Electrochemical mining of waste ash

Description of capability

Duhan Zhang and Yet-Ming Chiang are working on the recovery of metals from waste ash, e.g. incinerator waste.

Key people

Duhan Zhang and Yet-Ming Chiang

Technology Readiness Level (1-9)

Needs that this could potentially address

• “The proposed technology can upcycle major elements in fly and bottom ash, including calcium and silicon, to value-added products such as lime and silicates for use in construction applications.”

Tech specs

• 90% purity for each of Cu, Pb, Mg, and Ca, and with high recovery efficiencies >80% for all target elements including Zn and Si

• A first-order techno-economic analysis of the integrated process shows that the net revenue from the mining of a representative ash (~$120/tonne)isabouttwicetherevenuefromWTEelectricitysales($55/tonne)

Estimated time & cost to commercialize

Outstanding risks

References

• ARPA-E project: Electrochemical Mining of MSWI Ash
• (Zhang et al. 2023)
• 2024-02-02 Duhan Zhang