Platinum Group Metal Refining Equipment

— Turnkey Platinum Group Metal (PGM) Refining Equipment

A Platinum Group Metal (PGM) Refining Equipment line — PGM meaning the platinum group metals, or the platinum group elements (PGEs): platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), iridium (Ir) and osmium (Os) — recovers all six as separate saleable metals. Two routes cover the range: a direct hydrometallurgical route above about 5% PGM, and pyrometallurgical enrichment to a 20–60% PGM matte for dilute feed. Both run aqua regia or HCl / Cl₂ dissolution, solvent extraction with P204, P507, C272, TBP and DBC, ion exchange and reduction, giving 98–99% recovery by metal balance and Pt / Pd ≥ 99.95%, Rh ≥ 99.90%, Ir / Ru / Os ≥ 99.9% purity, fire-assay and ICP-MS certified per lot. Off-gas is abated from about 30,000 mg/m³ NOx to below 100 mg/m³, with closed-loop or ZLD effluent and sealed handling for OsO₄.

Product Overview

The Platinum Group Metal Refining Equipment line is a purpose-built refinery for the six platinum group metals. Unlike a general precious-metal refinery sized around gold and silver, a PGM line is designed around the chemistry that makes these six metals difficult: they dissolve slowly or not at all in single acids, they behave differently from one another in chloride media, and their separation depends on coordinated chemistry — precipitation, solvent extraction and ion exchange — rather than on one dominant unit operation.

The line accepts two broad classes of feed, and this is what defines its two routes. High-grade PGM secondary resources — PGM alloy scrap, Pt-Rh thermocouple and bushing scrap, dental and jewellery alloys, spent plating solutions, and refinery or laboratory residues above roughly 5% PGM — go directly to Route A, a purely hydrometallurgical sequence. Low-grade PGM secondary resources — spent automotive three-way catalysts on cordierite or metallic substrate, petrochemical and fine-chemical catalysts on alumina or carbon, anode slime, electronic-scrap PGM fractions and dilute sludges — first go to Route B, where pyrometallurgical enrichment raises the PGM content into a matte or alloy before the same aqueous refining train takes over. Route B matters because a catalyst carrying a few hundred grams per tonne cannot economically be dissolved directly; the values must be concentrated first, and the furnace, converter and base-metal leach stages exist to do exactly that.

The refining train itself is the classic PGM flowsheet. Gold and silver are removed first, because silver forms sparingly soluble silver chloride in chloride media and must be taken out of the circuit before it contaminates the PGM streams. Palladium is recovered next, then platinum, and rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium are separated from the residual stream using their own purification chemistries. Each metal is then taken to metal form by selective reduction and finished by calcination, melting and casting, so the plant ships out sponge, powder, granules, bars and high-purity salts rather than a mixed concentrate.

Three support circuits run alongside the metal chain. The reagent circuit prepares, doses and recycles acids, oxidants, extractants, precipitants and reductants under PLC control, because in PGM work the reagent addition rate frequently decides both recovery and product grade. The off-gas circuit encloses every reactor mouth, condenses and separates acid mist, and passes the gas through multistage jet-spray and alkaline scrubbing, recovering the metal droplets carried in the gas stream instead of venting them. The effluent circuit segregates acidic and alkaline streams, neutralises and oxidises them, polishes the water and returns it to the wash and scrubbing loops — with a zero-liquid-discharge configuration available where local rules require it.

The result is a route-flexible PGM refinery: one platform, two feed classes, six products, and a metallurgical balance that is measured by fire assay and ICP-MS at every batch.

Application Scenarios

The line is specified wherever PGM value is sitting in an intermediate product, a spent catalyst or a residue, and the operator wants the separation and refining margin in-house.

Automotive catalyst processors and shredder operators — upgrade spent three-way catalyst monolith, washcoat fines and honeycomb scrap into individual Pt, Pd and Rh products instead of selling a discounted PGM concentrate. Output: Pt / Pd / Rh sponge and powder.
Spent catalyst reclaim plants — process reforming, hydrogenation, hydroformylation and fine-chemical catalysts on alumina, zeolite or carbon supports, including Pd/C and Pt/C. Output: Pt / Pd / Rh powder and sponge.
Copper and lead electrorefineries — treat anode slime and PGM-bearing smelter intermediates in-house and shorten the recovery chain. Output: PGM concentrate and refined metal, plus Au / Ag, Se and Te by-products.
Precious-metal refineries and assay houses — add a PGM line, or replace a manual bench-scale route with a controlled, enclosed, instrumented one. Output: individually certified Pt / Pd / Rh / Ir / Ru products.
E-waste and PCB recyclers — refine the PGM alloy or concentrate produced by a board-dismantling, carbonisation or smelting front end, where palladium is the dominant value. Output: Pd powder and Pt / Au / Ag metal.
Plating, electroplating and surface-treatment plants — recover PGM from spent platinum, palladium and ruthenium baths, drag-out, strip solutions and ion-exchange eluate. Output: recovered PGM metal and recyclable process liquor.
Chemical, petrochemical and fertiliser producers — reclaim Pt-Rh gauze from nitric acid plants, Pt catalysts from hydrogen peroxide plants and PGM catalysts from process units. Output: Pt / Pd / Rh sponge and powder.
Glass and fibreglass manufacturers — recover Pt-Rh from worn bushings, spinnerets, crucibles, waste refractory brick and glass cullet. Output: Pt-Rh alloy and separated Pt / Rh products.
Fuel-cell and hydrogen-equipment operators — recover platinum from membrane-electrode-assembly scrap, catalyst layers and stack residues. Output: high-purity platinum sponge.
Dental laboratories and jewellery manufacturers — refine Pt, Pd and Pt-Pd alloy scrap, sweeps, sprues, polishing dust and floor residue. Output: Pt / Pd powder and alloy granules.
Precious-metal traders and assay offices — have PGM-bearing mixed material separated and certified on a measured metal balance instead of a settlement estimate. Output: individually assayed PGM products with a Certificate of Analysis.
Universities, institutes and pilot facilities — bench- and pilot-scale PGM lines for process validation, hydrometallurgy research and small-batch refining. Output: analytical-grade separated PGM salts and metals.

Applicable Raw Materials

Route selection follows the assay, so the line is specified against PGM grade, matrix and physical form rather than against a single material list.

Spent automotive three-way catalysts (SAC) — ceramic cordierite and metallic-substrate monoliths, honeycomb scrap and washcoat fines, typically 100–3,000 g/t total PGM with rhodium in the 0.1–0.3% range. Route B, because the PGM content is too low for direct dissolution. Output: Pt / Pd / Rh sponge and powder.
Spent petrochemical and refining catalysts — platinum reforming and isomerisation catalysts, palladium hydrogenation catalysts and rhodium hydroformylation catalysts on alumina, zeolite or other oxide supports. Output: Pt / Pd / Rh powder.
Palladium-on-carbon and platinum-on-carbon catalysts — the dominant feedstock of the fine-chemical and pharmaceutical industry, where palladium may sit in the range of a few hundred parts per million to several percent; carbon support is removed by controlled roasting before dissolution. Output: Pd / Pt sponge.
Electrolytic anode slime and PGM smelter intermediates — copper and lead anode slime, silver refinery slimes, converter matte and PGM-enriched residue, where PGM content after enrichment can reach 20–60%. Route A after enrichment. Output: separated Pt / Pd / Rh / Ir / Ru products.
Nitric acid plant catalyst gauze — spent Pt-Rh-Pd woven gauze and catchment material recovered from ammonia oxidation units. Output: Pt-Rh alloy and separated Pt / Rh.
Glass and fibreglass industry scrap — worn Pt-Rh bushings, spinnerets, stirrers and crucibles, plus waste refractory brick and glass cullet carrying platinum and rhodium oxides. Output: Pt-Rh alloy and separated Pt / Rh products.
Fuel-cell and hydrogen-plant material — membrane-electrode-assembly scrap, catalyst slurries, electrodes and stack residue carrying platinum, and platinum from hydrogen peroxide production anode slime. Output: platinum sponge and powder.
Electronic-scrap PGM fractions — the PGM alloy, concentrate or pregnant liquor produced by a PCB dismantling, carbonisation or smelting front end, including multilayer ceramic capacitor and connector fractions where palladium dominates. Output: Pd powder and Au / Ag / Pt metal.
Plating baths, drag-out and process liquors — spent acidic and alkaline platinum, palladium and ruthenium plating solutions, strip and strike solutions, and ion-exchange regeneration eluate, where metal content may run from a fraction of a gram per litre up to several tens of grams per litre. Output: recovered PGM metal and recyclable liquor.
PGM alloy and fabricated scrap — Pt-Rh and Pt-Ir thermocouple wire, Pt-Pd and Pd-Ag contact and dental alloys, osmium- and ruthenium-bearing special alloys, and machining swarf. Output: separated PGM metals and remelt alloy.
Residues, sludges and process waste — PGM-bearing hydroxide sludge, refinery residue, spent catalyst dust, contaminated filter media and dilute metal-bearing effluent. Output: recovered PGM metal and compliant discharge.
Concentrates, matte and intermediate salts — PGM concentrate from gravity or flotation circuits, smelted matte, crude ammonium hexachloroplatinate and ammonium chloropalladate intermediates returned for re-refining. Output: refined PGM metal at full specification.

Output Products

Every consignment is released against a Certificate of Analysis based on fire assay, ICP-OES or ICP-MS, and reconciled to the batch input assay.

Platinum — dissolved, separated by solvent extraction and precipitated as ammonium hexachloroplatinate before calcination, delivered at Pt ≥ 99.95%. Output: platinum sponge and powder, and ingot on request.
Palladium — separated by selective precipitation and ammonia complexation, then reduced with hydrazine hydrate or hydrogen, delivered at Pd ≥ 99.95%. Output: palladium sponge and powder.
Rhodium — separated by ligand-change and sulfite-complex chemistry, the only reliable route because Rh(III) chloro-complexes resist the separation mechanisms used for the other PGMs, delivered at Rh ≥ 99.90% with repeat purification for higher grades. Output: rhodium powder and sponge.
Ruthenium — recovered by oxidative distillation as RuO₄ and absorbed into hydrochloric acid, or by ion-exchange separation from mixed PGM liquor, delivered at Ru ≥ 99.9%. Output: ruthenium powder and ruthenium salts.
Iridium — recovered from the aqua-regia-insoluble residue by oxidative-alkaline fusion followed by chloride dissolution, sulfide purification and hydrogen reduction, delivered at Ir ≥ 99.9%. Output: iridium powder.
Osmium — processed on a sealed, dedicated circuit because of the volatility and toxicity of OsO₄, delivered at Os ≥ 99.9%. Output: osmium powder, on request only.
High-purity PGM salts — intermediate and saleable compounds produced where the market prefers salt over metal: ammonium hexachloroplatinate, ammonium chloropalladate, chloroiridic acid and rhodium chloride solution. Output: certified PGM compounds.
Co-recovered precious metals — gold and silver separated out of the PGM circuit at the head end, and recovered as bullion-grade metal where the feed carries them. Output: Au and Ag metal.
Base-metal and by-product streams — copper and nickel recovered by cementation or electrowinning from the base-metal leach, cobalt, selenium and tellurium where present, and a smelter-grade or salable slag from Route B. Output: Cu / Ni metal or salt, Se / Te by-product, salable slag.
Treated off-gas and recycled water — scrubbed exhaust with NOx below 100 mg/m³, and neutralised, polished water recirculated to the wash and scrubbing loops. Output: compliant emission and recirculated process water.

Platinum Group Metal (PGM) Refining Process Flow

The line runs as a staged sequence in which dilute feed is concentrated before it is dissolved, and in which every metal is removed from solution in a planned order. Route A enters at Steps 4 or 5; Route B enters at Steps 1–3. The off-gas and effluent circuits (Steps 11) run continuously in parallel with the metal chain rather than behind it.

Steps 1 — Feed Intake, Sampling and Assay. Incoming material is weighed, logged and representatively sampled. Because PGM content in spent catalysts and residues is highly uneven, sampling uses tube-gun or positionally drained sampling across the full depth of each container rather than a surface scoop, and the sample is prepared by crushing, milling and riffling to a homogeneous aliquot. XRF gives a fast screen, fire assay gives the reference value, and ICP-OES or ICP-MS confirms individual metal content. Output: batch input assay, route sheet and an opened metal-accounting record.

Steps 2 — Pretreatment and Thermal Conditioning. Feed is milled to below about 75 µm to open the matrix and expose coated PGM particles, screened and, where the matrix requires it, dried. Carbonaceous and oily material — Pd/C and Pt/C catalysts, spent catalyst with process residue, e-scrap fractions — is roasted in the 450–650 °C range to burn off carbon, oil and organic matter, with palladium-on-carbon conditioned at 550–600 °C. The reactor mouth of every thermal unit is enclosed and ducted to the scrubber. Output: conditioned, de-oiled, milled feed of uniform particle size, with off-gas routed to Steps 11.

Steps 3 — Pyrometallurgical Enrichment. Applied on Route B, where direct dissolution is uneconomic. Conditioned feed is fluxed and smelted with a collector metal in an oxygen-enriched side-blown or electric-arc furnace at 1300–1600 °C, producing a PGM-bearing matte or alloy and a discardable slag. The matte is converted, granulated and then leached to remove base metals, raising PGM content into the 20–60% range so the aqueous train only ever handles a small, rich stream. Slag is analysed before disposal and, where it meets specification, sold as a construction or aggregate feedstock rather than landfilled. Output: PGM matte or alloy at 20–60% PGM, salable slag, and furnace off-gas routed to Steps 11.

Steps 4 — Base Metal Removal and Silver Recovery. Enriched feed or high-grade PGM scrap is leached to strip base metals and take silver out of the circuit before PGM dissolution begins. Dilute nitric acid dissolves silver, palladium, copper and nickel while leaving gold, platinum and rhodium in the residue, with the nitrate step run at about 80–90 °C. Silver is then selectively precipitated as silver chloride by chloride addition, filtered off and routed to its own refining circuit — essential, because silver carried into the PGM dissolution train contaminates every downstream separation. Copper and nickel report to a cementation or electrowinning stage. Output: silver chloride residue routed to silver refining, Cu / Ni solution for by-product recovery, and a PGM-bearing residue for dissolution.

Steps 5 — Oxidative Dissolution. The prepared PGM residue or high-grade feed is dissolved in the oxidative chloride media that PGM chemistry requires. Aqua regia (HCl : HNO₃ at roughly 3 : 1) is the classical route and is run at 80–90 °C; the alternatives are aqueous chlorination with HCl plus chlorine gas, HCl plus sodium chlorate, or HCl with hydrogen peroxide, all of which avoid or reduce nitrate loading in the effluent. Rhodium, iridium and ruthenium resist aqua regia, so they are either pretreated by oxidative-alkaline fusion or bisulfate fusion before dissolution, or deliberately left in the insoluble residue and routed to their own separation route — the residue is a planned product stream, not a waste. Output: PGM pregnant liquor containing Pt and Pd, and an insoluble residue carrying Rh, Ir and Ru.

Steps 6 — Denitration, Filtration and Clarification. Where aqua regia has been used, the solution is denitrated by repeated hydrochloric-acid addition and evaporation until no further brown vapour is evolved, and then diluted and clarified. Slurry is filtered on filter presses and vacuum filters with liquid moved by vacuum transfer rather than pouring, since transferred rather than poured liquor is the difference between a clean plant and a contaminated one. Filter cake is displacement-washed and the wash liquor is returned to the circuit so that no soluble value leaves with the residue. Temperature is held below about 30 °C during the acidification and crystallisation steps that follow, to prevent premature reduction and loss of selectivity. Output: clean, denitrated PGM liquor ready for separation, and a washed insoluble residue routed to the Rh / Ir / Ru route.

Steps 7 — Selective Precipitation and PGM Separation. Metals are pulled out of the liquor one at a time, in the order the chemistry allows. Silver chloride is removed first, palladium is precipitated as ammonium chloropalladate and platinum as ammonium hexachloroplatinate by controlled ammonium chloride addition with an excess of about 10–15%, and the platinum salt is washed with acidified ammonium chloride solution and recrystallised two to three times until it meets assay. Rhodium is recovered by sulfite-complex precipitation, with the pH controlled to about 6.4 so that iridium stays in solution and is separated in the same operation. The tail liquor is treated with sulfide to strip residual values before neutralisation, and the sulfide residue is returned to dissolution. Output: separate crude Pt, Pd and Rh salt streams, and a barren liquor sent for polishing and neutralisation.

Steps 8 — Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange. Mixed or partially separated PGM liquors are resolved into single-metal streams by solvent extraction on mixer-settler banks and centrifugal extractors, supported by ion-exchange columns. The extractant system is selected against the liquor: P204, P507 and C272 for the organophosphorus and carboxylic routes, TBP and DBC (dibutyl carbitol) for gold and platinum selectivity, and amine extractants for the remaining separations, with raffinate stripped and returned to the circuit. Ion-exchange resins carry the finer separations where the concentration ratio between metals is too tight for a single extraction stage, and are applied particularly to ruthenium, iridium and rhodium polishing. Output: individual Pt, Pd, Rh, Ir and Ru streams clean enough for reduction, and a raffinate returned to leaching.

Steps 9 — Selective Reduction to Metal. Purified single-metal solutions are converted to metal. Palladium and silver are reduced with hydrazine hydrate, which is fast and gives a clean, filterable metal; platinum and rhodium are reduced with sodium borohydride, hydrazine or sodium formate depending on the feed; gold, where present, is reduced with sodium sulfite, sulfur dioxide or oxalic acid. Hydrogen reduction in a tube furnace is used where a very low residual oxygen and a specific particle morphology are wanted, with a controlled inert purge during heat-up and cool-down. Reduction conditions are set per metal, because the reductant that gives a clean sponge from one liquor will contaminate another. Output: PGM sponge and powder at intermediate grade, ready for calcination and finishing.

Steps 10 — Calcination, Melting and Casting. Ammonium salts are converted to metal by calcination — ammonium hexachloroplatinate is calcined at above 800 °C to give platinum sponge, and iridium oxide is reduced in hydrogen with a controlled programme reaching about 900 °C before an inert-gas cool-down. Metal powder and sponge are then melted in a medium-frequency induction furnace under inert gas or vacuum, and cast into bars, granules or shot, or granulated by water atomisation where the market wants a free-flowing feed. Each lot is re-assayed and released against a Certificate of Analysis. Output: certified PGM bars, granules, shot and sponge.

Steps 11 — Off-Gas Scrubbing and Effluent Treatment. Reactor mouths are enclosed and ducted, and the off-gas passes through a gas-liquid separator and condenser that return condensate — and the metal it carries — to the reactor. Gas then enters multistage treatment: a nitrogen-monoxide oxidation vessel ahead of a jet-spray absorption tower, followed by wet and dry scrubbing, handling inlet NOx concentrations around 30,000 mg/m³ and discharging below 100 mg/m³, with the best-configured lines below 20 mg/m³. Acid mist is suppressed at source by dosing a mist suppressant into the reaction liquor. Effluent is segregated into acidic and alkaline streams, neutralised, oxidised where necessary, flocculated and filtered, polished by membrane and evaporation, and returned to the wash and scrubbing loops; a zero-liquid-discharge configuration is available where local rules require it. Output: compliant off-gas, recycled process water, and dewatered residue.

The main chain runs top to bottom: intake and assay → pretreatment → enrichment (Route B) → base-metal and silver removal → dissolution → clarification → precipitation → solvent extraction → reduction → calcination and casting. Side branches route off-gas and condensate to the scrubber, silver chloride to silver refining, the aqua-regia-insoluble residue to the Rh / Ir / Ru route, raffinate back to leaching, sulfide residue back to dissolution, and polished water back to the wash loop.

Product Structure (Main Equipment)

The line is supplied as integrated modules, factory-assembled, piped and functionally tested before shipment.

Feed Preparation Module — jaw crusher, shredder, ball mill with screening to below about 75 µm, double-cone mixer, magnetic separator, drying oven, and a tube-gun and riffle sampling station. Function: homogenising feed so that the assay is representative and the dissolution is complete.
Thermal Pretreatment Unit — roasting furnace and incinerator with an enclosed, ducted charge mouth and a controlled 450–650 °C programme. Function: removing carbon, oil and organic matter that would otherwise consume oxidant and contaminate the liquor.
Pyrometallurgical Enrichment Section (Route B) — oxygen-enriched side-blown furnace or electric-arc furnace with flux and collector-metal dosing, converter, matte granulation, slag handling and a dedicated furnace off-gas duct. Function: concentrating dilute PGM feed into a matte or alloy that the aqueous train can process economically.
Base-Metal Leach and Silver Removal Train — acid leach reactors with agitation and controlled heating, silver chloride precipitation tank with chloride dosing, and a cementation or electrowinning cell for copper and nickel. Function: taking silver out of the circuit before PGM dissolution and recovering base metals as by-products.
Oxidative Dissolution Reactors — titanium (Gr2 / Gr7), glass-lined (enamel) steel, borosilicate glass and PPH / PPR / PP reactors with agitation, jacket or coil heating, reflux condensers and a sealed charge and discharge arrangement, rated for aqua regia and HCl / Cl₂ service, with pressure-rated autoclaves for pressure leaching. Function: dissolving Pt and Pd completely while keeping the corrosive chemistry inside the reactor.
Tumbler / Rotating Reactor — inclined polypropylene or titanium drum with speed control, indirect heating and automatic dosing. Function: fast, uniform leaching of dense, granular or sludge-like feed where a stirred tank would channel or segregate.
Reagent Preparation and Dosing System — graduated chemical tanks, metering and diaphragm pumps, oxidant and reductant dosing skids and controlled-addition logic. Function: repeatable reagent addition — in PGM work, the addition rate frequently decides both recovery and grade.
Denitration and Crystallisation Train — heated evaporator vessels, hydrochloric-acid dosing, jacketed cooling tanks and temperature control holding the acidification step below about 30 °C. Function: removing nitrate and precipitating clean ammonium salts.
Filtration, Transfer and Clarification Skid — wheel filter, horizontal filter with a slight inclination for complete liquor recovery, filter press, vacuum filter discs, cartridge polisher, glass and PP elevated storage tanks with spray-wash, diaphragm pumps and a vacuum liquid-transfer system. Function: solid-liquid separation and leak-free liquor transfer with no manual pouring.
Selective Precipitation Reactors — dedicated vessels for ammonium chloride, chloride, sulfite and sulfide precipitation, with temperature control, agitation, pH and ORP instrumentation and a dedicated wash circuit for each salt. Function: pulling one metal out of solution at a time without cross-contaminating the next.
Solvent Extraction and Ion-Exchange Skid — mixer-settler banks and centrifugal extractors for P204, P507, C272, TBP, DBC and amine systems, with organic recovery and raffinate recycle, plus ion-exchange columns, elution and regeneration circuits and resin-handling equipment. Function: resolving mixed PGM liquor into single-metal streams.
Reduction and Hydrogen Furnace Section — hydrazine and sodium borohydride dosing stations, chemical reduction reactors with controlled addition and temperature, and a hydrogen reduction tube furnace with quartz boats and a nitrogen / carbon-dioxide purge programme. Function: converting purified PGM salts and solutions into clean metal powder and sponge.
Calcination and Finishing Unit — calcination furnace operating above 800 °C, quartz and ceramic boats, and a medium-frequency induction melting furnace reaching about 1600 °C, with inert-gas or vacuum atmosphere, water atomiser and granulator, graphite and alloy moulds, and a vacuum ingot-casting machine. Function: converting salts to metal and casting market-grade product.
Off-Gas Treatment System — reactor-mouth enclosure and ducting, gas-liquid separator and condenser returning condensate to the reactor, nitrogen-monoxide oxidation vessel, multi-stage jet-spray absorption tower, wet and dry fume scrubbers, alkali neutralisation stages and a mist-suppressant dosing unit. Function: abating NOx, HCl, Cl₂ and acid mist, and recovering the metal carried in the gas stream.
Effluent Treatment and Water Recycle Unit — segregated collection and buffer tanks, neutralisation reactor with pH control, advanced oxidation reactor, flocculation and sedimentation, plate-and-frame sludge press, MVR evaporator, membrane polishing and a recirculation loop to the wash and scrubbing circuits, with a zero-liquid-discharge configuration where required. Function: compliant discharge or zero discharge, with water returned to the process.
Automation and Control System — PLC with touch-screen HMI, automatic dosing, temperature, pH, ORP, level and vacuum control, explosion-proof design where the chemistry requires it, process monitoring with alarms, batch logging and remote diagnostic access. Function: repeatable operation, a defensible process record and reduced operator exposure.
Assay and Quality-Control Laboratory — XRF analyser, fire-assay furnace with cupellation equipment, analytical balance, AAS, ICP-OES and ICP-MS access, titration bench and sample-preparation equipment. Function: input control, in-process checks and the Certificate of Analysis that accompanies each lot.
Safety and Operator Protection Package — PP and PTFE-lined fume hoods with local extraction, gas detection for NOx, chlorine and hydrogen cyanide where applicable, secondary containment and bunded floors, acid-proof flooring, emergency shower and eyewash, and PPE provisioning. Function: keeping a corrosive, and in places toxic, chemistry safely inside the plant.

Product Features

Built around the six PGMs, not around gold. Reagent systems, separation sequence, vessel materials and instrumentation are selected for Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir and Os behaviour, including the metals that aqua regia will not dissolve.
Two routes on one platform. Route A takes high-grade feed straight to aqueous refining; Route B enriches dilute feed into a 20–60% PGM matte first. Route selection is made from the assay, so the same equipment train serves both.
Palladium oxide and refractory PGM handling designed in. Dedicated pretreatment for PdO, oxidative-alkaline and bisulfate fusion for Rh, Ir and Ru, and a deliberate insoluble-residue route mean the metals that defeat a standard precious-metal refinery are recovered rather than abandoned in the residue.
Rhodium separated by ligand chemistry, not by assumption. Rhodium is recovered through the sulfite-complex route with pH control that separates iridium in the same operation, because Rh(III) chloro-complexes do not respond to the separation mechanisms used for Pt and Pd.
Osmium handled as a hazardous duty. Where osmium is present, it is processed on a sealed circuit with oxidative distillation and liquid absorption, recognising that OsO₄ is volatile and highly toxic.
Reagent transparency. The extractant and precipitation systems are specified openly — P204, P507, C272, TBP, DBC, amine extractants, ammonium chloride, sulfite and sulfide reagents, hydrazine, sodium borohydride and hydrogen — so that the client’s own metallurgists can audit and, if they wish, adapt the flowsheet.
Recovery stated honestly, with its conditions. PGM recovery of 98–99% is quoted by metal balance and is expected to vary with feed grade and PGM speciation; where a metal sits in a refractory matrix, the pretreatment stage is what protects the number.
Assay-led operation and batch accountability. Every batch carries an input assay, in-process samples and an output Certificate of Analysis tied to the same metal-accounting record — the basis on which high-value metal can be settled.
Enclosed reactors and recovered off-gas. Every reactor mouth is sealed and ducted, condensate returns to the reactor, and multistage jet-spray and alkaline scrubbing abate NOx from roughly 30,000 mg/m³ to below 100 mg/m³.
Closed-loop or zero-liquid-discharge effluent. Acidic and alkaline streams are segregated and treated separately, water is polished and recirculated, and ZLD is available where the site or the permit requires it.
Corrosion-engineered wetted parts. Titanium, glass-lined steel, borosilicate glass, PPH / PPR / PP and PTFE-lined components are chosen against the actual chemistry of each stage rather than applied uniformly.
Low-loss design details. Vacuum liquid transfer instead of pouring, inclined filter bases for complete liquor recovery, cake displacement washing returned to the circuit, sulfide tail treatment to recover residual values, and raffinate recycle.
Automated, logged and traceable. PLC control with pH, ORP, temperature, dosing and vacuum loops, alarm management and batch logging — reducing operator dependence in a chemistry where small deviations are expensive.
Modular and scalable. Capacity, footprint, installed power and utility consumption are engineered to the feed assay and the target throughput, and the same process logic applies at pilot and industrial scale.

Technical Parameters & Specifications

Values below describe the standard process envelope and product outcomes. Batch and daily capacity, footprint, installed power and utility consumption are engineered to each client’s feed assay, PGM speciation and site conditions, and are fixed at design review.

Parameter	Specification
Product	Platinum Group Metal (PGM) Refining Equipment — Pt / Pd / Rh / Ru / Ir / Os recovery and refining line
Process routes	Route A — direct hydrometallurgical refining (feed above about 5% PGM) · Route B — pyrometallurgical enrichment plus hydrometallurgical refining (feed from about 0.1% PGM)
PGMs recovered	Platinum (Pt) · Palladium (Pd) · Rhodium (Rh) · Ruthenium (Ru) · Iridium (Ir) · Osmium (Os, sealed circuit, on request)
Co-recovered metals	Gold · Silver · Copper · Nickel · Cobalt · Selenium · Tellurium, where the feed carries them
PGM recovery	≥ 98%, up to ≥ 99% on high-grade feed, determined by metal balance across the line and dependent on feed grade and PGM speciation
Platinum purity	Pt ≥ 99.95%
Palladium purity	Pd ≥ 99.95%
Rhodium purity	Rh ≥ 99.90%, with repeat purification for higher grades
Ruthenium purity	Ru ≥ 99.9%
Iridium purity	Ir ≥ 99.9%
Osmium purity	Os ≥ 99.9% (sealed dedicated circuit)
Product forms	Sponge · powder · granule and shot · bar · ammonium hexachloroplatinate · ammonium chloropalladate · chloroiridic acid · rhodium chloride solution
Feed PGM grade	From about 0.1% on the enrichment route to above 5% for direct dissolution
Feed forms accepted	Monolith and washcoat catalyst · granular and pellet catalyst · carbon-supported catalyst · powder · sludge and residue · anode slime and matte · alloy and fabricated scrap · spent plating solution
PGM matte grade after enrichment	20–60% PGM
Dissolution chemistry	Aqua regia (HCl : HNO₃ approximately 3 : 1) · HCl + Cl₂ aqueous chlorination · HCl + NaClO₃ · HCl + H₂O₂ · oxidative-alkaline fusion and bisulfate fusion pretreatment for Rh / Ir / Ru
Dissolution temperature	80–90 °C for aqua regia and oxidative chloride dissolution
Dissolution residence time	Typically 3–8 h per batch, set by feed grade, matrix and particle size
Thermal pretreatment	Roasting and de-oiling 450–650 °C; palladium-on-carbon conditioned at 550–600 °C
Enrichment furnace	Oxygen-enriched side-blown or electric-arc furnace at 1300–1600 °C, with converter and matte granulation
Separation sequence	Remove Au and Ag → recover Pd → recover Pt → separate Rh, Ir, Ru and Os from the residual stream
Extractants	P204 · P507 · C272 · TBP · DBC (dibutyl carbitol) · amine extractants, supported by ion-exchange resin
Precipitation reagents	Ammonium chloride (Pt as ammonium hexachloroplatinate, Pd as ammonium chloropalladate) · sodium chloride (Ag as silver chloride) · ammonium sulfite (Rh) · ammonium sulfide and sodium sulfide (Ir purification) · sulfide tail treatment
Reductants	Hydrazine hydrate (Pd, Ag) · sodium borohydride · sodium sulfite and sulfur dioxide (Au) · oxalic acid · hydrogen reduction
pH and ORP control	Ammonia complexation at about pH 8.7–8.8 · acidification and crystallisation at pH 1.0–1.5 and below 30 °C · rhodium sulfite precipitation at about pH 6.4 · ORP set-point for chloride oxidation of Rh and Ir around 500 mV
Calcination and reduction	Ammonium hexachloroplatinate calcined above 800 °C to platinum sponge · iridium oxide reduced in hydrogen to about 900 °C with inert-gas cool-down
Melting and casting	Medium-frequency induction melting to about 1600 °C under inert gas or vacuum · water atomisation and granulation · vacuum ingot casting
Vessel materials	Titanium Gr2 and Gr7 · glass-lined (enamel) steel · borosilicate glass · PPH / PPR / PP with anti-ageing additive · PTFE and PVDF-lined components
Vessel ratings	Atmospheric to −0.1 MPa vacuum; pressure-rated autoclaves to about 0.8 MPa for pressure leaching
Off-gas inlet NOx	Up to about 30,000 mg/m³ from aqua regia and chloride dissolution
Treated NOx emission	Below 100 mg/m³, with the best-configured lines below 20 mg/m³, within the applicable local discharge standard
Off-gas treatment train	Reactor-mouth enclosure · gas-liquid separator and condenser returning condensate to the reactor · nitrogen-monoxide oxidation · multistage jet-spray absorption · wet and dry scrubbing · acid-mist suppressant dosing
Effluent treatment	Segregated acidic and alkaline streams · neutralisation · advanced oxidation · flocculation and sedimentation · sludge dewatering · MVR evaporation · membrane polishing; zero liquid discharge (ZLD) configuration available
Automation	PLC with touch-screen HMI · automatic reagent dosing · temperature, pH, ORP, level and vacuum control loops · explosion-proof design · process monitoring, alarms, batch logging and remote diagnostics
Capacity configuration	Engineered to feed assay and target throughput — batch size, throughput per day, footprint, installed power and utility consumption are fixed at design review
Assay and quality control	XRF screening · fire assay (lead, nickel sulfide or bismuth collection) with cupellation · AAS · ICP-OES · ICP-MS; Certificate of Analysis issued per lot
Metal accounting	Batch input assay, in-process sampling and output Certificate of Analysis linked in a single traceable record
Standards	CE; emission and discharge compliance to applicable local EPA and EU requirements; product documentation suitable for refinery, industrial and bullion-market settlement

Technical Advantages

Engineered for the metals that defeat ordinary refineries. Palladium oxide that resists dissolution, rhodium and iridium that resist aqua regia, ruthenium that must be distilled as RuO₄, and osmium whose tetroxide is volatile and highly toxic — each has a designed pretreatment or a dedicated separation route rather than being left in the residue.
A planned order of separation, not a trial-and-error sequence. Gold and silver removed first, then palladium, then platinum, with rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium recovered from the residual stream. Silver in particular is taken out before PGM dissolution, because silver chloride carried downstream contaminates every subsequent separation.
Two routes matched to feed grade. Direct dissolution above roughly 5% PGM; enrichment to a 20–60% matte below it. Dilute catalyst and slime feed is concentrated before it reaches the aqueous train, which is what makes low-grade material economic rather than merely processable.
Recovery stated with its conditions attached. Recovery of 98–99% is quoted by metal balance, with the feed-dependent limits made explicit. A supplier that quotes a single unconditional number in PGM work is describing a best case, not a flowsheet.
Purification by ligand change where it is the only way. Rhodium is separated through sulfite-complex chemistry with pH control that splits iridium in the same step, complemented by ion exchange for the tight separations between ruthenium, iridium and rhodium.
Open reagent specification. P204, P507, C272, TBP, DBC, amine extractants, ammonium chloride, sulfite and sulfide reagents, hydrazine, sodium borohydride and hydrogen are named rather than hidden behind “proprietary reagents”, so the client’s metallurgists can audit the flowsheet and plan reagent supply.
Assay-verified performance, not a claim on a web page. Fire assay, ICP-OES and ICP-MS are used at intake, in process and at release, and results are attached to the batch record, so recovery and purity are demonstrated project by project rather than asserted once.
Off-gas abated from around 30,000 mg/m³ to below 100 mg/m³. Nitrogen-monoxide oxidation ahead of jet-spray absorption, wet and dry scrubbing, and source suppression of acid mist — with condensate returned to the reactor, so metal carried in the vapour is recovered instead of vented.
Compliance without a separate plant. Closed-loop water treatment with a zero-liquid-discharge option, and the permitting documentation that a PGM refinery needs, sized into the same package rather than bolted on.
Corrosion design matched stage by stage. Titanium where chloride and oxidant are both present, glass-lined steel where strong acid and thermal cycling combine, borosilicate glass where the reaction must be observed, PPH and PPR where alkaline and neutral duty dominates.
Instrumentation that holds an expensive process steady. pH, ORP, temperature, dosing, level and vacuum loops under PLC control, because in PGM separation a small drift in pH or ORP moves metal from one stream to the wrong one.
Metal accounting that stands up. Batch input assay, in-process samples and an output Certificate of Analysis in one traceable record — necessary when the material being processed and the product being shipped are both high-value.
Corrosion, reagent and labour cost addressed together. Raffinate recycle, mist suppression, closed-loop water, automatic dosing and vacuum transfer reduce reagent make-up, fresh-water intake, manual handling and the metal losses that manual handling causes.
One contractor from assay to commissioning. Feed characterisation, bench test work, flowsheet design, equipment manufacture, skid assembly, installation, commissioning and operator training from a single source, with a performance guarantee attached to the result.

Service Process

YuSai delivers a PGM refining line as a full turnkey project, from feed characterisation and bench test work to a commissioned plant demonstrating the contracted performance.

Steps 1 — Feed Assay and Route Consultation. Send a representative sample of your catalyst, slime, alloy, residue or spent solution. Our metallurgical team runs XRF screening with fire assay and ICP-OES or ICP-MS confirmation, identifies the recoverable PGMs and the interfering elements, and recommends Route A or Route B with the target products. Output: assay report, proposed route and a preliminary scope.

Steps 2 — Laboratory Test Work and Flowsheet Design. Bench and pilot campaigns establish dissolution conditions, reagent and extractant selection, the separation sequence, expected recovery per metal and the behaviour of the refractory fractions. Results are converted into a mass balance, flowsheet, equipment list, vessel sizing, utility schedule and plant layout against your throughput, site and local emission and discharge rules. Output: test report, process design package and firm quotation.

Steps 3 — Detailed Engineering and Manufacturing. Dissolution reactors, filtration and transfer skid, precipitation vessels, solvent-extraction and ion-exchange sections, reduction and hydrogen furnace, calcination and casting units, off-gas scrubber, effluent plant and control system are fabricated, pre-assembled on skids and piped. Output: engineered, skid-mounted modules.

Steps 4 — Factory Assembly, Testing and Acceptance. Each module is functionally and pressure tested, the full train is trial-run, and wherever possible your own material is used so that the first production batch is not also the first trial. Clients are invited to attend the factory acceptance test before shipment. Output: FAT-approved, pre-commissioned modules.

Steps 5 — Shipping, Installation and Commissioning. We supervise the civil interface, erection, piping, ductwork, electrical and control tie-in, then run an instrumented commissioning campaign on your feed until the contracted recovery and purity are demonstrated by assay. Output: a producing plant at contracted performance.

Steps 6 — Operator Training and Handover. On-site training covers safe operation, acid and oxidant handling, dissolution and precipitation control, pH and ORP management, solvent-extraction and ion-exchange operation, furnace and cell maintenance, assay practice and emergency procedures — supported by standard operating procedures and a complete handover dossier. Output: trained crew and full documentation.

Steps 7 — Process Optimisation and Ongoing Support. Remote troubleshooting, reagent, resin, extractant and electrode supply, periodic performance audits, and upgrade paths for capacity, recovery or additional metals. Output: sustained performance and spare-part continuity.

Warranty & After-Sales Service

Standard warranty. Twelve (12) months from commissioning, or eighteen (18) months from shipment, whichever comes first, covering structural, mechanical, electrical and control equipment against defects in material and workmanship.
What the warranty covers. Replacement of defective components, repair or exchange of main-process equipment, and free remote technical guidance throughout the warranty period. Consumables — reagents, extractants, resin, electrodes and refractory items — and damage caused by misuse, unauthorised modification, or operation outside the agreed feed and process envelope are excluded.
Guaranteed performance. We warrant that, when fed material inside the agreed assay and throughput envelope and operated to the supplied standard operating procedures, the line meets the contracted recovery and product purity, verified at commissioning by fire assay and ICP-OES or ICP-MS.
Response commitment. Guaranteed remote response within 24 hours, on-site engineer dispatch and hotline support for breakdowns affecting production, and expedited spare-part supply for critical items.
Spare parts and consumables. Genuine spares, extractants, ion-exchange resin, electrodes, dosing-pump components, seals and instrumentation are held as a stocking range to minimise downtime, with a recommended first-year spares list issued at handover.
Commissioning and start-up support. Supervised installation, commissioning on customer feed, performance verification and operator competence sign-off before handover.
Lifetime technical support. Continued access to our engineering team for process questions after warranty expiry, with optional retrofit, capacity-upgrade, reagent-optimisation and additional-metal recovery services.
Documentation. Operating, maintenance and safety manuals, electrical drawings, P&IDs, flowsheets and mass balance, spare-parts catalogue, standard operating procedures and training material accompany every line.
Compliance support. Assistance with local emission and effluent permitting documentation, and with the assay, metal-accounting and product-certification records that buyers, refiners and authorities require.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is PGM refining equipment?
PGM here stands for platinum group metals — also called the platinum group elements: platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), iridium (Ir) and osmium (Os). PGM refining equipment is the plant that dissolves and separates those six metals out of catalysts, slimes, alloys and residues and returns them as individually saleable metal or salts. It differs from a general precious-metal refinery because these metals resist single-acid dissolution, respond differently to one another in chloride media, and are separated mainly by precipitation, solvent extraction and ion exchange rather than by one dominant unit operation.

Q2. Which platinum group metals can the line recover and separate?
All six: platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium, each delivered as a separately assayed product rather than a mixed concentrate. Platinum and palladium are the primary products in most projects, rhodium is usually the highest-value component of automotive catalyst feed, and ruthenium, iridium and osmium are recovered on their own dedicated routes — osmium only on a sealed circuit, because its tetroxide is volatile and highly toxic.

Q3. What feedstocks can the line process?
Spent automotive three-way catalysts on ceramic or metallic substrate; spent petrochemical, refining, fine-chemical and pharmaceutical catalysts including palladium-on-carbon; copper and lead anode slime and PGM smelter intermediates; nitric acid plant catalyst gauze; fibreglass bushings, spinnerets, crucibles and waste refractory brick; fuel-cell and hydrogen-plant material; electronic-scrap PGM fractions; spent PGM plating solutions and ion-exchange eluate; PGM alloy and fabricated scrap; and PGM-bearing sludges, residues and concentrates.

Q4. What purity can refined platinum, palladium and rhodium reach, and how is it verified?
Platinum and palladium reach ≥ 99.95%, rhodium ≥ 99.90%, and ruthenium, iridium and osmium ≥ 99.9%, with repeat purification available where a higher grade is required. Purity is verified per lot by fire assay and ICP-OES or ICP-MS, and each consignment is released with a Certificate of Analysis. Because purity depends on the feed and on the number of purification passes, we confirm the achievable grade for your specific material during test work rather than quoting a single figure for every feedstock.

Q5. What PGM recovery rate is realistic, and what does it depend on?
Recovery typically falls in the 98–99% range, measured by metal balance across the line. What moves the number is the feed itself: total PGM grade, the physical form and particle size of the material, the matrix the metals sit in, and — most importantly — the speciation of the individual metals. Palladium present as palladium oxide, rhodium or iridium locked in a refractory matrix, or values trapped in a cordierite or carbon support all reduce recovery unless the appropriate pretreatment stage is included. This is why we quote recovery against a specific assay rather than as a single unconditional figure.

Q6. Why is rhodium the most difficult platinum group metal to refine?
Because its chemistry closes the doors the other metals leave open. Rhodium(III) chloro-complexes are relatively stable and do not respond to the valence and solubility differences that separate platinum and palladium, and rhodium metal resists aqua regia. Practical rhodium refining therefore works by changing the ligand rather than the oxidation state: the metal is first brought into solution by oxidative-alkaline or bisulfate fusion, then separated through sulfite-complex precipitation with the pH held around 6.4 so that iridium remains in solution, followed by ammonia complexation and repeated purification. No single standard flowsheet exists for rhodium, and it is the step where process control has the largest effect on recovery.

Q7. Can the line process feed containing palladium oxide (PdO)?
Yes, with the right pretreatment. Palladium oxide is sparingly soluble and will not dissolve on the same schedule as metallic palladium, so it has to be reduced or converted before dissolution. The line includes a dedicated pretreatment stage for this, and the dissolution conditions and reductant selection are set during test work against the oxide content of your material rather than assumed from the total palladium figure.

Q8. What is the minimum PGM content a feedstock can have?
From roughly 0.1% PGM upward through the enrichment route, which concentrates dilute material into a 20–60% PGM matte before refining. Feed above about 5% PGM can bypass enrichment and go directly to oxidative dissolution, which is cheaper per kilogram and avoids the furnace section entirely. The crossover point between the two routes is decided case by case on grade, mass flow and local energy and disposal costs — not by a fixed threshold.

Q9. Does the line use aqua regia, solvent extraction and ion exchange?
Yes, all three, plus the alternatives. Dissolution uses aqua regia (HCl : HNO₃ approximately 3 : 1) at 80–90 °C, or aqueous chlorination with HCl and chlorine, or HCl with sodium chlorate or hydrogen peroxide, where reducing nitrate loading in the effluent matters. Separation uses selective precipitation with ammonium chloride, sodium chloride, sulfite and sulfide reagents, solvent extraction with P204, P507, C272, TBP, DBC and amine extractants, and ion exchange for the tighter separations between rhodium, iridium and ruthenium.

Q10. Is the line hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical, or both?
Both, on two matched routes. Route A is purely hydrometallurgical and is used for feed above roughly 5% PGM. Route B adds a pyrometallurgical enrichment section — smelting at 1300–1600 °C with a collector metal, converter, matte granulation and a base-metal leach — ahead of the same aqueous refining train, and is used for dilute catalyst and slime feed. The reason is economic: dissolving a few hundred grams of PGM per tonne directly is not viable, so the values are concentrated first.

Q11. How is NOx from PGM dissolution treated?
Every reactor mouth is enclosed and ducted, and off-gas passes through a gas-liquid separator and condenser that return condensate, and the metal it carries, to the reactor. The gas then enters a nitrogen-monoxide oxidation vessel ahead of a multistage jet-spray absorption tower, followed by wet and dry scrubbing. Uncontrolled dissolution gas can run around 30,000 mg/m³ NOx; the treated stack is held below 100 mg/m³, and the best-configured lines below 20 mg/m³. Acid mist is additionally suppressed at source by dosing a mist suppressant into the reaction liquor.

Q12. Is wastewater treatment included, and can the plant run zero liquid discharge?
Yes, it is part of the standard package. Acidic and alkaline streams are segregated, because they need different treatment: acidic metal-bearing effluent from reduction and dissolution is neutralised, oxidised and precipitated, while alkaline streams are handled separately. Sludge is dewatered, water is polished by evaporation and membrane treatment and returned to the wash and scrubbing loops. A zero liquid discharge configuration is available where local rules or site conditions require it.

Q13. Does “capacity” mean per batch or per day?
Both, and we define them together. Capacity is specified as a nominal batch size plus the number of batches per day, which together give the design throughput; the two numbers, not one, describe the plant. Because batch size depends on the PGM grade, matrix and reaction time of your specific feed, capacity, footprint, installed power and utility consumption are fixed at design review after the assay and bench test, rather than published as a fixed catalogue figure.

Q14. Can the same line also refine gold and silver?
Yes, where the feed carries them. Gold and silver are separated at the head end of the circuit and refined on their own routes — silver as silver chloride to the silver circuit, gold by selective reduction — because in chloride media silver forms sparingly soluble silver chloride that must be removed before PGM dissolution begins. Treating them as planned by-products improves project economics, but the line’s design centre remains the six platinum group metals.

Q15. What information is needed to get a quotation?
A representative sample and an assay covering Pt, Pd and Rh at minimum, plus Ru, Ir, Os, Au and Ag where they are present; total PGM grade and the matrix the metals sit in; the physical form of the material and its contaminants; required batch size and throughput per day or month; target products and purity; available floor area, headroom and utilities; and your local air-emission, effluent and chemical-storage requirements. A sample and an assay are what allow us to confirm the route and commit to performance figures.

Q16. What installation, training, warranty and after-sales support is included?
Supervised installation, commissioning on your own feed, performance verification against the contracted recovery and purity, and on-site operator training with standard operating procedures and a full handover dossier. The warranty runs 12 months from commissioning, or 18 months from shipment, whichever comes first, covering material and workmanship defects, with a guaranteed-performance clause on the contracted figures. Remote response is within 24 hours, genuine spares and process consumables are stocked, and lifetime technical support continues after warranty expiry.

Platinum Group Metal Refining Equipment

Product Overview

Application Scenarios

Applicable Raw Materials

Output Products

Platinum Group Metal (PGM) Refining Process Flow

Product Structure (Main Equipment)

Product Features

Technical Parameters & Specifications

Technical Advantages

Service Process

Warranty & After-Sales Service

Frequently Asked Questions

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