How does UOP recover metal elements such as Mo from waste catalysts?

UOP’s waste catalyst recovery facility is located at the Shreveport plant in Louisiana, where platinum, rhenium, and Molsiv are primarily recovered to produce new catalysts.

Go to UOP once and take a look at the equipment used for recovering metal elements such as Mo from waste catalysts.

What methods do they use to recover platinum and rhenium? Are there any process descriptions or literature available online on this topic? I just started my graduate studies and don’t know how to find out more about these things

That’s a bit exaggerated. I just started my graduate studies, and the professor only asked me to learn about their methods for recycling metals; it’s not part of my research project. Besides, it’s unlikely that companies allow random visits

It should be pickling; one could take a look at the waste treatment measures used in Zhejiang Petrochemical’s slurry-bed hydrogenation unit – it seems to be technology provided by a company based in Dalian

At the beginning of the research phase, it’s unclear where to look for such information; Baidu doesn’t provide any useful results

A search was conducted on UOP’s patents related to the catalyst field, with an analysis of the regional distribution and layout of these patent technologies. Patent technologies mainly involve preparation techniques for catalysts containing molecular sieves, catalysts containing precious metals, and molecular sieve catalysts.

Yi Cui and colleagues at Stanford University prepared 1T-MoS2 catalysts using an electrochemical exfoliation method. First, the carbon fiber (CFP) is treated with oxygen plasma, immersed in ammonium molybdate for a short time, then taken out and dried. Then PVP was uniformly dispersed on CFP, and MoO3 nanoparticles were obtained through pyrolysis at 600°C. The addition of PVP prevents further polymerization of MoO3 on CFP, effectively reducing the size of MoO3. Furthermore, MoO3 was rapidly sulfided at 600°C in an argon atmosphere to yield 2H-MoS2. Finally, the product from the previous step is used as the cathode, and Li is used as the anode for Li+ electrochemical insertion. After embedding, the electrodes were washed with ethanol and subjected to MoS2 exfoliation, causing the 2H-MoS2 phase to transform into the 1T-type Li-MoS2. At ƞ=200 mV, the current density of Li-MoS2 is 200 mA cm-2, with a Tafel slope of 62 mV/dec. It has very good stability, maintaining high activity even after 7,000 cycles. Author: Quantum Star Map – Honey Sauce. Link: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/44448853. Source: Zhihu. Copyright belongs to the author. For commercial reuse, please contact the author for permission; for non-commercial reuse, please indicate the source.

Molybdenum is a metal element; its elemental symbol is Mo, and its English name is Molybdenum. It has an atomic number of 42 and belongs to the VIB group of metals. Molybdenum has a density of 10.2 g/cm³, a melting point of 2610°C, and a boiling point of 5560°C. Molybdenum is a silver-white metal that is hard and tough, has a high melting point, and a relatively high thermal conductivity; it does not undergo oxidation reactions with air at room temperature. As a transition element, molybdenum can easily change its oxidation state, and the color of molybdenum ions also changes as its oxidation state changes. The main mineral is molybdenite (MoS₂). Molybdenum possesses advantages such as high strength, high melting point, corrosion resistance, and wear resistance. Molybdenum is an essential trace element for humans, as well as for animals and plants, and it plays an important role in their growth, development, and genetics.

If only molybdenum is to be recovered, the simplest method is to carry out calcination with an alkali followed by wet purification