Patent ID: 7431826

Claim:
A process for recovering waste FCC equilibrium catalyst, wherein the magnetic susceptibility of the catalyst is less than about 4.5×10 −6 emu/g, the process comprising: a. transporting the FCC equilibrium catalyst from an FCC operation to a site located apart from the FCC operation; b. transferring the catalyst to a receiving means for processing into at least one separation device; wherein each separation device comprises: (i) a plurality of magnets, wherein the plurality of magnets operates with sufficient speed to impart momentum energy to particles of the FCC equilibrium catalyst and wherein each magnet is at least about 6 inches in diameter so that particles moving past the plurality of magnets are exposed to a magnetic separation force generated by the plurality of magnets for a longer time relative to magnets of smaller diameter; and (ii) a belt; c. separating the catalyst into a discard fraction, having higher metals content and lower activity, and a recovered fraction, having low metals content, the separating step comprising the steps of: (i) passing a thin layer of catalyst through the separation device at a belt speed sufficient to produce a fan-shaped distribution leaving the belt; whereby the higher magnetic particles of the FCC equilibrium catalyst adhere to the belt; (ii) adjusting a splitter into the fan-shaped distribution to capture the discard fraction; and (iii) gravity feeding the recovered fraction into a receiving means; and d. transferring the recovered fraction for reuse.