Inventory assessment of the cleaning of plant off-gas in the recovery process of PGM at the Anglo American Platinum LTD, South Africa

The cleaning of off-gas in the process of producing platinum group metals and the conversion of highly concentrated Sulphur dioxide (SO2) to sulfuric acid (H2SO4) are crucial in the current discussions for attempting to reduce emissions in the entire process of mining platinum metals in South Africa. Emissions of SO2 gas into the atmosphere became a concern lately in the production of PGM which are seen as metals to contribute to clean and renewable energy technology. SO2 emissions are measured in terms of tons per day in the production process of PGM. This fact brought forth more considerations in reengineering process of handling and cleaning off-gas in plant operations. This fact brought out more considerations in the reconsideration of the engineering process of the production of PGM and cleaning of off-gas in plant operations. This paper further examined solutions provided in terms of processes and resources used to handle and clean off-gas, as well as converting SO2 to H2SO4. Life cycle inventory tools were used for consideration and conclusions were drawn based on the results with emissions identified