AcidLess Separation 2.0

ended

The ALS2.0 project will develop an innovative chemical-less separation technology for the refining of gold and other precious metals. The final goal of the project is to eliminate the obsolete chemicals and electrochemical processes used in gold prerefining since 1883. The original AcidLess Separation technology developed by IKOI (currently at TRL6) permits to obtain an effective separation of gold from precious metals alloys without using any chemicals. The separation of precious metals from an alloy is permitted thanks to the differential evaporation and condensation of metals in nearly vacuum conditions. The raw materials are heated via an electrical inducted crucible while the components separation is permitted by a special filter. Behind the absence of chemicals, this technology permits a very fine control of the process parameters that can be managed via a digital interface. This introduces a 100% chemical free precious metals pre-refining process in a market worth hundred billions of euro. The application of ALS at large-scale is therefore expected to bring several impacts on the entire precious metals value chain thus reducing the capital investment, operative costs and also lowering the environmental impacts of refining. Further, the low-cost viability of AcidLess separation equipment will foster the development of a circular supply chain with a more efficient recyclability of precious metals from waste materials and allowing SMEs to access this market. ALS technology is also suitable of further implementations. Scope of the projects is exactly to implement a 2.0 version of the AcidLess separation concept. The aims are to introduce advanced automation functionalities, permit a more effective separation of metals and improve the process parameters for the recovery of precious metals from electronic waste alloys (WEEEs) or other valuable metals like Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) considered as critical raw materials.