Technologies for the recycling of hard metal scrap (Part 2)

The indirect reprocessing methods which transform the binder metals and the metal carbides into new chemical compounds are able to produce high quality end products. The developed recycling technologies mainly use a combination of pyro- and hydrometallurgical or chemical techniques. Aerial oxygen, oxygenic salts or electricity are used as oxidation reagents as well as chlorine in case of the Axel Johnson process. The further processing of the reaction products to the end-product serves either together or individually after their separation. Therefore the subsequent application of this secondary raw materials had to be considered. Due to environmental restrictions some of these recycling techniques are not economically operable in the western countries. Regardless of this, the published techniques are interesting concepts for the reprocessing of hard metal scrap.