A method for recycling zinc (Zn), wherein the method comprises the following steps: providing a feed composition; adding the feed composition to a rotary oven; heating the added feed composition for producing a first liquid molten metal phase and a first supernatant dross; adding aluminum (Al) to the first liquid molten metal phase, wherein a second supernatant dross and a second liquid molten metal phase are formed; adding at least one flux to the second liquid molten metal phase, followed by at least one segregation step in which the second liquid molten metal phase is removed from the rotary oven; casting the second liquid molten metal phase, or adding the removed second liquid molten metal phase to a casting furnace; casting the second liquid molten metal phase from the casting furnace; wherein the method further comprises the steps of: removing the second supernatant dross from the rotary oven; subjecting the removed second supernatant dross to at least one crushing step and at least one sorting step for separating at least one zinc fraction and at least one zinc oxide fraction from the second supernatant dross; and using the at least one zinc fraction for contributing to provide the feed composition.

Provided are a method and molten salt system for recovering rare earth elements from NdFeB waste and use of ferric oxide as a raw material of a manganese-zinc ferrite. The molten salt system comprising the following components in percentage by weight: 40% of K.sub.3AlF.sub.6 or Na.sub.3AlF.sub.6, 40% of KBe.sub.2F.sub.5, and 20% of KAlF.sub.4. By adopting the three-component molten salt system of the present invention, recovery rates of rare earth elements extracted from NdFeB waste all can reach 98% or above. By adopting the three-component molten salt system, extraction temperature is 100-400? C. lower than that of all current similar halogenation methods, and extraction time is fold shorted to 1-3 h. The reduction of the extraction temperature and the shortening of the melting time greatly reduce the energy consumption of extracting rare earth elements from NdFeB waste, and the economic benefits are remarkable.

The present disclosure provides a method for recycling a waste lithium ion battery, a method for smart recycling a waste lithium ion battery, and a system for smart recycling a waste lithium ion battery, comprising a partial melt separation process for lithium alloy compound formation and graphite separation, wherein the partial melt separation process comprises dry-separating a lithium alloy compound, a copper metal, an aluminum-copper alloy, and graphite from waste lithium ion battery cell shreds, discharged waste lithium ion battery cells or waste lithium ion battery cases.

A method and apparatus for step-by-step retrieving valuable metals from waste printed circuit board particles. Many kinds of metals, most existing in form of elementary substance or alloy, are contained in the waste printed circuit boards. Molten metals are separated selectively by supergravity separation at different temperatures to achieve the step-by-step recovery. Tin-based alloys, lead-based alloy, zinc aluminum alloy, crude copper and precious-metal-enriched residues with different metal contents are separated out and collected on the condition of different temperatures (T=200300 C., 330430 C., 700900 C., 11001300 C.) and controlling the gravity coefficient (G=501000) and separation time (t=220 min) etc. Different metals or alloys can be separated quickly and efficiently and the residue concentration of precious metals can be obtained. The process is simple and low cost to provide an efficient way to recovery the enrichment of valuable metals from electronic wastes.

A method for extracting lithium from a battery including at least two cells, each cell including a negative electrode, a positive electrode and solid or quasi-solid metal lithium; is disclosed. The battery having a first edge from which the negative electrodes of the cells protrude and a second edge which is opposite said first edge and from which the positive electrodes protrude The method including an extraction phase, which includes: positioning the battery in an orientation in which one of the first and second edges is below the other one of the first and second edges; heating the battery to a treatment temperature, which is greater than or equal to the melting temperature of the solid metal lithium; and
cutting the electrical connection between the positive electrodes of at least two of the cells of the battery. The invention further relates to a plant implementing such a method.

The present disclosure relates to a device and method for recovering arsenic and gallium. A closed furnace body is in communication with a vacuuming pipe, and the vacuuming pipe is connected to a vacuuming mechanism. The closed furnace body includes a first furnace body, a second furnace body and a third furnace body. A first heating mechanism and a graphite crucible are arranged inside the first furnace body, the first heating mechanism being used for heating the graphite crucible. A first collection cylinder is in communication with a second collection cylinder. The device for recovering arsenic and gallium of the present disclosure is arranged with a structure for realizing directional condensation of gallium arsenide clusters and arsenic vapor, respectively, to realize high-purity recovery of arsenic and gallium.

A method of removing components from circuit boards includes the steps of placing in a chamber a plurality of circuit boards having components secured to the board by meltable solder; heating a liquid to a temperature above the melting point of the solder; and melting the solder that secures the components to the board by circulating the heated liquid through the chamber to envelop the boards and the components. Thereafter the liquid, with entrained solder, may be circulated through a heat exchanger and a filter.

A method of producing a neodymium metal can include mixing a dissolution agent comprising magnesium with a neodymium-containing feedstock. The dissolution agent and the neodymium-containing feedstock can be heated to an elevated temperature above a melting temperature of the dissolution agent to form a neodymium-magnesium alloy. The neodymium-magnesium alloy can be exposed to hydrogen gas to convert neodymium in the alloy to a neodymium hydride. The neodymium hydride can be separated from the magnesium in the alloy. The neodymium can be optionally dehydrogenated to yield a purified neodymium product.

According to the present invention there is provided a method for treating a zinc leach residue comprising the steps of: adding the zinc leach residue and a sulfide material comprising copper and flux to a furnace having a molten bath therein; operating the furnace to produce a matte comprising copper and a slag comprising zinc; separating the matte from the slag; and recovering zinc from the slag. The method preferably comprises the additional step of recovering the copper and/or other precious metals such as silver and gold, from the matte.

A method of processing mixed-material vehicle scrap includes conditioning the mixed-material vehicle scrap and heating the mixed-material vehicle scrap. The mixed-material vehicle scrap comprises a first group of parts and a second group of parts. The first group of parts includes a first alloy and the second group of parts has a substrate of a second alloy and a coating disposed over the substrate. The mixed-material vehicle scrap is conditioned such that an element of the second alloy is diffused into the coating to form a diffused coating. The diffused coating has a melting temperature greater than a melting temperature of the first alloy. The mixed-material vehicle scrap is heated to a temperature above the melting temperature of the first alloy and below the melting temperature of the diffused coating, thereby allowing the second group of parts to separate from the first group of parts.