PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The primary objective of the project is to recover mercury from toxic and hazardous waste under modern conditions. Therefore, the project aims to evaluate and apply a specific process to recover this mercury with the aim of completing the cycle of mercury. A great deal of waste is contaminated by mercury to some degree. Power packs, for example, may contain up to 44 percent mercury by weight. Moreover, there is increasing attention on waste from electronics, fluorescent lamps, sludge from waste, water purification, dental waste and surgical waste. Although the total amount of waste that is contaminated with mercury is low in comparison to the global waste problem, the environmental impact of mercury-containing hazardous waste can no longer be neglected. Even today, modern waste management does not offer industrial recovery processes. The recovery process of this LIFE project is based on the desorption of mercury from the feed by putting the waste in contact with stripping gas at an elevated temperature and under oxidising conditions. The off-gas is then purified in a post combustion chamber. Then mercury is precipitated in a multi-stage gas purification process. The complete process uses the following steps: - Mechanical preparation of the waste by crushing and grinding - Mercury removal by stripping - Purification of the off-gas by incineration - Precipitation of mercury by scrubbing, condensing and adsorption. Devices and additives needed for this process do not need to be disposed of. Different metals, including lead, cadmium, copper, nickel and cobalt, are all recovered using this process.