RCYCLING OF MINING AND METALLURGICALL

WASTES AT DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT

INTRODUCING IONTECH ENGINEERING
Bulgarian based, EPCM company
Founded in 1999 by a team of leading
engineers in the field of hydrometallurgy
Specialises in:
o Mining and metallurgical projects
o Chemical and process plants
o Industrial water treatment and reclamation
o Waste management

INTRODUCTION
The mining and metallurgical industries produce many types of waste streams.
Increasing costs and stricter regulations require more effective methods for
treatment of these wastes. One of the most important tasks is the removal or
recovery of heavy metals. The effective recovery of these metals is possible only
if the separation process is selective enough .

Developed by Iontech Engineering hydrometallurgical technique, which involves
leaching, ionexchange and electrolytic processes, can be used for reducing the
amount of metal wastes.They can be used also for purification of process liquids
for re-use and for the treatment of final wastes

According to the Regulation on the requirements for treatment and
transportation of industrial and hazardous waste (adopted with Decree of the
Council of Ministers No 53 from 1999; State Gazette No 29/1999)[2], wastes will
be disposed via operations, which lead to resource recovery, recycling or reuse,
namely R3 - Recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds

The metals of interest are copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb).
DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT (DWTP)
CAPACITY AND PRODUCTS
Product EC#(EINECS)
Capacity
t/m
Capacity
t/a
1
Copper Cathodes
231-159-6 120 1440
2
Zinc Cathodes
231-175-3 200 2400
3
Lead
231-100-4 200 2400
TYPE AND QUANTITY OF WASTES PROVIDED
FOR TREATMENT AND THE VALUABLE METAL
CONTENT
DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT

Background

Flowsheet development of the Devnja WTP
o performed under laboratory and pilot plant scale
o includes:
Evaluation of processing options
Determination of optimal operational parameters
Development of new processing technologies when warranted
Evaluation of processing options that are environmentally
sustainable and meet legislated requirements





Background

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of
Devnja WTP includes the following main sections:

definition of the legal and institutional framework
description of the project and the environment
impacts assessment
identification of mitigation measures
presentation of an environmental management plan



DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT



Process flowsheet

The process flowsheet contains 7 technological departments,
namely:

Acid leaching
Caustic leaching
Solution purification and concentration
Cathode copper production/Cathode zinc production
Water and reagents recycling
Lead pyrometallurgy
Electrolytic lead production


DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT





Project operations

Acid leaching - for treatment of wastes with
low lead content, like slags from metal
casting, baghouse filter dusts, filter cakes
and galvanic sludge.Involves :
o Grinding and wetting the raw materials in
vibration mill to obtain a pasty product.
o Treatment of the pasty product with
sulfuric acid in agitators to dissolve the
oxides of zinc and copper.
o Autoclave treatment of the cake with
sulfuric acid
o Filtering the pulp from the autoclave
treatment in filter press solution, rich in
copper and zinc are sent to the Solution
purification and concentration
department and the cake, which has a
high lead content is subjected to Caustic
leaching department
DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT




Project operations

Caustic leaching for treatment of wastes with
high lead content, like electrofilter dust and lead
dust. Involves:
o Treatment of the raw materials with sulfuric
acid in agitators to dissolve the oxides of
zinc and copper.
o Autoclave treatment with sodium hydroxide
solution
o Thickening. Clarified solution is fed into the
Solution purification and concentration
department and the precipitated at the
bottom of the thickener solid phase is
filtered through the filter press. Solution is
sent to the Solution purification and
concentration department and the filter
cake, which is rich in lead and also contains
gold and silver is subjected to the Lead
pyrometallurgy department.

DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT



Project operations
Solution purification and concentration-Ion exhange removal of copper and zinc from
solutions obtained in Acid and Caustic leachin departments to obtain concentrated
copper and zinc solutions,, which are the feed solutions for the Technological departments
Cathode copper production/Cathode zinc production









DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT

Project operations
Cathode copper production/Cathode zinc production:
o Solvent Extraction process an organic extractant that binds
copper/zinc but not impurity metals is dissolved in an organic
solvent (diluent) and is mixed with the copper/zinc containing
aqueous solution, obtained in the Solution purification and
concentration. Sulfuric acid solution, namely spent electrolyte
returned from the EW tankhouse is then added to the loaded
organic mixture, which strips the copper/zinc into an electrolytic
solution ready for electrowinning.
o Electrowinning process - electrolysis of a pregnant electrolyte
solution, produced in copper and zinc SX processes, such that
copper/zinc ions within it are plated onto the cathode to obtain
highly purified cathode copper and cathode zinc


DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT


INVESTMENT INTENT FACILITY FOR WASTES
TREATMENT

Project operations

Water and reagents recycling :

o Arsenic removal takes place in two successive stages: 1) Two-stage
precipitation of arsenic to obtain the insoluble solid waste, scorodite and 2)
final removal of arsenic using ion exchange resin.

o Water treatment - involving the following operations (1) Neutralization with
lime milk in stirred reactors; (2) Three-stage counter-current decantation of
the suspension from previous operation; (3) Filtration using filter press - the
liquid phase, is sent for sulfate removal stage and the cake is a non-
hazardous waste (19 08 14).

o Sulfate removal via ion exchange resin.




Project operations

Lead pyrometallurgy-the spent
lead acid batteries and lead
containing cake, derived from the
Caustic leaching department are
processed in special Facility, which
includes rotating furnace, as well as
the cyclone and bag filter for
exhaust gases. The resulting
melting black lead then is refined to
obtain refined lead.



DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT



Project operations
Electrolytic lead production
o Filtration - The resulted from the caustic leaching department
pulp, containing solution of sodium-lead salt and leach residue -
lead dioxide and eventually noble metals is filtered through a filter
press. Sodium - lead salt solution then is sent to the process of
electrolysis to obtain metallic lead.
o Dissolved lead is sent to the electrowining cells to obtain pure
electrolytic lead and regenerate the sodium hydroxide solution,
closing the circuit. The liquor feeds electrolysis cell, which
operates at 60
o
C. Lead electrolysis is carried out in cell with
cationic membranes, operated with a rich catholyte of a lead
concentration around 30 g/l and spent catholyte of 15-18 g/l. The
cathodes are of stainless steel.

DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT



Location

located in the industrial
area of town of Devnya,
adjacent to the Varna
Sofia railway line.
Direct access to Port
Varna West
20 km. from Varna
Airport
the site area - 8686 m
2

DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT



Production site-Facility Map location


DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT



Potential adverse environmental impacts

Emissions to the air
Contamination of water resources
Contamination of receiving land by inappropriate waste
management
Occupational and public health hazards
Adverse aesthetic impacts in the neighborhood of treatment
works

The analysis of these impacts showed that they can be easily
mitigated for.
DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT



Mitigation measures

DEVNJA WASTE TREATMENT PLANT

CONCLUSION
The purpose of the Facility for waste treatment - to alleviate the
severe impacts of uncontrolled solid waste disposal into the
environment. Proper design/selection, construction, and
management of the waste treatment Facility would mitigate such
negative impacts.
The assessment of impacts indicated that negative impacts
should not be significant as long as process performance is
continuously controlled.
The design and management of the Facility will take necessary
procedures to ensure the elimination of these impacts.
On the other hand, positive impacts with respect to public
nuisance and human health are a direct consequence and key
goals of the project implementation.









For more information,
please visit:
www. ionteching.com