Choose route settings and recycle policy that maximise value recovery without hiding reagent, water or residue burdens.
Independent model study · circular materials
Close every metal before comparing battery-recycling routes
Trade Ni, Co, Li and Cu recovery against reagent demand, impurity rejection, water recycle, energy and residue as feed chemistry changes.
ReceivePreprocessSmeltLeachRemove impuritiesRecover metalsTreat residue
Decision model
A bounded question with a complete plant consequence.
Safe receiving and preprocessing abstraction through smelting, alloy/slag/gas treatment, leaching, impurity removal, product recovery and wastewater/residue treatment.
Equations and accounting rules
Element-by-element mass balancesPartition to alloy, slag and dustLeach stoichiometry and extraction yieldPrecipitation/selectivity plus recycle purgeBase, alternative and stress cases
- NMC111/622/811 mix
- Production scrap and high copper
- Higher LFP share as boundary case
- Lithium recovery, acid or water constraint
Engineering brief
Model the complete decision, not an isolated unit operation.
Umicore publicly describes a combined high-temperature smelting and hydrometallurgical refining architecture for nickel, cobalt, copper and lithium recovery.
Furnace chemistry, reagent recipes, yields and costs are proprietary. The model separates metallurgical yield from regulatory recovery accounting and treats feed chemistry as a scenario.
01 · Model basis
What the Acatian model needs to resolve
Inputs, mechanisms, limits and outputs remain reviewable on one declared basis.Inputs
Li, Ni, Co, Mn, Cu, Al, Fe, C and moisture
Furnace partition, flux and energy
Leach recovery and reagent stoichiometry
Selectivity, water recycle and product limits
Mechanisms
Element-by-element mass balances
Partition to alloy, slag and dust
Leach stoichiometry and extraction yield
Precipitation/selectivity plus recycle purge
Constraints
Feed chemistry and safe preprocessing
Furnace capacity and partition uncertainty
Reagent, selectivity and impurity limits
Water recycle, residue and regulatory boundary
Outputs
Recovered metal kg/t feed
Reagent, water and furnace energy
Product purity and residue tonnes
Plant versus regulatory recovery and value proxy
02 · Acatian workflow
Build it in six controlled steps
Each step creates a reviewable object, not a hidden spreadsheet assumption.- 01
Characterise feed by element and phase.
- 02
Close smelting partition balances.
- 03
Model leach and impurity removal.
- 04
Add selective recovery and recycle.
- 05
Reconcile water, reagents and residues.
- 06
Compare chemistry-mix robustness.
03 · Decisions
Questions the model should answer
Which feed mix remains valuable?
Where is lithium lost?
Which impurity drives reagent demand?
How much water recycle is stable?
04 · Evidence boundary
Validate before the result carries weight
Validation
Require element closure, declared salt/electroneutrality accounting, recycle convergence and comparison with authorised assay, residue and recovery evidence.
Limitations
The study is not a proprietary Umicore flowsheet, waste-classification decision or final plant design. Safety and environmental approval remain external.
Public evidence
What the company context supports—and what it does not.
Sources establish the public process architecture. They do not reveal private operating parameters, site performance or an Acatian relationship.Frequently asked questions
Practical modelling questions
Is this the named organisation's real plant model?
No. It is an independent hypothetical Acatian study based only on the cited public process architecture. It claims no affiliation, endorsement, deployment, confidential data or actual plant performance.
Where do the numerical inputs come from?
Every input must be marked as a public fact, literature estimate, transparent engineering assumption or authorised customer input. The public article does not invent private operating values.
Can the model be calibrated to a real facility?
Yes, when the operator supplies authorised process, equipment, schedule and utility evidence and agrees the intended use, acceptance criteria and validation plan.