Process Knowledge, System Dynamics, and Metal Ecology

Verhoef, Ewoud; Dijkema, Gerard P.J.; Reuter, M.A.

doi:10.1162/1088198041269382

Cited by 118 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The high and increasing complexity of alloys presents recycling challenges, particularly because these alloying elements, with the exception of magnesium, 1 cannot be removed cost effectively through refining due to thermodynamic constraints. [2][3][4] Thus, the aluminum scrap that is recovered as mixed fractions (e.g., shredded products that contain various alloys and other materials) typically cannot be used to produce alloys contained in these products. Thus far, the aluminum industry has been able to recycle a wide variety of alloys primarily by increasing the alloying element levels of the material to create foundry cast alloys, which have a higher tolerance for impurities but often require either additional alloying elements or the dilution of scrap with clean primary material to attain the necessary material qualities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Component- and Alloy-Specific Modeling for Evaluating Aluminum Recycling Strategies for Vehicles

Modaresi

Løvik

Müller

2014

JOM

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Component- and Alloy-Specific Modeling for Evaluating Aluminum Recycling Strategies for Vehicles

Modaresi

Løvik

Müller

2014

JOM

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“…Metals are seldom deposited one at a time in nature (1,2), nor do they tend to be employed one by one (3). Rather, they see use as components of alloys or in composite structures, or as components of complex assembled products (4,5).…”

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confidence: 99%

Metal spectra as indicators of development

Graedel

Cao

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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We have assembled extensive information on the cycles of seven industrial metals in 49 countries, territories, or groups of countries, drawn from a database of some 200,000 material flows, and have devised analytical approaches to treat the suite of metals as composing an approach to a national "materials metabolism." We demonstrate that in some of the more developed countries, per capita metal use is more than 10 times the global average. Additionally, countries that use more than the per capita world average of any metal do so for all metals, and vice versa, and countries that are above global average rates of use are very likely to be above global average rates at all stages of metal life cycles from fabrication onward. We show that all countries are strongly dependent on international trade to supply the spectrum of nonrenewable resources that modern technology requires, regardless of their level of development. We also find that the rate of use of the spectrum of metals stock is highly correlated to per capita gross domestic product, as well as to the Human Development Index and the Global Competitiveness Innovation Index. The implication is that as wealth and technology increase in developing countries, strong demand will be created not for a few key resources, but across the entire spectrum of the industrial metals. Long-term metal demand can be estimated given gross domestic product projections; the results suggest overall metal flow into use in 2050 of 5-10 times today's level should supplies permit.industrial ecology | material flow analysis | metal cycles I t is without any doubt that modern society is only possible because of the use of metals. Metals possess properties of high utility (high melting points, structural stiffness, electrical conductivity, etc.) difficult or impossible to duplicate by other materials. As a consequence, the use of metals exploded in the twentieth century, especially after 1950. The result is a panoply of products that now appear essential to modern lives-furnaces, medical diagnostic machines, computers, cellular telephones, and on and on.Metals are seldom deposited one at a time in nature (1, 2), nor do they tend to be employed one by one (3). Rather, they see use as components of alloys or in composite structures, or as components of complex assembled products (4, 5). Analytical studies of metal cycles generally address only individual metals, however (e.g., refs. 6-8), largely because detailed information on combinations of metals is seldom available.In the material flow analysis approach, a metal cycle is often expressed through four principal processes: production, fabrication and manufacturing, use, and waste management and recycling. The cycle can be illustrated as shown in Fig. 1. It is characterized by processes that are linked through markets (9), each market indicating trade with other regions at the respective life stages. The scrap market plays a central role in that it connects manufacturing and the waste management and recycling stage with production and fa...

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“…6), as well as the dispersion of the elements and components (such as parts of a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA)) over the various recyclate fractions, determine in which metallurgical commodity metal infrastructure the recyclates and contained materials/elements will end up and be recovered, or lost. This is depicted by the different sections or slices of the Metal Wheel (as derived from the original Metal Wheel for ores/concentrates by Verhoef et al [23]). Each slice represents the complete metallurgical processing infrastructure and depth for a carrier base metal refinery (e.g., Fig.…”

Section: Metallurgical Processing Of Recyclatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Product-Centric Simulation-Based Design for Recycling: Case of LED Lamp Recycling

Reuter

Schaik²

2015

J. Sustain. Metall.

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This paper will illustrate how a product-centric simulation approach to recycling is core to Design for Recycling (DfR) & Design for Resource Efficiency. This approach is underpinned by rigorous recycling rate calculations, building on the extensive expertise, knowhow and tools of classical minerals, and metallurgical processing. Process simulation and design tools such as the commercial HSC Sim software are applied to quantify critical DfR rules for a particular product as well as to quantify the recycling rates of all materials and elements in a product. The ten DfR rules we have developed for Waste Electric and Electronic Waste recycling in a study performed for NVMP/Wecycle (the Netherlands) are applied to light emitting diode (LED) lamps. The results produced include recycling and recovery rates, as well as recyclate qualities and quantities, and losses and emissions of materials during recycling for various LED lamp redesigns. Metallurgical processing is also briefly discussed, showing that, in many cases, element recoveries are reduced to zero due to product complexity and ppm levels in the products. Simulation models are linked to life cycle assessment (LCA) and exergy, demonstrating how the applied simulation basis provides the detail to innovate the system. In addition, rigorous environmental assessment is a further outcome of the approach, while at the same time revealing the development that has to occur in LCA databases to improve their value for Ecodesign.

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Process Knowledge, System Dynamics, and Metal Ecology

Abstract: Keywordsdynamic systems process metallurgy solder solid waste management tacit knowledge tramp metals

Cited by 118 publications

References 15 publications

Component- and Alloy-Specific Modeling for Evaluating Aluminum Recycling Strategies for Vehicles

Component- and Alloy-Specific Modeling for Evaluating Aluminum Recycling Strategies for Vehicles

Metal spectra as indicators of development

Product-Centric Simulation-Based Design for Recycling: Case of LED Lamp Recycling

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