A method of operating an iron making installation is provided, in which waste material is dried using a drying gas, the drying gas including an exhaust gas from a sinter plant, and the dried material is roasted a roasting gas, so as to produce coal and a roasting exhaust gas. An associated installation is also provided.

The use of pellets comprising one or more thermoplastic material(s) of more than 40%, based on the total dry weight of the pellets and one or more cellulosic material(s) of more than 20%, based on the total dry weight of the pellets, as a reducing agent in a process for making pig iron in a blast furnace. The pellets can be provided in unground form, as a partial replacement of coke through the top of the blast furnace, or can be provided as reducing agent in the raceway in an amount of higher than 10 kg/ton iron.

Composite particles are used in combination with ore particles in an ore-refining or purification process, such as in a steel- or iron-making process. The composite particles comprise a core, which may be an aggregate of limestone, dolomite, or another ore particle. The core is surrounded by a coating layer of a metal dust and a binder. The metal dust may be iron oxide dust, which, along with limestone, is prevalent in the iron smelting process anyway. In this way, the composite particles help to recycle otherwise wasted and hazardous iron dust. The binder may be mineral clay such as bentonite, montmorillonite or kaolinite, and may comprise about 2-10% by weight of the particle.

Systems and methods are described in which spent pickle liquor from metal cleaning processes is utilized to regenerate a lixiviant used to recover valuable metals from industrial waste and other sources. The spent pickle liquor is neutralized and solvated metals in the spent pickle liquor are precipitated in this process. When the industrial waste is slag from a metal refining process a partially closed metal production process can be implemented, where spent pickle liquor from cleaning of the refined metal is used to regenerate a lixiviant used to recover a different, valuable metal from a waste slag of the process, with precipitated salts from the lixiviant regeneration being returned as a raw material in the metal refining process. As a result waste streams from these processes are dramatically reduced or eliminated.

A method for recycling used cells such as saline cells, alkaline cells, button cells and used rechargeable batteries, includes the step of introducing the cells and/or rechargeable batteries as feedstock into a metal melting furnace, at the charging door thereof. The cells and/or rechargeable batteries are subjected to a compression operation in order to remove the electrolytes contained in the cells and/or rechargeable batteries, prior to introducing the cells and/or rechargeable batteries into the metal melting furnace.

The method can be used for recycling used cells and rechargeable batteries.

A method for recycling used cells such as saline cells, alkaline cells, button cells and used rechargeable batteries, includes the step of introducing the cells and/or rechargeable batteries as feedstock into a metal melting furnace, at the charging door thereof. The cells and/or rechargeable batteries are subjected to a compression operation in order to remove the electrolytes contained in the cells and/or rechargeable batteries, prior to introducing the cells and/or rechargeable batteries into the metal melting furnace.

The method can be used for recycling used cells and rechargeable batteries.

The invention relates to the use of pellets comprising one or more thermoplastic material(s) of more than 40%, based on the total dry weight of the pellets and one or more cellulosic material(s) of more than 20%, based on the total dry weight of the pellets, as a reducing agent in a process for making pig iron in a blast furnace. Said pellets can be provided in unground form, as a partial replacement of coke through the top of the blast furnace, or can be provided as reducing agent in the raceway in an amount of higher than 10 kg/ton iron.

A method of operating an iron making installation is provided, in which waste material is dried using a drying gas, the drying gas including an exhaust gas from a sinter plant, and the dried material is roasted a roasting gas, so as to produce coal and a roasting exhaust gas. An associated installation is also provided.

The invention relates to a method for producing an agglomerate, which is used as a blast furnace feed material, by mixing a fine material containing metal and/or metal oxide, a mineral binder, which comprises a mineral raw material and a lime-based material, and optionally other additives to form a mass and solidifying the mass to form an agglomerate, wherein a raw material comprising a silicon oxide fraction of at least 40 wt %, a fine grain fraction of less than 4 m of at least 20 wt %, and a grain size fraction of less than 1 m of at least 10 wt % is used as the mineral raw material. The invention further relates to a blast furnace feed material that can be produced by means of the method according to the invention, and to a pre-mixture for producing the blast furnace feed material.

The invention relates to a method for producing an agglomerate, which is used as a blast furnace feed material, by mixing a fine material containing metal and/or metal oxide, a mineral binder, which comprises a mineral raw material and a lime-based material, and optionally other additives to form a mass and solidifying the mass to form an agglomerate, wherein a raw material comprising a silicon oxide fraction of at least 40 wt %, a fine grain fraction of less than 4 m of at least 20 wt %, and a grain size fraction of less than 1 m of at least 10 wt % is used as the mineral raw material. The invention further relates to a blast furnace feed material that can be produced by means of the method according to the invention, and to a pre-mixture for producing the blast furnace feed material.