Abstract
The recycling of cemented carbides (CC) is an indispensable facet of resource conservation, especially for critical raw materials, signifying its profound environmental, economic, and strategic importance. These complex materials, consisting of refractory carbides embedded in a metallic binder, mainly tungsten carbide and cobalt, offer versatile recycling options. Among these methods, the zinc process is emerging as the most promising with significant potential regarding energy consumption and quality of products. In this method, zinc reacts with cobalt binder to form intermetallic phases, resulting in a breakdown of the material's composite structure due to the higher volume of these phases. In the second step, Zn evaporates at high temperatures under vacuum, leaving behind a porous cemented carbide skeleton. By means of crushing, grinding, and sifting, these can be processed into a powder mixture suitable for direct use in the manufacture of new products. While previous research has focused on the formation of Co-Zn phases during the decomposition step, there is a gap in understanding the growth rate of the disintegration layer. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the layer growth and the kinetics of the disintegration stage of the zinc process. By examining these aspects, a deeper understanding of the fundamental mechanisms at play in this method is gained, contributing to further advancements in the recycling of cemented carbides.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Zeiler B, Bartl A, Schubert W (2021) Recycling of tungsten: current share, economic limitations, technologies and future potential. Int J Refract Metals Hard Mater 105546
Lassner E, Schubert W (1999) Tungsten. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York
Ebner T et al (2021) Influence of the Cemented carbides composition on the disintegration in liquid zinc. In: Anderson C et al (eds) Ni-Co 2021: the 5th international symposium on nickel and cobalt, the minerals, metals & materials series, pp. 329–343
Meyer R, Pietsch E (1956) Gmelins Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie. In: 32. Verlag Chemie, GmbH., Weinheim
Leitner M et al (2022) Studies on the phase formation of cobalt contacted with zinc vapour. Int J Refract Metal Hard Mater 107:105877
Ebner T et al (2020) Studies on the formation of intermetallic compound layers in Co(W)–Zn diffusion couples. In: PbZn 2020: 9th international symposium on lead and zinc processing, the minerals, metals & materials series, pp. 661–672
Luznik L et al (2023) Recycling of cemented carbides with gaseous zinc including particular consideration of GGI. In: Proceedings of EMC (2023) online proceedings
Ebner T et al (2017) Ausgangsbedingungen und Verfahren für das Recycling von Wolframkarbid-Verbundwerkstoffen. Oesterr Wasser Abfallwirtsch 69:482–494
Alkatsev MI, Svistunov NV, Trotsenko IG (2008) Regeneration of the WC-Co hard alloy with the use of gaseous zinc. Russ J Non-Ferrous Met 49:156–159
Acknowledgements
The financial support by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs and the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
About this paper
Cite this paper
Luznik, L., Gerold, E., Weirather, T., Czettl, C., Karhumaa, T., Antrekowitsch, H. (2024). Studies of Layer Growth During the Disintegration of Cemented Carbides with Vaporous Zinc. In: Forsberg, K., et al. Rare Metal Technology 2024. TMS 2024. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50236-1_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50236-1_37
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-50235-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-50236-1
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)