CATALYZED ELECTROCHEMICAL DISSOLUTION FOR SPENT CATALYST RECOVERY

Increasing concern for pollution prevention and waste disposal has cre ated a need for clean alternatives for spent catalyst recovery or disp osal. A new technique uses catalyzed electrochemical dissolution to ox idize and subsequently dissolve typical catalyst metals and metal cont aminants so that they may be isolated and reclaimed. Hydrocarbons and carbonaceous materials adhered to the catalyst surface are oxidized to carbon dioxide and water at moderate temperatures and ambient pressur e. Sulfides are converted to aqueous sulfur species. Supercritical flu id extraction is an optional pretreatment step to remove hydrocarbons adhered to the catalyst. The technique described here offers advantage s over conventional spent catalyst reclamation processes. In this pape r, recovery of a spent hydrodesulfurization catalyst is described.