RogueRose
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Posts: 1585
Registered: 16-6-2014
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Extraction of PM's from Catalytic converters & "jewelers dirt"
Ok so I have decided to take the step into trying to extract some "goodies" from a catalytic converter or a few+ of them. There are LOTS of car
repair shops around here and lots of specialty exhaust shops (including large diesel truck shops) where I'm going to try to score my cats.
I know that the less miles on the cat's the better and probably the older the better, as they are often larger and the old ones were most likely to
have the PM's in them, as some of the newer ones have supposedly moved to either using much less PM's or some alternative materials..
I'm also looking at older domestic trucks (pickups) possibly from the 70's through early 90's as well as foreign luxury cars of that time frame.
Supposedly they had large cats and they are supposed to be higher in PM's, though IDK how to verify this.
I have a list of a recycling company that buys cat's and they list them by year's, foreign/import, luxury (V8 or larger), diesel, etc and they pay
anywhere form $30 to $250 for an old scrap cat, so there must be something in them.
Another source of PM's I'm wanting to try out is from jewelers. Many vacuum their work area where they grind, polish, etc jewelry as well as using
small "dust collectors" to such up the metal dust. They also often have rags that are saturated with metal powders (from wiping the tables down
around the grinding/polishing), so I'm wondering if this would be an avenue to pursue.
I read in a number of forum posts (not on this site) where people have used the acid extraction method for processing powdered cat catalyst and a
number of times I've seen people, who state they are in the industry of processing these cat's, that this IS NOT anywhere near close to how it is done
professionally, and that this method will yield very low results in comparison - they would not comment on the industry methods.
I have a feeling that the process might be similar to how some gold is processed. They powder the catalyst/honeycomb and then they melt aluminum,
lead and or zinc (maybe one, or a mix of these, possible another metal as well), and put the catalyst powder in the molten metal to allow the PM's to
dissolve in the metals. I think the powder would then float on top (or sink) and could be scrapped off - or separated in another manner.
Once the PM's are in the metal amalgam/alloy, I'm wondering if solvent metal (like Zn or Al) could be dissolved with HCl or if Pb is used maybe
something like acetic acid and H2O2, leaving behind the PM's.?
IDK if this last method is how it is done industrially or maybe something is done electrolytically.
I'd like to do an in-depth write up on the extraction of PM's from cat's (and jewelers waste, but that isn't as important) and any suggestions or
anecdotal experience in the extraction would be greatly beneficial - an if anyone knows of what cats might be best to start with, that would also help
as I'll wait till I find one that is known to be worth extracting.
Any suggestions or comments are appreciated. Thanks!
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kadriver
Hazard to Others
Posts: 196
Registered: 7-11-2012
Location: United States
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Mood: Thankful
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Hello, I have some experience recovering and refining the platinum group metals from automotive cats. In my experience it's not worth it. First, it's
very dangerous. Do an Internet search for platinosis. It's a nasty incurable illness that happens if you breath the fumes or get any of the salts on
you.
Second, the equipment required to do it safely is very expensive.
Third, there is only a hand full of people that know how to do it safely and profitably.
Talk to Lou at Auris Nobel in Ohio. All roads lead to Rome.
I did produce a youtube video of the entire process, but I only got the palladium so far. I saved the platinum salt from these cats and plan to make a
separate video of the platinum refining process using sodium bromate to do a hydrolysis and recover the pure platinum.
Here are the videos that I made, youtube user name is: sreetips
Auto cats part 1 of 2 - https://youtu.be/ryQrBWbDz78
Auto cats part 2 of 2 - https://youtu.be/R0NM9IsC6bg
Youtube channel - sreetips
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