SPIRE
Brokerage event
October 22 nd
2013
SUSTAINABLE PROCESS
INDUSTRY
EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL
COMPETTIVENESS TROUGH
RESOURCE AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Swerea MEFOS is an independent research institute, and its business concept is applied research, technical development and consulting in process metallurgy, heating, metalworking, environmental engineering and energy efficiency mainly for the ferrous and non-ferrous industry. Research is carried out in collaborative research projects or in projects on contract basis, financed by individual companies.
Swerea MEFOS is well known worldwide for its unique large scale pilot plant equipment in metallurgy and metalworking and its ability to perform very large research projects.
We have approx. 100 employees, 55 of which are research engineers.
Our primary research areas are:
• Project management, operational and applied engineering for major EU and pilot projects.
• Metallurgical process technology, including heating and machining, particularly reduction metallurgy, alloys, energy and gasification technology.
• Process integration.
• Measurement techniques and process analysis.
• Computer modelling, simulation and calculations, particularly CFD and FEM technology.
• Environmental and residual product technologies.
Swerea MEFOS is a part of the Swerea group, which in turn is part of RISE Research Institutes of
Sweden.
WWW.SPIRE2030.EU
2

Efficient Valorization and Use of P and V Resources to secure future demand in EU
• Recovery technologies for metals and minerals
 Phosphorus: essential for plant and animal growth.
There is a high risk of a global shortage of P
 Vanadium has a tremendous industrial value in EU and the V-raw material is totally dependent on imported V-slag
 P and V in the steel and ferroalloy industries originate mainly from ores
WWW.SPIRE2030.EU
3

 The value of V in LKAB Fe-ore products: >1 billion US$. ¼ of that will well cover the EU-market
 P is normally an unwished impurity in steel and Mn-alloy
 P and V follow each other and are accumulated in the steel slag.
 A large amount of apatite (high content of P) generated in the
Swedish iron ore processing
 Future metal ores will have a lower quality, some of them higher
P-content (like Mn-ore)
A more efficient recovery and use of V and P from waste and by-products would contribute to a more resource efficient
Europe

 Efficient valorization and use of P and V resources in EU to secure their future demands
 Follow P and V over a wide range of their cycle, from mineral processing to the steelmaking and final uses
 By this holistic approach the most efficient way to extract and utilize both P and V in the system will be developed.
 Not only steel slag and apatite, other P- and V-sources like sludge (high in P) and spent catalyst (high in V) might be included
 Rare earth in apatite will also be recovered
WWW.SPIRE2030.EU
5

 Create V and P industries worth of billions of €, hence thousands of new jobs in EU
 Create new green technology business
 Capable to efficiently use lean raw materials (Fe- and
Mn-ores) and secondary resources
 Decreased CO2 emission
 Reduced energy consumption and landfill of industry wastes
 Reduced Cd flow into the biosphere (Cd in phosphate rock)
WWW.SPIRE2030.EU
6

 LKAB: P-V streams, from ore to the products, process and system optimization
 Swerea MEFOS: Process development for efficient extraction of P and V; pyrometallurgy, pilot experiment, coordination
 Steelmakers: Slag handling, process and system optimization, industrial tests – ( under discussion)
 Ferroalloy producer: Processing of high P Mn-ore for clean Mn-alloy product and efficient utilization of P
( under discussion )
 Non-ferrous metal producer: Using hydrometallurgy for efficient metal extraction ( under discussion )
WWW.SPIRE2030.EU
7

 Chemical industry dealing with P and V (users or producers of P or V-based products): material characterization, P-V streams, supply of additional P-V sources
 Vanadium producers including new actors: Use of semi vanadium products from the PVC processes and optimise of the V-cycle in EU
 Forest industry : use of P-products from the PVC processes and optimise the P-cycle in EU
 Rare earths : looking for rare extraction from apatite
WWW.SPIRE2030.EU
8

Guozhu Ye Swerea MEFOS
+46 920 20 19 09
WWW.SPIRE2030.EU
9