• Engitec industrial recycling process allows up to 100 percent of lead-acid batteries to be recycled, contributing to a circular economy model.      
• The core business is the tailoring of dedicated solutions and design and manufacturing of complete plants for the recovery of lead-acid batteries and other non-ferrous materials from both primary and secondary sources, such as scrap, process slag and dross, other wastes, as well as primary ore concentrates.        
• Their mission is studying and developing innovative processes and equipment for enhancing the Circular Economy through the reclamation of several industrial wastages, keeping the safeguard of the environment as top priority.        
• Engitec motto THINKING GLOBALLY/ACTING GREEN is particularly suited to the global challenges facing our society. Engitec designs lead-acid battery recycling plants and supplies a complete range of equipment for processing lead-acid battery scrap and for lead production. 
• Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. It involves collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be discarded as trash, and then transforming them into new products. Recycling helps, not only to minimize solid waste in landfills, which can be expensive and harmful to the environment, but also to take advantage of the so-called “bank of energy”. In fact, whenever we have a scrap to be treated and recovered, we should not forget that the enormous amount of energy that is required to go from the mineral to lead (in this case) is already contained in the scrap to be recovered.     
• In particular the recycling of lead-acid batteries is important both for material recovery and for the protection of hazardous materials in the environment. Lead-acid batteries currently dominate the market, accounting for more than 47 percent of the share. However, their recycling process is essential because of potential toxic materials. 

Engitec entrusts the total automation and process instrumentation in its battery recycling plants to products from Siemens.  
The recycling plant provides automation, process control, handling and coordination of the following major Units: 

• CX BREAKER SECTION 
• SMELTING UNITS 
• REFINERY EQUIPMENT 
• LEAD CASTING MACHINES 
• FILTRATION SYSTEM 

The Plant can be advantageously completed with DESULPHURIZATION UNIT, CRYSTALLIZATION STATION and other additional units for enhancing the overall OpEx of the whole process.  
The products used to achieve the main goal of this project are:

• Automation Systems of the S7 1500 family with the ET200SP decentralized peripherals provide for the complete automation, control, and coordination of the machines; 
• SINAMICS S120 drives for the handling, the control and regulation of the processes by means of SIEMENS instrumentation, such as SITRANS P320 pressure transmitters and Milltronics MSI weighing bridges. 

This type of plant involves the use of dynamic weighing systems to calculate the flow of the batteries on the conveyor belts to the mills (BREAKER EQUIPMENT). This flow measurement is important to optimize the shredding process, saving energy and extending the life of the machine. The technical features of the Milltronics MSI weighing bridges allow them to be used in an environment with a strong presence of acids and non-constant conveyor belt loads. The batteries on conveyor could change from domestic AA batteries to fork lift batteries. The choice of the MSI weighing systems and the WS300 speed sensor in AISI 316 stainless steel and the overload protection of up to 300% of the nominal load of the load cells allow the technical requirements to be met. The SIWAREX WT241 complete the measure architecture and is used as weighing terminal for belt scales, Siemens standard components are installed in a stainless-steel enclosure with numerous connection options.