Rotterdam – Incineration Ash Company (Inashco) offers a new solution for the recycling of bottom ash. The patented dry technology provides an optimal separation of metals and minerals from bottom ash. Unique is the separating of metal and mineral fractions smaller than 10mm.

Until now, the ash, which remains in the incinerators, is used as landfill or as low-grade construction material for e.g. highways. This has high environmental risks, due to the leaching of metal particles. To prevent this from happening impermeable layers have to be placed on the dump site. The extra costs of leach prevention are very high. In addition the small metal and mineral particles are lost for reuse.

“The new technology is cost saving, separates the small metal and mineral particles extremely efficiently and decreases the environmental charges considerably. The new separation technology offers a solution for the current issues”, according to Dr P. Rem from the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences of the University of Technology in Delft.

The tech­nology works the following way: Without aging, the moist bottom ash is sized by ordinary screens at a size typically between 12 and 20 mm. Steel and non-ferrous metals are recovered from the coarse (+12 to +20 mm) product as usual. The remainder, without any form of drying, is brought into contact with the Inashco Concentrator. The very fine metal contaminants (-1mm) and mineral particles (-2mm) are separated from the bottom ash in a physical classification step without the use of water, chemical additives or drying energy. In the next stage, various metal concen-trates are extracted from the +2mm bottom ash fraction leaving an attractive mineral product for the construction industry.

The metal concentrate of the Inashco Concentrator can be further processed into high grade secondary metal products in a dedicated centralized upgrading process.

A prototype drew the attention of Fondel Development BV, a subsidiary of the Fondel Group. “We are continuously looking for new and innovative ways to efficiently recycle waste. This technology is unique because on the short term major economic revenue can be obtained, and at the same time a huge step is taken to 100% recycle waste into valuable products,” according to Jaap Vandehoek, director of Fondel Development.

The Fondel Group and Delft University have jointly founded Inashco to further develop this technology. Inashco stands for Incineration Ash Company.

Quelle: Incineration Ash Company (Inashco)

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