Platinum Group Elements Recovery from Used Catalytic Converters by Acidic Fusion and Leaching

Abstract

The recovery of platinum group elements (PGE (platinum group element coating); Pd, Pt, and Rh) from used catalytic converters, using low energy and fewer chemicals, was developed using potassium bisulfate fusion pretreatment, and subsequently leached using hydrochloric acid. In the fusion pre-treatment, potassium bisulfate alone (without the addition of an oxidant) proved to be an effective and selective fusing agent. It altered PGE into a more soluble species and did not react with the cordierite support, based on X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and metallographic characterization results. The fusion efficacy was due to the transformation of bisulfate into pyrosulfate, which is capable of oxidizing PGE. However, the introduction of potassium through the fusing agent proved to be detrimental, in general, since potassium formed insoluble potassium PGE chloro-complexes during leaching (decreasing the recovery) and required higher HCl concentration and a higher leaching temperature to restore the solubility. Optimization on the fusion and leaching parameter resulted in 106% ± 1.7%, 93.3% ± 0.6%, and 94.3% ± 3.9% recovery for Pd, Pt, and Rh, respectively. These results were achieved at fusion conditions: temperature 550 °C, potassium bisulfate/raw material mass ratio 2.5, and fusion time within 30 min. The leaching conditions were: HCl concentration 5 M, temperature 80 °C, and time within 20 min.