Tetronics wins critical minerals plasma order from prestigious German R&D Centre
Published:
Read Time: 4 mins
supplying a plasma furnace to HZDR for treatment of metallurgical ores & wastes
11 April 2023, Swindon, UK: Tetronics, a world leader in plasma arc systems focussed on decarbonising challenging industrial processes, has been awarded a contract to supply its proprietary plasma furnace technology to the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) at Germany’s prestigious Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf research centre (HZDR).
Under the full, turnkey contract Tetronics will design, engineer, deliver, install and commission a twin electrode plasma arc furnace for HZDR’s research on the reduction, refining and valorisation of metallurgical waste products, as well the treatment of primary ores and concentrates.
HZDR is a world-class R&D organisation conducting research across the materials, health and energy sectors in Dresden, four further locations in Germany and one in France. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, the largest scientific organisation in Germany, and is ranked 6th in the global Nature Index.
The plasma furnace will be delivered, installed and commissioned during 2023 and will be a Twin Electrode Plasma Furnace (TEPF) based on proven, patented technology, specifically designed to be versatile and robust. The design provides essential flexibility to HZDR to enable any one of three modes of operation in their research and experimentation for the reduction, refining and valorisation of slags from metallurgical processes.
Tetronics will be responsible for the design and manufacture of the plasma furnace system, supervision of its installation and commissioning, and also for operator instruction and training.
Prof. Dr. Jens Gutzmer, Director of HIF at HZDR, classifies the new research facility: “This plasma technology-based installation and tailor-made experimental capabilities will make it one of the unique facilities in the European raw materials research landscape. With pressing challenges of circular economy implementation and climate impact mitigation, and responsibility of technology developments and roll-out needed to meet the ambitious goals of the European critical raw materials act, it will be a strong tool for our own researchers and partners.”
Dr. Ajay Patil, leader of the department for process metallurgy at HIF stresses that: “The plasma furnace will be used for developing novel critical raw materials technologies and optimizing the existing ones, which are struggling with cost and environmental impact constraints using HIF’s expertise in hydro and pyrometallurgy”.
Graeme Rumbol, Chief Executive of Tetronics, concludes: “We are truly excited to be selected by such a highly respected research organisation as HZDR. As the world transitions from products and processes powered by centralised fossil-fuel plants to cleaner sources, produced and stored locally, the demand for critical minerals is increasing exponentially. We are especially proud to be partnering with leading academics at HZDR, and other global institutions, to increase the understanding, availability and sustainability of new metallurgical solutions to pressing environmental problems.”
Tetronics is the most experienced plasma company in the world. It is founded on five decades of R&D and 127 patents (granted and pending), with over 20 years of operational expertise, across more than 97 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.
Ends
Editors notes
About Tetronics
Tetronics is a leading environmental technology company with over 55 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’ 97 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 center – 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 1,470 members of staff, of whom about 670 are scientists, including 220 Ph.D. candidates.
