A dross processing assembly includes a stirring station at which dross in a first dross recovery vessel is stirred and a pressing station at which previously stirred dross in a second dross recovery vessel is pressed simultaneously with the stirring of the dross in the first dross recovery vessel. The stirring station and the pressing station may be commonly housed in an enclosure. A conveyor system may advance dross recovery vessels through the dross processing assembly for continuous dross processing.

A compressing element, devices for using such a compressing element and methods of use are provided, in which the compressing element has: a upper surface provided with an inlet and an outlet; a lower surface; an at least partially hollow interior provided between the upper surface and the lower surface, the hollow interior being connected to the inlet and the outlet; the hollow interior being provided with: one or more fluid flow constraining surfaces provided by one or more walls of the follow interior; and one or more fluid flow control elements provided in the hollow interior, the one or more fluid flow control elements being additional to the one or more fluid flow constraining surfaces provided by the one or more walls of the hollow interior. The arrangement of inlet, outlet, fluid flow constraining surfaces and fluid control elements provides for improved cooling of the compressing element, for instance when used to press molten metal processing by-products to extract molten metal.

The present invention relates to techniques for producing 2024 and 7075 aluminum alloys by recycling waste aircraft aluminum alloys, which belong to technical fields for circular economy. The present invention develops techniques for obtaining the 2024 and 7075 aluminum alloys by subjecting waste aircraft aluminum alloys as raw materials to pretreatment, smelting, impurity removal, melt ingredient assay, ingredient adjustment, refining, and casting. Through utilizing the waste package aluminum alloys and the waste aluminum pop-top cans to adjust the ingredients, the waste aircraft aluminum alloys would be recycled at a lower cost without downgrading. The present invention has some advantages, such as low cost, and applicability for industrial production, as well as prominent economic benefit.

Techniques are disclosed for casting high-strength and highly formable metal products from recycled metal scrap without the addition of substantial or any amounts of primary aluminum. Additional alloying elements, such as magnesium, can be added to metal scrap, which can be cast and processed to produce a desirable metal coil at final gauge having desirable metallurgical and mechanical properties, such as high strength and formability. Thus, inexpensive and recycled metal scrap can be efficiently repurposed for new applications, such as automotive applications and beverage can stock.

A process for treating spent lithium ion batteries to recover metals is disclosed. The process includes discharging the spent lithium ion batteries. The discharged lithium ion batteries are shredded and roasted in a furnace to produce roasted material. The roasted material is sieved to separate a coarser fraction and a finer fraction. The coarser fraction comprises aluminium chips and copper chips. The finer fraction is further treated to recover copper, cobalt, and nickel sequentially with a purity of 99.3-99.9%. The process also recovers manganese as manganese dioxide and lithium as lithium carbonate. The process does not generate any solid waste as all the metals and by-products such as carbon powder and gypsum cake are saleable.

An apparatus for carrying out size reduction of battery materials under immersion conditions can include a housing configured to hold an immersion liquid comprising at least one of sodium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide. A first feed chute may define an opening therein for receiving battery materials of a first type into the housing and a first submergible comminuting device may be disposed within the housing and submerged in the immersion liquid to receive the battery materials of the first type from the first feed chute. The first submergible comminuting device may be configured to cause a size reduction of the battery materials of the first type to form a first reduced-size battery material.

An apparatus for carrying out size reduction of battery materials under immersion conditions can include a housing configured to hold an immersion liquid comprising at least one of sodium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide. A first feed chute may define an opening therein for receiving battery materials of a first type into the housing and a first submergible comminuting device may be disposed within the housing and submerged in the immersion liquid to receive the battery materials of the first type from the first feed chute. The first submergible comminuting device may be configured to cause a size reduction of the battery materials of the first type to form a first reduced-size battery material.

A process for recovering component materials from lithium battery materials, the process comprising the steps of: a) processing lithium battery materials in a comminuting apparatus comprising at least a first comminuting device that is submerged in an immersion liquid, thereby creating reduced-size battery materials and liberating electrolyte material and a black mass material comprising anode and cathode powders from within the lithium battery materials and providing a sized-reduced feed stream comprising the reduced size battery materials and the black mass material and electrolyte materials entrained within the immersion liquid; and b) processing the size-reduced feed stream to obtain at least a black mass solid stream that comprises the black mass material and a retained portion of the immersion liquid having entrained electrolyte materials.

An apparatus for carrying out size reduction of battery materials under immersion conditions having a battery inlet and at least a first comminuting device disposed within a housing and configured to cause a size reduction of the battery materials to form reduced-size battery materials and to liberate electrolyte materials and a black mass material comprising anode and cathode powders from within the battery materials. An immersion liquid can be within the housing and can submerge the first comminuting device so the black mass material and the reduced-size battery material are entrained within the immersion liquid to form a sized-reduced feed stream. A feed outlet may be downstream from the first comminuting device.

A method for controlling the concentration of impurities in Bayer liquors, the method comprising the steps of adding an oxide and/or a hydroxide of a metal other than aluminium to a Bayer liquor with a desired TA; forming a layered double hydroxide; and incorporating at least one impurity in said layered double hydroxide, wherein the impurities are selected from the group comprising phosphorus, vanadium and silicon.