Alternatives to asbestos burial are emerging. In Talange (Moselle), the Neutraval unit has mobilized 7.6 million euros of investment in order to bring to the scale of the industrial demonstrator a technology for neutralizing this mineral widely used in construction before its ban in 1997. The Lorraine pilot unit was built as part of the project to convert a former steelworks wasteland led by the Alsatian group Beck. It is the result of close collaboration between De Dietrich Process Systems based in Schiltigheim (Bas-Rhin) and Neutraval, a company that associates the Beck group and APPI (Alsace Process and industrial projects).
Five test batches of 50 to 70 kg
At the end of three years of R&D, Frédéric Guichard, Development Director at De Dietrich Process Systems, believes he has demonstrated that “the chemical treatment process effectively neutralizes asbestos waste”. In total, five test batches of 50 to 70 kg each were produced from fiber cement boards, one of the most widely used asbestos products. After preliminary sorting and grinding steps, the boards were immersed in a sulfuric acid bath.
The project received €2.3 million in support in the form of grants and repayable advances through the Future Investment Program. It is one of three demonstrators for the chemical treatment of asbestos supported by the State alongside the northern start-up Valame and the Colas-Orano-Ajelis consortium.
The Talange demonstrator has reached the end of three years of research and development — Photo: De Dietrich Process Systems
Valorize co-products at the process output
De Dietrich Process Systems (1,400 employees, consolidated turnover of 300 million euros) estimates that the construction of a plant should represent between 15 and 20 million euros of investment for a processing capacity of 10 to 15,000 tons of waste per year. Faced with these significant capital requirements and numerous economic and regulatory uncertainties, one of the keys will be to maximize the recovery of the co-products generated by the destruction of asbestos fibers. The co-products from the solid phase (gypsum and anhydrite) could be used in the construction industry, while the magnesium contained in the liquid phase would be of interest to the aeronautics or automobile industries.
An alternative to the plasma torch
The first factory could be launched by Paul Poggi, the holder of the patent used in the Talange demonstrator. The French inventor launched a new company in France last May called Neva Process, which aims to raise the funds needed for the industrialization phase. As a manufacturer of industrial equipment, De Dietrich Process Systems would not be in the business of operating a factory, but rather of building one.
It will be difficult to compete with landfill if prices remain between €100 and €400 per tonne. On the other hand, chemical treatment should have a lower cost and energy balance than plasma torch vitrification (around €1,500 per tonne), a technology promoted by Inertam (Europlasma group) on its Landes site.
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