Industrial wastewater

Pure copper from industrial wastewater

Industrial wastewater treatment often involves dealing with complex challenges such as metal contamination, chemical waste, and regulatory compliance. Traditional methods of treating wastewater from industrial processes can be inefficient, costly, and environmentally taxing, often resulting in hazardous waste buildup, increased reagent consumption, and high disposal costs.

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Reduced disposal fees

Metal by-product revenue

Reduced acid consumption

No operation downtime

Closed loop process

emew’s suite of technology solutions provides an innovative approach to industrial wastewater treatment, focusing on efficient metal recovery and sustainable practices. Our technology offers a closed-loop system that not only treats wastewater but also regenerates acid, significantly reducing waste and environmental impact. By incorporating our solutions, businesses can effectively manage copper and other metal contaminants in their wastewater, minimize acid loss, and reduce operational costs. The result is a streamlined process that supports both environmental sustainability and improved financial performance.

Pure copper recovery from etching and pickling baths

Conventional etching and pickling processes can pose several challenges for safe, sustainable and cost-effective wastewater treatment and acid recycling. Due to copper build-up, hazardous waste occurs in the bleed, leading to acid loss and additional neutralizing reagent costs for safe waste disposal.

The suite of emew clean technology solutions provides a simple on-site process for efficient wastewater treatment and copper recovery from spent etching and pickling baths. Our method uses a closed-loop, acid-regenerating system to overcome the key challenges in conventional etching and pickling processes, eliminating downtime and reducing acid use by up to 90%. Delivering a consistent high-purity product with no waste disposal, your business benefits from a simpler process, with significantly higher financial returns and reduced environmental impact.

compares

How emew enhances the etching and pickling process

The emew suite of clean technology solutions eliminates the need to produce copper sulfate crystals as a more cost effective and environmentally-friendly approach to direct recovery and resale of high grade copper cathodes. In addition, acid regeneration allows for re-use in fresh etching and pickling baths, simplifying waste processes and minimizing the consumption of fresh acid for a sustainable, closed-loop process.

emew clean technology

Eliminated downtime and consistent pickling times
High revenue and ROI with consistent high-grade copper recovery for resale
Closed loop process with no waste reduces acid purchase and acid waste handling
Reduced Scope 3 emissions, with no dumping or haulage
Simple, efficient process allows reallocation of labor from tank dumping

Conventional treatment

4% less uptime with increased risk for poor product quality
Loss of additional revenue, additional waste disposal fees and labor costs
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100% acid loss during cleaning and dumping requires acid handling, purchase and storage
Scope 3 emissions by third party processing or sludge disposal
Additional labor costs for tank dumping

case study

$1m savings from emew copper replacement of copper sulfate plant

Challenge:

The Phelps Dodge (now Freeport) El Paso Rod Mill – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of continuous cast copper rod – faced challenges with its copper rod surface-treatment process. The method used a sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide solution that needed periodic replacement, producing large volumes of spent solution to be sent to a copper sulfate crystallization plant. This process was labor and energy-intensive, costly and inefficient.

Solution:

Phelps Dodge (now Freeport-McMoRan) engaged emew to replace the copper sulfate plant with an advanced vortex electrowinning system, recovering 1700kg/day of copper and regenerating sulfuric acid to return to the etching and pickling process. The emew system produced the highest purity cathode for direct use in the rod mill, regenerated acid for rod cleaning operations and simplified operations through improved safety, zero discharge, and significant water, energy and labor reduction.

Result:

Running since 2006, emew’s closed loop system achieved:

Saving $1–$1.5 million annually
87% reduction in CO2 emissions vs. mined copper and 85% vs. copper sulfate evaporation
90% reduction in labor, with two operators replacing 14 operators, two mechanics and three supervisors
81% reduction in sulfuric acid consumption
27,000 litres of clean water saved per ton of copper produced (11 million liters annually)

Comprehensive Solutions for Industrial Wastewater Treatment

Beyond copper recovery from etching and pickling spent baths, emew offers a robust suite of technologies tailored to address a wide range of industrial wastewater challenges. Industries such as mining, electronics, and manufacturing generate wastewater streams that often contain a variety of metal contaminants, requiring advanced treatment solutions to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and to reduce operational costs.

Our technology enables the recovery of these metals as high-purity products, transforming potential waste into valuable resources. This not only helps in minimizing the environmental impact but also turns a cost center into a revenue stream.

Access over 30 years of metal recovery knowledge

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