The environmental and economical sustainability of the metallurgical industries depends on the possibility to recover and recycle the metallic materials after the use of the metallic products. The new challenge is a zero-waste metallurgical process including the recovery of the materials composing the products.
Such a challenging achievement can be fulfilled by a perspective involving commercial, economic and technical issues. Although recycling is an intrinsic feature of all the metallurgical processes, an efficient circular approach needs to take into account a correct selection and cleaning of the metallic and glassy-ceramic materials in order to allow their use in the process avoiding or limiting the exploitation and the consumption of the natural resources.
Such a view imposes a multidisciplinary approach where the application of complex mechanical system, innovative chemical plants, electromagnetic devices, biotechnological techniques and managing algorithm even ruled by artificial intelligence (i.e. for scrap selection, removal of the organic burden, extraction of valuable chemical elements etc.) have to be applied.
An efficient action inspired to the circular economy has to take into account a comprehensive vision where the recycling is associated to an efficient material and energy exploitation that implies an overall decrease of the polluting elements and greenhouse gases.
TOPICS
The Meeting will be performed through invited presentations and on the basis of the selection of the abstracts sent by authors and companies interested in sharing their updated knowledge on the following topics. The deadline for the abstract undergoing the selection is on July 31, 2024, in order to fulfill the final program.
• Scrap
• Scrap conditioning and management
• Recycling
• Recycling of the cans and materials for packaging
• Technique and processes to fit European regulation for packaging
• Tramp elements
• Slag recycling
• Slag valorization
• Recovery of valuable elements from wastes
• Recovery and recycling of the refractories
• Management of the oxide scales
• Treatment of dusts produced by metallurgical processes
• Sludges
• Biometallurgy
• Hydrometallurgy
• Biotechnological system for water treatment
• Heat harvesting for material recovery
• CO2 capture and use
• By-products
SIM² KU Leuven is the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals, one of the flagship KU Leuven Institutes. SIM² mission is to develop, organise and implement problem-driven, science-deep research and future-oriented education, contributing to the environmentally friendly production and recycling of metals, minerals and engineered materials, supporting the transition to a climate-friendly, circular-economy.
KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals