The Recovery and Life Cycle Assessment of Nickel Particles in A Multi-Solenoid Open-Gradient Magnetic Separator

Abstract

The recovery of 87% and the grade of 30% of Ni from nickel tip capacitors were achieved using a multi-solenoid open-gradient magnetic separator. A series of tests under varying conditions, such as density of pulp, magnetic flux density, pH, etc. have been studied. The experimental results of the purification tests were relaed to the parameters investigated. Moreover, the LCA assessment suggested that the nickel concentrate recovered by the open-gradient magnetic separator can be re-used as a raw material in pyrometallurgy, aiming to reproduce the Ni capacitor.