552
T. W. Ellis et al.
the recycling process economically profitable and sustainable. RSR North America
(RSRNA) is the second largest secondary Pb producer in North America, with three
smelting operations in the USA.
Environmental Management in Smelting Operations
Lead smelting operations in worldwide are under enhanced scrutiny by government
regulations, with standards becoming more and more strict in certain areas of the
USA and the world. Environmental management is an ever-growing challenge to the
lead smelting industry and is an important factor for those operating the smelters,
the employees who work in the facilities and the communities around them. Minimization of the exposure of Pb to the workforce and to the environment are issues of
extremely high importance to RSR North America and an area where large amounts of
effort and capital have been placed on facility improvements to ensure sustainability
of the circular economy of Pb.
RSRNA smelters have achieved world class blood lead levels and are among those
with the lowest Pb emission levels of any smelting operation. All three smelting
facilities in the USA have now installed Wet Electrostatic Precipitators (WESP) in
their off-gas stream. Each facility produces over 120 kilo tons of Pb metal and Pb
alloys each year and has achieved a total Pb process emission of <5 lb per year. The
WESP technology utilizes an aqueous aerosol to capture particulate from the off-gas
stream after conventional bag house filtration. The aerosol particles with absorbed
species (i.e. Pb and As) are then removed electrostatically. The electrostatic chambers
are washed down and the resulting aqueous solution is reused in process or sent to the
on-site water treatment facility for processing. Capital cost of the WESP equipment
is quite high, about 25–30 million USD. However, without this technology in place
meeting the strict air emission requirements in the USA and specifically in the state
of California would be very difficult if not impossible. Figure 1 shows the recent
history of Pb ambient on-site monitor levels from the City of Industry, CA smelter.
Much effort has been focused on improving employee hygiene in the smelters to
reduce blood Pb levels in the workforce. Each of RSRNA’s smelting operations has
shown a continual reduction in blood Pb over the last decade. Through monitoring
of employee hygiene, improved safety practices, and increased point of source ventilation in the Pb handling facilities, average blood Pb averages have been reduced to
<10 ug/dL. Efforts are ongoing to continue to further improve this reduction in blood
Pb levels, in hopes of making the smelter workforce’s blood Pb levels indistinguishable from those of non-exposed adults in the general population. Figure 2 shows the
reduction trend in average blood lead levels per smelter over the last decade.
Ensuring safe and responsible recycling of Pb batteries is and will continue to
be a major goal of RSRNA’s smelters. Responsible recycling starts with proper
battery collection and shipment to the smelter. Nearly, 25% of spent lead batteries
collected in the USA are exported to other countries for recycling in order to avoid
the strict environmental regulations in place in the USA. This is a practice that should
T. W. Ellis et al.
the recycling process economically profitable and sustainable. RSR North America
(RSRNA) is the second largest secondary Pb producer in North America, with three
smelting operations in the USA.
Environmental Management in Smelting Operations
Lead smelting operations in worldwide are under enhanced scrutiny by government
regulations, with standards becoming more and more strict in certain areas of the
USA and the world. Environmental management is an ever-growing challenge to the
lead smelting industry and is an important factor for those operating the smelters,
the employees who work in the facilities and the communities around them. Minimization of the exposure of Pb to the workforce and to the environment are issues of
extremely high importance to RSR North America and an area where large amounts of
effort and capital have been placed on facility improvements to ensure sustainability
of the circular economy of Pb.
RSRNA smelters have achieved world class blood lead levels and are among those
with the lowest Pb emission levels of any smelting operation. All three smelting
facilities in the USA have now installed Wet Electrostatic Precipitators (WESP) in
their off-gas stream. Each facility produces over 120 kilo tons of Pb metal and Pb
alloys each year and has achieved a total Pb process emission of <5 lb per year. The
WESP technology utilizes an aqueous aerosol to capture particulate from the off-gas
stream after conventional bag house filtration. The aerosol particles with absorbed
species (i.e. Pb and As) are then removed electrostatically. The electrostatic chambers
are washed down and the resulting aqueous solution is reused in process or sent to the
on-site water treatment facility for processing. Capital cost of the WESP equipment
is quite high, about 25–30 million USD. However, without this technology in place
meeting the strict air emission requirements in the USA and specifically in the state
of California would be very difficult if not impossible. Figure 1 shows the recent
history of Pb ambient on-site monitor levels from the City of Industry, CA smelter.
Much effort has been focused on improving employee hygiene in the smelters to
reduce blood Pb levels in the workforce. Each of RSRNA’s smelting operations has
shown a continual reduction in blood Pb over the last decade. Through monitoring
of employee hygiene, improved safety practices, and increased point of source ventilation in the Pb handling facilities, average blood Pb averages have been reduced to
<10 ug/dL. Efforts are ongoing to continue to further improve this reduction in blood
Pb levels, in hopes of making the smelter workforce’s blood Pb levels indistinguishable from those of non-exposed adults in the general population. Figure 2 shows the
reduction trend in average blood lead levels per smelter over the last decade.
Ensuring safe and responsible recycling of Pb batteries is and will continue to
be a major goal of RSRNA’s smelters. Responsible recycling starts with proper
battery collection and shipment to the smelter. Nearly, 25% of spent lead batteries
collected in the USA are exported to other countries for recycling in order to avoid
the strict environmental regulations in place in the USA. This is a practice that should