Tetronics rolls out high-performance plasma furnace at Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology
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Use of plasma furnace will be pivotal to research into treating metallurgical ores and waste and the recovery of critical raw materials, demonstrating the circular economy while reducing costs and environmental impacts.
23 September 2024, Swindon, UK: Tetronics, a world leader in plasma arc systems focussed on decarbonising challenging industrial processes, was present at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) an institute of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf research centre (HZDR) for the recent inugaration of its high-performance plasma furnace to be used by the Process Metallurgy Department of the HIF. The plasma furnace is located within the metallurgy pilot plant of the HIF.
Tetronics designed, engineered and installed the twin-electrode plasma furnace (TEPF) to support HIF’s research into improving the quality of recycled metallurgical ore and waste products to further develop the circular economy.
Tetronics’ TEPF is based on patented technology, which is proven to be versatile, scalable and robust. The flexible design allows the HIF to research processes and feedstocks that enable recycling and the recovery of critical raw materials. With the commissioning of the TEPF, the HIF’s researchers are now equipped to investigate ways to reduce costs and assess process environmental impacts to help Germany’s metallurgy technologies be more competitive.
HZDR is a world-class, non-profit R&D institution conducting research across the materials, health and energy sectors in Dresden and other locations in Germany and France. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, the largest scientific organisation in Germany, and is highly ranked in the global Nature Index.
“The new plasma furnace technology and advanced experimental capabilities have resulted in a world-class facility for raw materials research,” said Adj. Prof. Dr. Ajay B. Patil, Head of Process Metallurgy Department at HIF. “From the outset of the project, Tetronics has provided expert guidance to ensure that we now have a plasma furnace that enables us to test innovative processes as pilot projects and scale them up for industrial applications when proven.”
Graeme Rumbol, Chief Executive of Tetronics, said: “The success of the energy transition depends on on facilitating an exponential growth in critical minerals. HIF is pioneering research into the recovery of critical raw materials to improve quality, reduce costs and lessen energy requirements. We are proud to be a partner in this project and that our world-class plasma furnace technology is playing a pivotal part in developing a circular economy for critical raw materials.”
Tetronics is the most experienced plasma company in the world. It is founded on six decades of R&D and 128 patents (granted and pending), utilised across 99 global reference sites. The majority of these existing applications are in resource recovery and hazardous material treatment from challenging waste streams, including automotive or industrial catalysts. In addition, its technology is used in decarbonisation of heat intensive manufacturing processes – such as steel, glass and cement. World-class clients include Harsco, Hitachi-Zosen, Mitsubishi, Nippon Steel and Outokumpu.
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About Tetronics
Tetronics is a leading environmental technology company with 60 years’ global experience delivering clean plasma technology for maximum resource recovery, the highest levels of hazardous material destruction, and decarbonisation of heat-intensive industrial processes – such as steel, glass and cement.
Tetronics’ resource recovery process generates an inert, robust and fully vitrified by-product, Plasmarok®, that has a wide range of commercial applications, particularly in construction.
Tetronics’ capabilities encompass everything from initial modelling/feasibility assessment, testing of process material at its own pilot facilities, through to design, supply, site installation/commissioning and ongoing support of full commercial plants.
Tetronics’ 99 reference sites are helping its multi-national clients meet the Net Zero agenda and the company has a strong pipeline of future projects in the relevant disciplines: CO2 reduction; sustainable energy supply; alternative fuels; process electrification; energy and critical mineral security.
About HZDR
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) performs – as an independent German research centre – research in the fields of energy, health, and matter.
We focus on answering the following questions:
· How can energy and resources be utilized in an efficient, safe, and sustainable way?
· How can malignant tumors be more precisely visualized, characterized, and more effectively treated?
· How do matter and materials behave under the influence of strong fields and in smallest dimensions?
To help answer these research questions, HZDR operates large-scale facilities, which are also used by visiting researchers: the Ion Beam Center, the Dresden High-Magnetic Field Laboratory, and the ELBE Center for High-Power Radiation Sources.
HZDR is a member of the Helmholtz Association and has six sites (Dresden, Freiberg, Görlitz, Grenoble, Leipzig, Schenefeld near Hamburg) with almost 1,500 members of staff, of whom about 680 are scientists, including 200 Ph.D. candidates.
About HIF
The Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) pursues the objective of developing innovative technologies for the economy so that mineral and metalliferous raw materials can be made available and used more efficiently and recycled in an environmentally friendly manner. It was founded in 2011 in the frame of the The German Government’s raw materials strategy, belongs to the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and cooperates closely with the TU Bergakademie Freiberg.
