How to Make Money Recycling Industrial Catalysts

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Written By Barry Lenson

Industrial catalysts are substances – often metallic powders or screens that are used in industry to speed up, start, or facilitate chemical reactions. Catalysts also are sometimes used to lower the amount of energy that is consumed by chemical processes.  

Absorbent materials are another form catalysts can take. They are chemicals that are used to absorb and remove certain chemicals from compounds where they are found. For example, BASF makes a variety of products that absorb and remove impurities from natural gas before it is distributed to consumers. They are catalysts of a special kind.

 

To review, industrial catalysts are used in industrial processes that include:

  • Removing impurities from natural gas, oxygen, water and other liquids and gases.

  • Facilitating chemical reactions and purifying liquids that are used to make ink and paints.

  • Cleaning smokestack exhaust from industrial processes before it is released into the atmosphere.

  • Manufacturing medicines, most often those that contain metallic elements.

  • Production of gasoline, diesel, and other liquid fuels.

  • Manufacturing industrial chemicals that are used in hundreds of processes, including the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, paints, and coatings, and even cosmetics.

What Metals Can Be Recycled from Industrial Catalysts?

  • Aluminosilicates, which contain aluminum and silicate, are widely used in the production of gasoline and other fuels. Note that aluminosilicates are also used in water purification operations. One widely used aluminosilicate catalyst is Zeolite, a naturally occurring mineral that contains aluminum, silicate, boron, and other substances. Zeolite can be purchased in a largely unprocessed state, just as it was mined. However, it is also available as a processed, powdered substance that can be easily introduced in chemical processing operations.

  • Iron, which oxidizes readily and is one of the most common elements on Earth, is used in the production of many organic compounds. (To review, organic compounds are compounds that contain carbon.)

  • Nickel, a non-precious and common metal, is used as a catalyst in the production of ammonia, carbon dioxide and natural gas products.

  • Rhenium is used as an industrial catalyst in chemical plants where naphtha is made.

  • Platinum and rhodium, used in industrial catalysts that are used in chemical plants where nitric acid is made.

  • Vanadium, an element that is used as a catalyst in the production of sulfuric acid.

What Forms Do Industrial Catalysts Take?

Catalysts and catalyst-bearing chemicals are used by industries in a variety of forms . . .

  •  As liquid chemicals that are introduced into production processes.

  • As minimally processed powdered minerals or “manufactured” powdered chemicals.

  • As manufactured cakes that are introduced into production processes.

  • As electrodes and bars that are immersed into liquids where chemical processes are happening.

  • As screens, through which gases and liquids are passed.

  • As pebbles, flakes or chips that can be introduced into liquids where chemical processes are taking place.

 

How Much Precious Metal Do Used Industrial Catalysts Contain?

The answer is, it depends on what the catalyst is, how it was prepared for use, and how it has been used.

 

Some catalysts that contain platinum, for example, contain only trace amounts of that precious metal – in some cases, as little as .O15 percent. In other cases, a used catalyst could contain much larger amounts of precious and non-precious metals that can be extracted by a qualified precious metal refinery like Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners. Call our consultants at 800-426-2344 to discuss what you have and what it might be worth.

 

How Can You Get Paid for the Precious Metals that Your Industrial Catalysts Contain?

Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners can test your catalysts, issue you a report that lists the metals they contain, along with an estimate of what those metals will be worth if we reclaim them for you.

There is money to be made in industrial catalysts. Let us show you how.

In Summary . . .

Catalysts that have lived out their life in a factory could still contain significant amounts of precious metals like gold, silver and platinum that are well worth recycling. If you are not sure how much precious metal could be reclaimed by having catalysts recycled by a precious metals refinery like Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, we urge you to call our consultants today at 800-426-2344. We are here to offer advice and testing on your used catalysts. In just a few minutes on the phone with us, you could discover that you are sitting on precious metals that could be worth a lot of money.

Barry Lenson
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