Operational Overview of RSR North
America Corp.
Timothy W. Ellis, Mark A. Drezdzon and Travis Hesterberg
Abstract RSR North America Corp. (RSRNA) is the second largest secondary
lead (Pb) producers in North America with smelting operations in Middletown, NY,
Indianapolis, IN, and City of Industry, CA. Over the last several decades, RSRNA has
focused on sustainability, becoming an industry leader in environmental performance
by the installation of Wet Electrostatic Precipitators (WESPs) at all three operations.
Also, average blood lead levels of plant personnel are well below 10 micrograms
per deciliter, approaching background levels for non-industry personnel. With the
industry’s need to improve Pb battery performance to maintain sustainability in the
marketplace, RSRNA has developed state-of-the-art analytical capabilities, including
Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS), to better quantify key
elements crucial to Pb battery operation. This has led to the development of several
new alloys, including the soft Pb micro-alloyed SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE
® and the
high-temperature grid alloy 009-PERFORMANCE GRID™, which independently
and together improve batter performance (e.g. cycle life).
Keywords Blood lead (Pb’s) · WESP · Battery · Recycling
Introduction
Lead batteries continue to be the primary rechargeable energy storage technology for
automotive, telecommunications, industrial, and power backup markets. However,
lead batteries are being challenged by competition from other battery chemistries and
by environmental regulations. Pb is one of the most heavily regulated elements on the
planet even though it has the highest recycling rate of any metal in the world economy
[1]. Production of secondary lead now exceeds primary lead production and lead
batteries currently account for over 80% of the market for Pb. In the USA, recycling
rates of lead batteries exceed 99% [1]. Lead batteries have become a valuable resource
and efficient collection streams and salvage values of the spent lead batteries make
T. W. Ellis · M. A. Drezdzon · T. Hesterberg (B)
RSR Technologies, Inc., 4828 Calvert St., Dallas, TX, USA
e-mail: THesterberg@rsrtechnologies.com
© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2020
A. Siegmund et al. (eds.), PbZn 2020: 9th International Symposium
on Lead and Zinc Processing, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37070-1_47
551
America Corp.
Timothy W. Ellis, Mark A. Drezdzon and Travis Hesterberg
Abstract RSR North America Corp. (RSRNA) is the second largest secondary
lead (Pb) producers in North America with smelting operations in Middletown, NY,
Indianapolis, IN, and City of Industry, CA. Over the last several decades, RSRNA has
focused on sustainability, becoming an industry leader in environmental performance
by the installation of Wet Electrostatic Precipitators (WESPs) at all three operations.
Also, average blood lead levels of plant personnel are well below 10 micrograms
per deciliter, approaching background levels for non-industry personnel. With the
industry’s need to improve Pb battery performance to maintain sustainability in the
marketplace, RSRNA has developed state-of-the-art analytical capabilities, including
Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS), to better quantify key
elements crucial to Pb battery operation. This has led to the development of several
new alloys, including the soft Pb micro-alloyed SUPERSOFT-HYCYCLE
® and the
high-temperature grid alloy 009-PERFORMANCE GRID™, which independently
and together improve batter performance (e.g. cycle life).
Keywords Blood lead (Pb’s) · WESP · Battery · Recycling
Introduction
Lead batteries continue to be the primary rechargeable energy storage technology for
automotive, telecommunications, industrial, and power backup markets. However,
lead batteries are being challenged by competition from other battery chemistries and
by environmental regulations. Pb is one of the most heavily regulated elements on the
planet even though it has the highest recycling rate of any metal in the world economy
[1]. Production of secondary lead now exceeds primary lead production and lead
batteries currently account for over 80% of the market for Pb. In the USA, recycling
rates of lead batteries exceed 99% [1]. Lead batteries have become a valuable resource
and efficient collection streams and salvage values of the spent lead batteries make
T. W. Ellis · M. A. Drezdzon · T. Hesterberg (B)
RSR Technologies, Inc., 4828 Calvert St., Dallas, TX, USA
e-mail: THesterberg@rsrtechnologies.com
© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2020
A. Siegmund et al. (eds.), PbZn 2020: 9th International Symposium
on Lead and Zinc Processing, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37070-1_47
551