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By Youn-Bae Kang

In order to overcome weak points of steel for its engineering applications, in particular, for environmentally benign, energy-efficient, lightweight engineering systems, a number of new steels have been proposed, especially to improve strength-to-weight ratio (specific strength). Mass production of these steels, however, has encountered a serious roadblock particularly in the steel refining and casting processes. This is because their chemistries and cleanliness requirements are vastly different from those of the conventional steels, and thus an incremental improvement of the prevailing process technologies is found hard to meet the requirements. In this study, a new process is proposed, which employs inert gas bubbles in the shroud nozzle, liquid steel drops in the degassing chamber, and the siphon transport for continuous casting. The proposed process which integrates the final refining and cleaning steps prior to casting is expected to be a technologically disruptive innovation on the conventional counterpart. The effectiveness of the individual steps is discussed with experimental results.

By Bingyi Bai, Lifeng Yang, Yanling Guo, Jieyu Zhang, Guoding Gao

In terms of special resources with iron, niobium and rare earth coexisting in Baiyuneboite, the new smelting technology of ferrocolumbite was studied. Reduction experients for the Baiyuneboite and explores ore phase change of Baiyuneboite in the process of reduction was conducted with graphitic carbon as the main reducer and a temperature below 1000 ℃. Moreover, it studies the influence of reducer, roasting temperature and grind fineness on the reduction as well as focuses on the evolution course of iron phase. Through the analysis on in-situ XRD of the raw ore and carbon addition ore, it also develops microstructure change rules of Fe ore phase and ore phase of paragenetic elements for composite ore(Ca, Si, Nb, F) in the process of reduction roasting. In addition, the impacts of temperature on the reduction process are also discussed. With regard to minerals of different particle sizes, the thesis will explore their ore phase changes and microstructures after 10 hours’ reduction under 900 ℃.

Jan 1, 2015

By Claudio Toro, Alex Moyano, Jonkion Font, Carlos Caballero, Pedro Morales

"Codelco-Chile in the last decade has carried out industrially-oriented research as an alternative to the traditional batch-type converting process. In a first stage carried out preliminary evaluations in a rearranged Peirce Smith (PS) converter, and then an exploratory test in a “Convertidor Teniente” (Teniente converter, TC) for the Codelco-Chile Continuous Converting Process. However, the validation test for this process in the TC was delayed up to the second quarter of 2007 where the validation studies were done satisfactorily.Thus, the objective of this paper is to present the results of the campaign tests validating the Codelco-Chile Continuous Converting Process in the TC1 of the Codelco Norte smelter.The results of charging the solid or liquid matte or high grade matte (“white metal”) by Garrgun, or by mouth of the 22 m x 5 m TC1 are presented. Some features of the industrially validated process are discussed, and the pilot test results of the matte injection are also presented."

Jan 1, 2009

By Jianxin Zhang

A process, in which arsenic in the residue is transformed directly into scorodite and copper dissolves into the solution simultaneously, was studied. The process was carried out in acidic ferrous sulfate solution under oxygen pressure. The optimum conditions of the process were determined as follows: the initial H2SO4 concentration of 10 g/L; liquid/solid ratio of 10; Fe/As molar ratio in the feedstock of 1; the addition of calcium lignosulphonate was 1% of sludge; oxygen pressure, temperature and reaction time were 1.5 MPa, 150 °C and 6 h, respectively. Under these conditions, arsenic transformed to crystalline scorodite in size of 5–10 μm, and the transformation efficiency reached 97.60%; meanwhile, the copper was leached with a high efficiency of 93.34%. The stability of the leaching residue was evaluated by TCLP testing, and the results indicated the concentration of arsenic in the leaching solution was extremely low as 0.04 mg/L and met the standard of safe stockpile.

By O. P. Pandey, Rama Arora, Gurmel Singh, Suresh Kumar

The tribological behavior of Dual Particles Size (DPS) rutile reinforced LM13 alloy composite was investigated under varying applied pressure from 125 kPa to 625 kPa at a constant sliding speed of 1.6 m/s. In the present studies, 15 wt.% of rutile particles of different sizes (50-75 μm and 106-125 μm) are reinforced in the Al-12Si alloy (LM13) by liquid metallurgy route. Microhardness of the prepared samples was measured in different phases. Microstructure, wear mechanism and surface morphology of the wear surfaces and debris was observed under optical and scanning electron microscope. The change in wear behavior has been explained with reference to the observed EDS analysis of the wear track and debris. However, an interesting change in wear feature, mild to severe wear transition at critical pressure was noticed in wear behavior of the composite. The Al-DPS composite has immense potential to be used as a component material for tribological applications.

Jan 1, 2015

By Rajashekhar Marthi

Lithium is a key component for future electric vehicle batteries and energy storage. The future availability of lithium to meet the growing demands remains in question. Around 60% of lithium resources exist in the form of continental brines. Traditional methods to recover lithium from brines use solar concentration with precipitation and have found limitations in lithium extraction due to interference of Mg in high Mg/Li brines. Thus, there is a need for highly selective adsorbents. Recently, spinel structured delithiated lithium manganese oxides have demonstrated promising results. However, due to the small particle sizes, it is economically difficult to recover the adsorbents and thereby limits industrial applications. In our work, LiMn2O4 ion sieve was synthesized and immobilized on diatomaceous earth. Fundamental adsorption studies were carried out in lithium buffer solutions to understand the nature of adsorption and kinetics. The adsorbents were also tested for recycle stability, as well as recovery of lithium from Great Salt Lake water samples.

By A. Navarra

Within conventional copper and nickel-copper sulfide smelters, ladles of molten matte are fed into converters. These converters blast oxygen-enriched air into the matte, thereby eliminating iron and sulfur. The converting reactions are exothermic and, indeed, the converter heat balance is often a limiting consideration on the smelter throughput. If a portion of the matte were fed in solidified (granulated) form, this would support higher oxygen enrichment, and lower volumes of converter offgas, allowing higher throughput. This approach is not applied in conventional smelters, partly because of the copious amounts of water that must be evaporated in typical granulators, as in the Kennecott-Outotec process. The current paper recalls a waterless matte granulator that had been pioneered in the 1990’s, and is applicable to conventional smelters. A mathematical formulation is presented that can be used in the context of simulation-based optimization, to estimate the size and impact of waterless matte granulation.

By Zhijing Zhang

The management of hazardous wastes is important in a society which is increasingly concerned with environmental issues. Incinerators such as the slagging rotary kiln are widely used in the treatment of hazardous wastes. However, in order to assure a smooth operation of the rotary kiln, the melt should have both a low melting point and high fluidity. In this study, the fluidity of various hazardous waste rotary kiln slags was measured in terms of length of flow using the crucible test technique. It was found that the slags have melting points ranging from 1372 to 1424°C while their fluidities varied from 61-102 mm. The effect of addition of oxides on the fluidity of a slag containing 47 wt% SiO2 was also investigated. For this slag, additions of SiO2 (up to 56 wt%), FeO and Na20 increased fluidity, whereas the addition of CaO and A1203 resulted in lower fluidity values.

Jan 1, 2002

By Amir Rehmat

The Institute of Gas Technology has developed a fluidized-bed process for recovering direct reduced iron from blast furnace flue dust a material currently considered to be a waste from the iron and steel industry. In the process, a portion of the carbon in the flue dust is combusted to supply energy for the endothermic reaction between carbon and steam. The reaction produces reducing gases comprised of carbon monoxide and hydrogen both of which react with iron oxides to produce reduced iron. Up to 95 percent of the iron oxides contained in the waste stream can be reduced to elemental iron. The vitiated reducing gases emanating from the process can be used as fuel in the plant. The yield of iron depends upon the quantity of iron oxide present in the flue dust and generally ranges from 20 to 30 percent of the waste stream. The investment cost estimated for a single processing train dedicated to one steel plant can be recovered in less than one year.

Jan 1, 1996

By A. V. Tarasov

Based on the data available in the literature and the practical experience of new metallurgical plants, a method has been proposed and relevant studies conducted for metallurgical processing of zinc sulfide concentrates. Process conditions and parameters have been identified, which ensure high levels of recovery of zinc into solution. This is achieved by leaching concentrates under the normal pressure at a temperature of >90°C in the presence of ferric iron ions. Sulfide sulfur is converted to elemental sulfur in this process. To produce elemental sulfur it is necessary to maintain oxidizing conditions in the system, characterized by a positive Eh value. In order to eliminate the interfering effect of elemental sulfur formed in the process, it is possible to add surfactants into the concentrate pulp. The proposed technology has certain advantages as compared with the high-temperature pressure leaching and is considered as a basic technology to be applied to increase zinc production at one of the Russian zinc plants.

Jan 1, 2006

By M. Giunti, R. Hampson, S. Gray, P. Kapoulitsas, J. Clark

In 1997 Pasminco's Port Pirie Lead Smelter began a modernisation of its lead and precious metals refinery operations. Driven by the anticipated closure of its Broken Hill mine, the new refining process replaced the locally developed continuous process, which had been in operation since the 1950's. Commissioning of the new plant was staged, beginning in late 1997, and finishing early in 1999. The new plant provides for batch refining of lead, and the use of vacuum induction retorting and bottom blown oxygen cupel technology in the silver refining area. The project has resulted in an increase of lead production capacity of 11% and allows the treatment of a wider range of concentrates than was formerly possible. The most significant change has been to double the smelter's silver capacity to over 400 tonnes per annum. This paper describes the successful implementation and optimisation of the new refinery, which is now consistently meeting design capacity.

Jan 1, 2000

By G. Roy Chaudhury

Adsorption techniques are comparatively low cost and effective for treatment of arsenic contaminated drinking water. Various adsorbents such as alumina, ferrihydrite and manganese ores have been used, but there has been little investigation of modifying the structure of ferrihydrite to improve its adsorptive efficiency of As(III) and As(V). In the present study the incorporation of manganese oxide into the ferrihydrite structure was carried out and the prepared materials used in arsenic adsorption experiments. The compounds were X-ray amorphous, but TGA/DTA and FTIR analysis showed some structural characteristics. Sorption studies reported in this paper indicate the excellent arsenic removal properties of the manganese/iron compounds with a loading capacity of 0.3 mmol/g. Adsorption follows first order kinetics and the results fitted to adsorption and mass transfer models. Arsenic levels in water containing 1 mg/L As(V) were reduced by 50% in 20 minutes and 90% in 60 minutes using 1 g/L manganic ferric oxyhydroxide.

Jan 1, 2003

By O. I. Platonov

The experience that has been gained by MMC ?Norilsk Nickel? at its Trans-Polar Division (PD) operations since 1981 in the field of recovery of elemental sulfur from off-gas generated by the Vanyukov and flash smelting through its reduction by natural gas is briefly outlined in the present paper. The key challenge the operators treating off-gas originated from autogenous smelting are usually faced with is the presence of sulphur trioxide in it. Furthermore, air inflows along the entire gas flue increase oxygen concentration in off-gas, thus leading to over-consumption of the reducer (natural gas). Another issue attached to the methane technology is a low yield of hydrogen sulphide largely preventing efficient downstream Claus conversion of the gas. The new flowsheet for treatment of autogenous smelting off-gases including dry dust-cleaning followed by the gas reduction in homogenous reactor developed by OAO Gipronickel Institute on the basis of industrial-scale production of elemental sulfur in Norilsk is presented.

Jan 1, 2006

By Ian M. Ritchie

Right across the universities of the developed world, the traditional disciplines of physics and chemistry are losing ground. Extractive metallurgy, which depends so heavily on chemistry, is also contracting despite a clear need for people with this kind of training in the mining industry. Reasons for this loss of popularity are discussed in this paper. High on the list is one of image. The extraction of metals is widely seen as a dirty, polluting, sunset industry which involves working in remote and uncomfortable corners of the earth for inadequate compensation. Ways in which the image problem can be overcome are considered. It is concluded that a concerted effort needs to be made by the universities and industry to redress this situation. The importance of extractive metallurgy, both now and in the future, when a greater emphasis will be placed on sustainability and recycling, needs to be stressed. In addition, courses need to incorporate training for a career path that leads on beyond extractive metallurgy.

Jan 1, 2003

By Tong Deng

Clean processing of copper converter slags for reclaiming cobalt and copper could be a challenge. An innovative and environmentally benign approach for recovering metal values from such a slag was developed in the present work. Curing the slag with sulfuric acid, without re-smelting or roasting as currently practiced in the industry, made it amenable to leaching, and more than 95% of the cobalt and up to 90% of the copper was extracted, together with iron, by water leaching, leaving silica behind in a residue. Copper in the leach liquor was recovered by cementation with iron, and the dissolved iron crystallized as ferrous sulfate monohydrate. Cobalt in the pregnant solution rich in iron was recovered by either cementation or sulfide precipitation. Chemical and mineralogical characterization of the slag and its products were examined and compared to determine the nature of the changes occurring during curing and leaching. Operating variables were also investigated and optimized.

Jan 1, 2003

By Freddy Syvertsen, Ali Riza Tarakcilar, Engin Tan, Derya Dispinar

"It has been shown that the disturbance of the advancing liquid front in the mould cavity may lead to surface entrained defects known as bifilms. These defects can deteriorate the mechanical properties significantly. The developments in the simulation of castings aid many casters. It is quick and economical. Therefore in this work, the aim was targeted to optimise the mould filling of a tensile test pattern design that is used for aluminium alloys. Several different designs, gatings and runner systems were investigated with Vulcan Casting Simulation Software. In addition to the achievement of non-turbulent and quiescent mould filling; other parameters such as temperature profile, porosity and feeding were investigated to optimise the process.IntroductionConsiderable effort has gone into understanding and controlling defects that are formed in aluminium and its alloys during casting. The conventional approach was the elimination of porosity by eliminating hydrogen in the melt simply due to the following reaction:"

Jan 1, 2012

By E. Burgos Cruz

The behaviour of S, N and P during refining of Fe-18 wt%Cr-10 wt%Ni with calcium carbide was investigated. The effects of the initial contents of C and N in the metal phase, as well as the supply method of calcium carbide to the melt on the removal degrees of S and P were evaluated. Heats were carried out at 1873K, in MgO crucibles, using a laboratory induction furnace. It was observed that simultaneously with S and P, N and O have also participated in the reactions. It seems that, in fact, O governs the behaviour of the other elements dissolved in the melt and that N is had to the removal of P with calcium carbide. It was also noticed that high C content in the metal phase have not altered the dephosphorization and desuffirization degrees, but that the supply of calcium carbide done by injection led to a lower dephosphorization degree than the one obtained by dumping it.

Jan 1, 1995

By Toshihiro Tanaka

The information on viscosity and surface tension of molten slag is indispensable to design new refining procedures in ferrous and non-ferrous processes. For example, the authors have tried to develop "Capillary Refining" to remove impurities in liquid metals by applying capillary absorption of molten slag with those impurities into solid fluxes which have a lot of small capillary tubes. It is necessary to adjust the above physico-chemical properties to adequate conditions on the capillary penetration. In the present paper, we discuss our recent trial to predict surface tension and viscosity of molten slag in multi-component systems. We have derived a thermodynamic model to predict the surface tension of molten slag by using ionic size, molar volume and surface tension of pure components. In addition, we have applied neural network computation to evaluate the viscosity of molten slag. We found good agreement of the calculated results with experimental values of the surface tension as well as the viscosity in various slag systems.

Jan 1, 2006

By Himaki Nakano, Kenji Hara, Toshiaki Tsuru, Shunsuke Kawano, Takeshi Ohgai, Hisaaki Fukushima, Shigeo Kobayashi, Tetsuya Akiyama

"Electrodeposition of Fe-Ni and Zn-Ni alloys from aqueous solutions is one of the well-known examples of anomalous codeposition in which less noble metal deposits preferentially. In this paper, the electrodeposition behavior of these alloy systems was compared between the methanol and aqueous baths. In Fe-Ni system, the significant suppression of the deposition rate of more noble Ni was observed over a wide range of electrolysis conditions in both methanol and aqueous baths. However, the electrodeposition of Zn-Ni alloys showed the typical feature of normal type codeposition in the methanol baths, which was completely different from that in aqueous sulfate baths. The difference in the electrodeposition mechanism between Fe-Ni and Zn-Ni alloys was discussed on the basis of the alloy deposition behavior in the baths in which the activity of water was varied:INTRODUCTION'It has been well known that Fe-Ni alloys show an excellent soft magnetic property. Therefore, thin films of this alloy have been used to fabricate the'-various magnetic devices. For the production of Fe-Ni thin films, dry processes such as sputtering, PVD and CVD are 'employed frequently and the resulting films showed a preferable property as a magnetic material. Electrolyses as a production technique of thin films, on the other hand, has the advantage over other processes in its cheaper production cost due to the simplicity of the production unit The Zn-iron-group metal alloys such as Zn-Ni and Zn-Fe electrodeposited on a steel sheet ale known to exhibit excellent corrosion resistance and therefore the electrodeposition of these, alloys has been applied to the production of surface treated steel sheets mainly for automotive body panels.According to Brenner (1), the electrodeposition behavior of Fe-Ni and Zn-Ni alloys was' classified into the' 'anomalous type. In this type of codeposition, less noble metal, i.e. Fe for Fe-Ni and Zn for Zn-Ni system, deposits preferentially and the change in -the alloy composition- with the variation of electrolysis conditions was unpredictable because of their obscure deposition mechanism. Since most properties of the alloys mainly depend on their composition, the composition of the deposited' alloys must be controlled strictly. Therefore, it is neces5al)' to clarify the mechanism of anomalous codepasition in Fe-Ni and Zn-Ni systems: Several mechanisms have been proposed so fur, and among them the hydroxide .suppression mechanism (2), (3) has been regarded most plauslble depend on their composition, the composition of the deposited' alloys must be controlled strictly. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the mechanism of anomalous codeposition in Fe-Ni and Zn-Ni systems: Several mechanisms have been proposed so far, and among them the hydroxide suppression mechanism (2), (3) has been regarded most plausible. According to this mechanism, it can be predicted that the codeposition behavior depends greatly on the characteristic of water solvent in this study, using methanol as a solvent, the electrodeposition behavior of the anomalous codeposition was investigated to discuss the validity of the hydroxide suppression mechanism."

Jan 1, 2000

By M. F. Hochella

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis have been used to study the mode of occurrence and mineral associations of gold in partially oxidized high grade gold ore from the Carlin sediment-hosted deposit. Rounded.gold particles have been observed that range in size from 0.03 to 0.1 p.m (300 to 1000 A) in diameter. The gold is associated with maghemite h-Fep3l and a K-Al-Si-bearing phase that is suspected to be illite. Detailed descriptions of gold and its mineral associations in 'Carlin-type' gold deposits are critical not only to understanding the mechanism of fluid transport and precipitation of gold, but also to developing improved metallurgical techniques for the recovery of gold from refractory ore. Direct observation of gold in unoxidized ore is rare due to its relatively high degree of dissemination and low average bulk concentration which averages 9 ppm according to Radtke (1). Hausen and Kerr (2) observed 1 to 5 p.m grains of gold directly in oxidized ore but these microscopically visible particles account for only a small percentage of gold present in the ore. The samples used in this study were selected from individual beds of high grade, partially oxidized ore (4.55 oz/ton or 156 ppm gold) that were collected in the Main pit of the Carlin mine. The samples were collected from several thinly laminated carbonate micrite beds within the top 50 meters of the Roberts Mountains Formation. The carbonate micrite has been altered by hydrothermal fluids to a calcite-absent, moderately silicified rock referred to as alteration zone #3 by Bakken and Einaudi (3). Based on petrographic and SEM studies, the samples contain carbonaceous matter, and both pyrite and iron oxide pseudomorphs after pyrite. The oxidation of pyrite may be a pro-duct of deep weathering, in which case limited remobilization of gold may have occurred. TEM sections of the rock were prepared by first embedding small chips in low viscosity epoxy. The epoxy blocks were cut with a Reichert Ultracut E ultramicrotome, producing thin sections less than 0.1 p.m thick. The sections were examined with a Phil-lips 400ST TEM at 120 keV in both imaging and selected area diffraction modes. Native golci*was easily detected in TEM bright field images due to the large electron density contrast between gold and all other phases that are present (Figs. 1 and 2), Gold was positively identified with high spatial resolution EDX analysis in the transmission electron microscope, although selected area diffraction of individual grains was not successful EDX analyses of the platy and massive minerals immediately surrounding the gold particles typically indicate the presence of Si, AI, K, and Fe, However, the d-spacings derived from selected area diffraction of these polycrystalline masses (as, for example, in Fig. 2) give an exact match for maghemite. As a result, there is no diffraction information to identify the K-AI-Si-bearing phase(s). The lack of a diffraction pattern could be due to either electron beam damage or to a poorly crystalline phase(s).

Jan 1, 1987