Emission standards for flue gases from the smelting of recycled non-ferrous metals

The emission standards for flue gases from recycled metal smelting currently follow the secondary standards set out in the \"Comprehensive Emission Standards for Air Pollutants\" (GB16297-1996) as well as the secondary standards in the \"Emission Standards for Air Pollutants from Industrial Furnaces and Ovens\" (GB9078-1996).

With China committing in 2020 to reduce emissions per unit of GDP by 40%~45% compared to 2005, how to effectively promote the development of a low-carbon economy has become a hot topic of discussion among various sectors of society. Generally, when developing a low-carbon economy, the focus is first placed on addressing the sources of high energy consumption, high pollution, and high emissions. In this process, the advantages of the resource reproduction industry become evident. According to data from the Recycled Metals Branch of the China Non-ferrous Metals Industry Association, compared with the use of mineral resources, between 2001 and 2008 China’s recycled metals industry helped save 202 million tons of standard coal in terms of energy consumption, 9.3 billion tons of water, 5.6 billion tons of solid waste emissions, and 2.55 million tons of sulfur dioxide emissions – making it a typical example of a low-carbon economy. At the beginning of this year, the drafting process of the \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead\" entered its most critical phase, attracting significant attention from many enterprises. The author learned from the developers of this standard, the Beijing Zhongse Recycled Metals Research Institute, that the development work on this standard is progressing in an orderly manner. Research has already been conducted on some enterprises, and a draft for soliciting opinions on the standard will be released in the first half of this year. Relevant enterprises will be convened at appropriate times to hold discussions on the standard, with the aim of gathering extensive feedback from them. This will enable the standard to serve as a practical policy for regulating pollutant emissions in the recycled metals industry, filling the gap in the lack of environmental control standards for such enterprises. It will also help to standardize the conditions and technical requirements for pollutant control in this industry, thereby contributing significantly to the improvement of environmental protection measures and management in this sector, as well as to the upgrading of its industrial capabilities – with important economic and environmental benefits as a result. The draft \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead\" was included by the **Ministry of Environmental Protection in the 2007 plan for formulating (amending) environmental standards. The Beijing China Nonferrous Metals Recycling Research Institute was the leading drafter of this standard. The author learned from the Beijing China Nonferrous Metals Recycling Research Institute that this standard specifies the emission limits for air pollutants, as well as the requirements for testing and monitoring, for enterprises in the recycled copper, recycled aluminum, and recycled lead industries. Following the introduction of this standard, enterprises in the recycled metal industry will no longer be required to comply with the relevant provisions set out in the \"Emission Standards for Air Pollutants from Industrial Furnaces and Ovens\", the \"Comprehensive Wastewater Discharge Standards\", and the \"Comprehensive Emission Standards for Air Pollutants\". The new standards will be better suited to the various characteristics of recycled non-ferrous metals, which differ from those of primary metal smelting, and they provide more detailed and precise regulations regarding the characteristic pollutants generated during the smelting of recycled non-ferrous metals. At the kick-off meeting for the \"Industrial Pollutant Emission Standards – Copper, Aluminum, Lead,\" hosted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in December 2009, dozens of experts from China’s recycled metal industry and environmental protection sector listened to the presentation made by the standard drafting team from the Beijing Chinalco Recycled Metal Research Institute, and then offered their opinions on the development of these standards as well as related issues. Firstly, some experts suggested that the scope of application of these standards should be made clearer. The recycled metal industry in China is an industry that has only been developing for a short time but is growing at a rapid pace. Generally speaking, enterprises that use various waste materials as raw materials and employ relevant processes to produce recycled non-ferrous metals should be classified as such enterprises and subject to these standards. However, since the production of recycled non-ferrous metals has always served as a complement to the production of primary non-ferrous metals, and since certain processes used in recycled metal production are quite similar to those used in primary production, many manufacturing enterprises practice a combination of both primary and recycled metal production methods. How such mixing enterprises will implement these standards after their introduction has also become a topic of intense discussion among experts. Professor Zhang Xizhong, director of the Beijing Zhongse Recycled Metals Research Institute and one of the drafters of the standard, said that this standard places greater emphasis on the characteristic pollutants generated in the production of recycled non-ferrous metals. Compared to the situation where there are only a few pollutants emitted during the smelting of primary metals, the complexity of the raw materials used in recycled metal processing means that more types of pollutants may be released. The standard sets strict regulations for these potential pollutants, and it also clarifies the definition of recycled non-ferrous metal production. It takes into account the issues faced by enterprises involved in mixing processes, striving to include all forms of recycled non-ferrous metal production within the scope of this standard. Secondly, regarding the issue of air pollutant emissions, experts have raised a series of questions: such as how to calculate the emission levels of air pollutants for a company that has multiple chimneys, whether the air quality in the area surrounding the company should also be taken into account in the standards, and what regulations should govern the height of chimneys. Zhang Jiayuan, an engineer at the Beijing China Nonferrous Metals Recycling Research Institute, explained to the author the basis and methods for calculating a company’s air emission levels. He said that regarding the methods for calculating the emission standards for copper, aluminum, and lead in recycled non-ferrous metals, the standard-setting team carefully studied and compared various existing methods for calculating air emissions. Various approaches such as total amount control, concentration control, and flow rate control were considered during the drafting phase of the standards. Ultimately, in line with the principle of fairness, and taking into account the characteristics of existing enterprises dealing with recycled non-ferrous metals, the team selected the concentration-based calculation method as the approach to determine air pollutant emissions. In response to the issue raised by experts regarding multiple emission sources per company, Zhang Jiayuan stated that the \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead\" set requirements for corporate emissions based on the concentration of pollutants in the exhaust gas at each emission source. Multiple measurements are taken at various emission points, and all of these values must meet the specified standards in order to be considered compliant. Additionally, he expressed his concern that in some enterprises, air pollutants are not released through the designated emission outlets; for example, in many smelting enterprises, a large amount of exhaust gas is emitted from the openings of the smelting furnaces. Whether there is appropriate environmental protection equipment at these openings means that the total amount of pollutants released remains uncontrollable. In light of this situation, Zhang Jiayuan suggested that, after the formulation of the \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead,\" further standards for a clean production system specific to the recycled non-ferrous metals industry, as well as recommendations regarding the BAT (Best Available Technology) for recycled metals, should be developed. In 2009, residents living near companies such as Shaanxi Dongling and Henan Yuguang reported cases of elevated blood lead levels, and environmental issues in the areas surrounding these manufacturing plants became a focus of public concern. Some experts suggested at this kick-off meeting that the \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead\" should also include measures for controlling and monitoring the atmospheric environment around enterprises involved in the recycling of non-ferrous metals, especially those that use pyrometallurgical processes. Zhang Xizhong, a professor at the Beijing China Nonferrous Metals Recycling Research Institute, gave the following opinion on this issue: Since the environment surrounding enterprises is affected by various complex factors such as wind direction and the simultaneous emissions from other nearby enterprises, it is not feasible to monitor them effectively. Of course, the difficulty in control does not mean that no control is possible. The drafting team took this issue fully into account during the standard-setting process; by defining safe areas and setting limits on the levels of pollutants that enterprises must control based on specific circumstances, this will also be given priority consideration in the next phase of standard development, with the aim of finding practical solutions to prevent incidents of lead contamination similar to those that occurred at Dongling in Shaanxi from happening in enterprises that produce recycled non-ferrous metals. Finally, the standards for dioxin emissions are also one of the issues that experts participating in the discussion on the \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead\" are most concerned about. Dioxins are highly toxic, and their measurement methods are quite complex; moreover, the costs associated with such measurements are high. This raises the question: Will the regulations regarding dioxin emissions set out in the \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead\" actually be implemented, or will they remain merely nominal? In response to such concerns, officials from the Ministry of Environmental Protection stated that dioxin emissions are related to international compliance obligations, and the restrictions must not be relaxed. Zhang Xizhong also stated that dioxins can be prevented from being released into the atmosphere through advanced manufacturing processes. While drafting the \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead,\" the Beijing China Nonferrous Metals Recycling Research Institute is also actively recommending to enterprises similar advanced environmental protection technologies to reduce environmental pollution, thereby integrating environmental protection concepts and controls into all aspects of the production process and preventing the generation of pollutants at the source. When discussing the next steps in formulating the \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead,\" Zhang Xizhong said that the relevant research and tests required for its development have been largely completed, and a relatively detailed framework for its main contents has been established. In the first half of 2010, a draft version of these emission standards will be released for public comments, and relevant enterprises will be convened to discuss them at an appropriate time. While respecting relevant national laws and international obligations, it is intended to give enterprises that implement these standards the right to offer suggestions and opinions, so that these standards can truly be practical and serve as a means to control pollution in this industry and promote its upgrading.

I also read that previous literature, but it doesn’t mention any specific standards at all. . . The key indicators at the moment are solid particulate matter, SO2, NO2, and dioxins. For dioxins, we have decided to adopt the European standard, which is 0.1 ng-TEQ/Nm3; however, the standards for the other substances have not yet been determined

Thank you to BZ for providing these standards; we also use them as a reference. However, since it is imported equipment, and considering the upcoming \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Non-ferrous Metals Industry,\" we hope to set higher standards

There has been a lot of communication with the Beijing China Nonferrous Metals Recycling Research Institute, the entity responsible for formulating the \"Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Recycled Nonferrous Metals Industry – Copper, Aluminum, Lead,\" and its staff are well-acquainted with this matter. The institute participated in the corporate seminars related to this standard, and the specific standards will be released soon. Specific details cannot be disclosed at the moment.

Is the poster a recycled copper enterprise? What specific process is being used?

It is recycled lead; the equipment used is an oxygen-enriched bottom-blown converter. The main raw materials are desulfurized lead paste (the lead paste obtained from battery recycling) and lead grids

This post was last edited by Lu Doujiang on 2010-8-2 at 16:06. Emission standard limits: Standard name, Pollutant, Unit, Standard value. “Comprehensive Emission Standards for Air Pollutants”: HCl, mg/Nm3, 100; GB16297-1996, Level 2, kg/h, 0.915 (for exhaust stacks 25m high). “Emission Standards for Air Pollutants from Industrial Furnaces”: Smoke (dust), mg/Nm3, 100 (for non-ferrous metal melting furnaces); GB9078-1996, Level 2, SO2, mg/Nm3, 850 (for non-ferrous metal smelting). “Pollution Control Standards for Incineration of Hazardous Waste” (GB18484-2001): Dioxins, TEQ ng/m3, 0.5

This standard is too low; ours is much higher than that

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