Apparatus for platinum group metals recovery from spent catalysts

An apparatus for recovery of platinum group metals from a spent catalyst comprising:

• a housing;
• a chlorination reactor with a reaction zone;
• a catalyst particulate material inlet port located in the housing of the apparatus and configured to deliver catalyst particulate material into the chlorination reactor;
• a chlorine-containing gas inlet port located in the housing of the apparatus, connected to the chlorination reactor;
• a heater;
• an electromagnetic inductor inside the chlorination reactor or connected to the chlorination reactor;
• and
• a platinum group metal-containing vapor outlet port, and one or more corresponding cooling manifolds through which a platinum group metal-containing vapor is released from said reaction zone, wherein the platinum group metal-containing vapor outlet port and the one or more corresponding cooling manifolds are connected to the chlorination reactor;
• wherein the catalyst particulate material is fed into said catalyst particulate material inlet port and is treated with chlorine containing gas from said chlorination reactor at a predetermined temperature by said heater, providing a chemical reaction between said chlorine-containing gas and the platinum group metals in the catalyst particulate material to yield a volatile platinum group metal-containing chloride product;
• wherein said catalyst particulate material inlet port and said chlorine-containing gas inlet port are configured to direct the catalyst particulate material and the chlorine-containing gas, respectively, into said chlorination reactor;
• wherein said heater is in the chlorination reactor and in contact with catalyst particulate material which is fed from the catalyst particulate material inlet port;
• and
• wherein said electromagnetic inductor is configured to apply an electromagnetic field in the range of 50 kHz to 12 GHz to a chlorine-containing gas mixture in said chlorination reactor.