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William B Moure, Jr

Thomas H Etsell

A method and apparatus for recovering lead from scrap lead/acid batteries involves first mechanically breaking up the batteries into small pieces, then feeding the small pieces into a substantially vertical, upwardly diverging separation/leaching column through which ammoniacal ammonium sulphate solution (AAS) passes upwardly at a speed that allows the removal of metallic lead and lead alloys as sinks from the bottom of the column, with comminuted case material floating up and out of the column, while the lead compounds remain in suspension in the column for lead sulphate dissolution. The insoluble lead dirxide from the pastes is removed from the AAS downstream of the column and is slurried with sulphuric acid to convert the lead dioxide to lead sulphate, which is then returned to the separation/leaching column. The clarified AAS is fed to an electrowinning tank where metallic lead is plated out. Make-up anhydrous ammonia is fed into the bottom of the column, while ammonium sulphate being produced from sulphuric acid neutralization and lead sulphate reduction is recovered for fertilizer.

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Falun, Canada

William B Moure, Jr