In the field of Used Lead Acid Battery recycling, the lead paste desulphurization process is essential for sulfur dioxide emissions abatement and improved efficiency of the lead paste smelting operation. To overcome all the limits of the traditional reactions via sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide, an alternative patented process is proposed by STC: U4Lead.
The U4Lead solution has several advantages:
- A Convenient desulfurizing agent: urea is a very cheap amino compound, easy to find, to treat, chemically stable as not subject to sublimation and odour-free.
- The reaction by-product is Ammonium sulfate, a precious compound with a very low affinity with lead, nickel and other heavy metals, easily recovered, crystallized and sold commercially as a fertilizer.
- A reduction in energy consumption and subsequently smelting costs due to a reduced batch smelting cycle and therefore, fuel and oxygen consumption.
- A Reduced environmental impact due to the abatement of SO2 emissions, slags and Pb losses with slags.
The proposed solution can really revolutionize the whole battery recycling procedure especially if linked to another STC patented process called Lead3 for the production of pure nanostructured lead oxide from paste without the use of pyrometallurgy. The spent lead oxide is regenerated through a hydrometallurgical and eco-friendly process and used directly for the production of paste for new batteries. The combination of the two processes leads to a total recyclability of ULAB and to a virtually non-existent environmental impact from the whole process.
Presenters
Sabrina Urgese
Sabrina graduated in Languages and Cultures for Business in 2013 at the University of Urbino “Carlo Bo” (PU)- Italy. After 5 years of professional experiences abroad (Northern Ireland, Australia, England, Scotland etc.), she decided to return to Italy and started a new working adventure with STC as Assistant CEO in 2018. Since then, she has been gradually deepening her knowledge in the fascinating field of Used Lead Acid Battery Recycling and a year ago was assigned to the Sales and Marketing team.
Alberto Bergamaschini
After secondary school graduation in Industrial Chemistry in 1981 in Milan and a post-graduation specialization in Environmental Engineering, he started his career in the field of engineering, design, construction and management of environment protection plant (water, wastewater, air and waste treatment).
Since 2000, he is providing plants and technological solution to the battery recycling and secondary lead industries initially as Project Manager and, since 2010, in the commercial department of engineering companies. In 2019, with more than 20 years of consolidated experience in this field, he accepted a new professional challenge and joined STC as Sales and Marketing Director.
Francesco Scura
With his graduation in Chemical Engineering in 2003 followed by a successful PhD in Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Calabria (Institute on Membranes Technology ITM-CNR), Francesco gained a wide experience in the field of non-ferrous metals, heat pumps, membranes operations and chemical and electrochemical industry equipment. After the publication of his PhD thesis in 2009 entitled “Engineering of Membrane Systems for gaseous separations” on the design of membrane gaseous separations systems and membrane catalytic reactors, he was immediately selected by STC as Head Process Engineer and subsequently also nominated Official Supervisor of R&D Department.
Rosina Iannelli
In 2017 Rosina obtained the master’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Calabria with a brilliant thesis, both theoretical and experimental, on the study of the fluid dynamics of radial flow packed bed bioreactors for the engineering of bone tissue (with subsequent publication).
During the thesis elaboration phase, she developed a great interest in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological sector. Immediately after her graduation, she started her career as Process Engineer in STC Srl where she had the opportunity to specialize in the designing process of lead acid battery recycling plants and water and wastewater treatment systems.
Giorgio La Sala
The brilliant graduation in Chemical Engineering at University of Calabria in 1995, was only the beginning of the successful career of Giorgio La Sala: he initially had the opportunity to work for UOP MS SpA., Joint venture between Allied Signal and Union Carbide (Reggio Calabria facility).In 1997, he was nominated the Head of innovative processes at the PASTIS-CNRSM Science and Technology Park in Brindisi. After working for TECPRO Srl (Bologna) as R&D Director, Giorgio founded STC Srl in 2001 with a group of young engineers and has been holding the position of CEO and technical manager since then.