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Metals Recovery & Recycle

Objective:

The general objective of this program is to address pollution risk from metals by advancing the understanding of the chemistry and the engineering of hybrid separations based on combinations of sorption, electric field, and membrane technologies. Through our projects we hope to: identify new and novel pollution prevention applications, provide tools and information to evaluate the performance of hybrid unit operations, and to increase end-user confidence in these technologies through small-scale demonstrations.

Background:

The recovery of metals and the maintenance of process solutions used in the metal finishing and other industries has become important not only as a means of meeting stricter regulations but also as a means of improving competitiveness.What is usually desired is a nearly zero discharge or closed-loop process.To achieve closed-loop operation:

  1. water use must be minimized;
  2. metals must be recycled "in-process" or recovered; and
  3. contaminants must be removed from the process bath.

Projects:

The EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) has maintained an active in-house metals P2 research program since late-1995. Early work was focused on developing low-cost sorbents based on waste materials and agricultural by-products for recovering lead from soil washing operations. Brief descriptions of some of our current projects follow.

Metals Recovery Projects:

Contact Information:

Contact:
Michael Gonzalez
(513) 569-7180
gonzalez.michael@epa.gov
Fax: (513) 569-7677
Postal Address:
26 West Martin Luther King Drive
Mail Stop 443
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268

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