Abstract
An operating company’s view of processes using PGM catalysts is, “What is the manufacturing process that will make specification product at a profit?” To evaluate those manufacturing economics, the “Precious Metal Loop” (Cline LW Jr, Precious metal recovery and the precious metal loop. Catalysis of organic reactions. Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, 1995) steps (A) buy the catalyst, (B) make the product, (C) ship spent catalyst to a refiner, and (D) receive the PGM settlement, represents that expense. This paper presents a description of each step of the loop, important values such as process losses and refining losses as a function of the metal and the metal’s ash concentration, detailed examples and a discussion to assess the manufacturing economics.
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References
Cline LW Jr (1995) Precious metal recovery and the precious metal loop. Catalysis of organic reactions. Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, Paper No. 7
Conway-Baker J (2007) Global PGM refining and recycling. In: 31st IPMI, Miami
Super JD (2001) Selecting between batch slurry and continuous fixed bed hydrogenation. Catalysis of organic reactions. Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, pp 35–50
Super JD (2005) Lessons learned: batch processing, scaleup from laboratory to plant. Catalysis of organic reactions. CRC Press, New York, pp 313–326
Acknowledgments
Thanks to all of my friends in the business: Bert Lord, Tom Johnson, Jim White, Phil Schmidt, Mike Sharp, Randy Alexander, and many others to whom I apologize to for not listing.
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Super, J.D. The Precious Metal Loop, Costs from an Operating Company Perspective. Top Catal 53, 1138–1141 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-010-9547-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-010-9547-z