc.) from magnetic components, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), lithium-ion batteries, slags, hard metals and similar materials.

The laboratory combines pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical technologies using a green chemistry approach. Instead of hazardous reagents, it employs alternative organic and reusable reagents, such as deep eutectic solvents (DES) and organic acids.

Equipment

  • Advanced characterisation equipment: ICP-OES, SEM-EDX, XRD, TGA-DSC and FIB-SEM.
  • Raw material processing equipment: Blade crushers, cutting mills, ball mills, sieving towers and glove boxes.
  • Controlled-atmosphere pyrolysis furnaces: For inert and reducing atmospheres.
  • Hydrometallurgical processing equipment: Leaching reactors, flotation systems, solid–liquid separation units, sonication devices, evaporators/crystallisers and extraction systems.

 

Services

Design and validation of critical raw material recovery processes using pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical methods.

 

Location

CEIT

Mikeletegi Pasealekua, 73a, 20009 Donostia / San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa

Other info
Waste Valorisation:
- Circular Economy
- Decarbonisation Technologies

Application sectors

  • Capital goods and industrial equipment
  • Electronics
  • Energy
  • Foundries and the iron and steel industry
  • Chemical industry
  • Environmental sector
  • Mining
  • Waste valorisation

Industry plan

  • IRABAZI · Energy
  • IRABAZI · Advanced Manufacturing
  • IRABAZI · Metallurgy