The battery recycling joint venture between Australian Securities Exchange listed Neometals and SMS Group
a privately owned German plant manufacturer
plans to recover all the LIB constituent materials with an efficient and environmentally friendly recycling solution that re-uses the products
including the generation of high-purity cathode chemicals for the battery supply chain
The demonstration plant comprises a fully built shredding and beneficiation circuit (stage 1) and a hydrometallurgical refining circuit (stage 2)
Stage 2 commissioning activities completed so far include water testing the entire leaching and solvent extraction circuits
leaching intermediate active materials (“black mass”) from stage 1
and commencing the first stage of solvent extraction (copper)
Commissioning of the remaining solvent extraction steps (to recover cobalt
The demonstration plant, which has undergone extensive pilot trialing, will showcase Primobius’ integrated recycling solution in a dedicated
which are donated by EV and stationary energy storage partners
Product outputs from the trial will be evaluated by potential customers and off-takers
“The demonstration plant trial will provide an opportunity for car
consumer electronics and battery manufacturers to verify Primobius’ capability to safely
sustainably and ethically dispose of hazardous LIBs to comply with all regulatory obligations,” says Horst Krenn
the demonstration plant will highlight an opportunity for partners to watch their spent batteries go into the process and a range of products come out at the other end for supply chain evaluation
The integrated trials are expected to start in October 2021 and finish by the end of November 2021
the demonstration plant will be modified and sections moved to meet the requirements of the 10-tpd shredder plant
which is due to offer commercial LIB recycling services from Q1 2022
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An orchestra’s instruments were coated with a fine acidic dust after a fire extinguisher was set off in their rehearsal room
Members of the Philharmonie Südwestfalen were shocked to discover their instruments had been destroyed during a weekend celebration at their resident concert hall in Hilchenbach
A fire extinguisher was set off in the German orchestra’s rehearsal space
causing 25 instruments to be coated with white extinguishing powder
“It’s the dust that lies in the room that worries us,” says musical director
“It gets in everything as soon as we open a door.”
The acidic dust is so fine that it has settled into even the smallest of gaps in the instruments
A specialist company is being brought in to ensure further damage is not done to the instruments
Read more: Distraught cellist suffers £3,150 worth of damage to his instrument after airline flight
it is not known how many of the instruments are already damaged beyond repair
The instruments affected included a harpsichord, and a €180,000 (£153,943) Steinway grand piano
and both the orchestra and the concert hall have filed for criminal charges
While it is not known who the perpetrators were
the party cellar under the concert hall had been rented out for a private event the evening of the incident
A police investigation is currently underway to determine why this disturbance took place
and how those involved were able to access the orchestra’s rehearsal room
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the frozen gases trapped beneath its surface quickly evaporate in a process called outgassing
This often dislodges tiny dust grains from the surface of the comet
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the principal investigator of the COSIMA team
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Leading designer of metallurgical plants and machinery SMS Group has built a private 5G campus network
together with European telecoms provider Mugler and Ericsson to test large-scale automation and systems in real-time
built at SMS’s Hilchenbach location in Siegerland
will see data rates up to 10Gbps which the company said would make real-time applications in large-scale systems become safer
more flexible in production and lower in emissions
This industry faces immense challenges in developing new materials and reducing energy consumption and emissions
a high degree of automation and digitalisation in a real-time capable network environment is necessary
SMS said it is now testing on an industrial scale for the first time and further developing the solutions for customers in the global metallurgical industry.
was implemented by Mugler and put into operation in four weeks
Ericsson signed an agreement with Mugler to build and operate private 5G networks across a range of industries in Germany
Mobility and Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV)
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and lone worker applications are being tested
The new private 5G network location also serves as a platform for the implementation of knowledge gained as part of the funded research projects 5G-Furios of North Rhine-Westphalia
the Horizon 2020 and Zero-SWARM projects of the EU
as well as the CLOUD56 research project of the Federal Ministry for Digital and traffic
“This partnership gives us the opportunity to take big steps forward in the digitalisation of the industry and develop new solutions by expanding the footprint of the SMS group in the steel industry and use Ericsson’s 5G technology,” said Mugler head of local networks Stefan Richter.
“We are providing the market with a sensor solution for manufacturing companies that is scalable and easy to integrate,” said SMS Digital head of technologies and partnerships Jens Petri
“It enables the transmission and processing of data via 5G connectivity to gain insights into the process
which is jointly developed and delivered at the SMS group location were tested in Hilchenbach
5G is the first network for which companies in Germany have been able to apply for licenses since 2019 and so operate their own industrial 5G network
The German federal government has reserved 100MHz bandwidth (from 3.7GHz to 3.8GHz) for local use.
Regarding the rest of the 5G infrastructure
Siemens is responsible for providing the routers and the necessary support with its technological expertise
SMS is also collaborating with the Fraunhofer Institut
Customers which are already actively involved in pilot projects or who want to set up their own Industrial 5G network at an early stage in conjunction with SMS group include the Mercedes-Benz Group in partnership with Primobius
the American steel producer Big River Steel
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Western Australian mining-cum-materials recovery company Neometals will begin testing at its newly commissioned battery recycling demonstration plant in Hichenbach
the product of a joint venture with SMS Group
has already garnered considerable attention and is a finalist in 2022’s prestigious German Sustainability Award
“We want Primobius to be the preeminent recycler in the world,” the company’s managing director
Primobius is a joint venture between WA-based Neometals and Germany's SMS Group
Just how a gold mining company born in the red dust of Western Australia came to be courting European carmakers with high purity
sustainably recovered battery materials has received surprisingly little airtime in clean energy circles
especially given the intrigue the company’s stock exchange listing alludes to
Repurposing technologies invented by mining
fostering European partnerships and amassing a series of striking core projects
dislodging its foothold from regional backwaters and marching it directly into a global battery epicentre
Neometals completed the commissioning of its Primobius battery recycling demonstration plant
Located in its partner SMS Group’s manufacturing hub in Hilchenbach
an hour a half’s drive from former West German capital
the facility uses distinctive hydrometallurgy processes to recover materials from lithium-based batteries
What distinguishes the process though is its waste-free status
“We’ve developed flowsheets that not only try to maximise our recoveries
and our tails are a fertiliser product and our CO2 footprint is very low.”
The facility has been six years in the making
the result of an extensive research and development program by Neometals
the company knew the real trick would be in scaling
As Neometal’s general manager of commercial and investor relations
puts it: European carmakers don’t have time for small Australian companies who are just going to build “one dinky plant”
Which meant Neometals had to find a way to go “very industrial scale” with its capacity or risk carmakers taking their battery recycling programs in-house
That capacity came in the form of the SMS Group partnership
SMS Group brings its 140 year reputation in plant building
Attaching itself to an enduring European company has been vital for the Western Australian outfit
Neometals’ longterm strategy is to link with European carmakers by promising to close their car battery loop
recovering materials from their stocks of spent electric vehicle (EV) batteries so they can go into the next generation afresh – a ESG reporting dream
“That’s how we make money – it’s sort of a partnership model at large
recycling services and selling the chemicals at the back,” McManus told pv magazine Australia
Primobius uses solvent extraction as its primary recovery tool
a process Reed says was actually invented in the Australian mining hub of Mount Isa in central Queensland
“It’s applying existing Australian technology into a new field.”
The Primobius pilot which took place in Canada saw materials recovery rates sitting around 85%
something Reed is hoping to boost in the more advanced German demonstration plant
A combination of Primobius’ sequence and reagents mean its process produces minimal waste
“Rather than using sodium as the pH adjustor
we used [the more expensive] ammonia gas which means instead of having a shitty sodium sulphate… we get ammonium [sulphate] out the backend
and it’s actually a very high purity fertiliser,” Reed explained
As for the gas fumes which come with battery recycling
Reed says the company actually captures its vapours
dries and condenses them “because that’s still got lithium in it.”
or down the drain or into landfill,” McManus said of the process
“We’re trying to design it as if you were going to build it next to your house [because] it’s going to be next door to someone somewhere in the world,” Reed said
This approach has seen Primobius selected as a finalist in the German Sustainability Award’s resources category for 2022
with the winner to be announced in early December
Neometals’ journey from gold mining in the turn of the century to (hopefully) winning sustainability awards in 2021 came
and he was watching concentrates being leached at Thyssenkrupp’s headquarters in Essen
when a cohort of engineers and businessmen emerged and told the Australian mining director that he should go looking for lithium
“They told me the future of transportation was going to be lithium batteries,” Reed recalled
Reed did know where to find lithium – there was a vast deposit right in his home state
He spent the next year shifting his business
which at the time was called Reed Resources
eventually changing the company’s name to Neometals and extending the scope from just lithium to a broad spectrum of battery minerals
“We [then] made a conscious pivot five years ago to move into those more sustainable materials recovery projects,” Reed said
pointing to the company’s turning away from its mining roots towards recycling
Primobius’ plan is to focus in on car batteries
specifically pursuing chemistries with high nickel contents
like lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt or NMC chemistries and lithium-cobalt or LCO chemistries
Despite the surging popularity of lithium-iron-phosphate or LFP chemistries
the company isn’t prioritising that direction
“You might get a cheaper car at the front end
but the the total cost is more expensive if you include recycling
which is where the world is going,” McManus said
less flexible chemistries and towards more recyclable options
“All of my big discussions with potential partners
often the first person that ever speaks is the guy or girl responsible for lifecycle carbon analysis
and I must admit I was a bit surprised,” McManus said
Europe’s closed loop battery focus – not to mention incoming regulations – are leagues ahead of Australia
battery makers will soon be mandated to use recycled content in their new products
it has to come from a recycler,” McManus said
opening up a seizable opportunity for well positioned players like Primobius
“We’re doing a study on a 20,000 tonne per annum plant
and at the same time we’re doing a study on a 200,000 tonne per annum plant because that’s where we see the volumes going to,” he said
Reed’s vision for Primobius is for it to become a preeminent global battery recycler
Europe is going to be where that first kicks off in earnest
“We’ll come to Australia as soon as the market is there,” Reed added
Primobius will complete the testing of its Hilchenbach demonstration plant and put the final touches on its feasibility study
It’s set to make its final investment decision on the endeavour in the first quarter of next year
More articles from Bella Peacock
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Der junge palästinensische Aktivist Basel Adra aus Masafer Yatta im Westjordanland kämpft schon lange gegen die Vertreibung seiner Gemeinschaft durch die israelische Besatzung
in denen Häuser abgerissen und ihre Bewohner vertrieben werden