Pontenossa S.p.A. took part in DTMI 2025 – the International Workshop “Ing. Carlo Longaretti” on Digital Tools for the Metallurgical Industry, held on November 27–28, 2025 in Bergamo.
The workshop organized by AIM, the Italian Association for Metallurgy, focuses on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Computational Simulation for the metallurgical sector, bringing together academia and industry to accelerate the digital transformation of metals processing.

During the workshop, we presented how Pontenossa is transforming the Waelz process - the Best Available Technique for zinc recovery from Electric Arc Furnace Dust (EAFD) - into a data-driven and digitally optimized operational system.

This transformation is achieved through the integration of thermodynamic and reaction mass balance models with kinetic and heat-transfer models, on the basis of which we developed machine-learning algorithms capable of capturing complex correlations between historical plant data and chemical analysis data.

The result is an artificial intelligence tool able to provide operational recommendations on optimal process parameters to achieve a more stable operation, lower carbon footprint and flux usage, and higher zinc recoveries, while transforming hazardous waste into valuable zinc oxide—fully aligned with circular-economy and sustainability goals.

Pontenossa’s participation in DTMI 2025 reaffirms our commitment to driving digital innovation in metallurgical processes.