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By A. Gibson

Most methods for the treatment of scrap printed circuit boards do not reclaim the components in working order as the boards are either fed to a copper smelter, to recover the valuable elements, or, simply landfilled. This work reports the dissolution of the solder in fluoroboric acid containing Ti4+ ions which was particularly selective for solder, allowing the components to be recovered. The solder was subsequently electrowon from the leachant. The boards were then shredded and the copper dissolved in ammonium sulfate and, then treated via solvent extraction to give an electrolyte suitable for electrowinning. The remainder of the metals were dissolved aqua regia, silver remained unattacked by the aqua regia, palladium precipitated as Pd(NH4)Cl6 in the presence of zinc and nickel, the gold was removed by solvent extraction and precipitated as nanoparticles. The aqua regia was then diluted and the zinc and nickel separated by solvent extraction.

Jan 1, 2009

By Wenjie Zhu

Chromite ore processing residue (COPR) is a hazardous waste containing high concentration of chromium. We describe here a pioneer trial of detoxification of COPR in column reactor with an indigenous chromate reducing bacterium Leucobacter sp. Ch1, which showed high chromate reducing ability at high pH. Under the optimum conditions, at 30°C and pH 10.0, pH of leachate decreased from 10.3 to 8.3, and Cr(VI) concentration in solution decreased to zero mg L-1, and 76.4% of Cr(VI) was removed from COPR samples. The leaching toxicity of detoxified residue was 1.1 mg L-1 that was lower than national standard of China.

Jan 1, 2008

By Richard S. Dennis

Acid recovery employs ion exchange (I-X) resin as separation media for inorganic acids from dissolved metallic salts by physical adsorption and without the use of chemicals. This technology has been used for years on spent etching and plating liquors to recover acid for reuse in the bath and to reduce waste acid neutralization costs. It is also used for electrolyte treatment to facilitate valuable metal recovery via acidity reduction. TETRA's ccrxr'" I-X contactor has been used successfully for acid separation from its metallic salt counterpart in a simple, continuous operating mode using strong base anion resins. Efficient separation is enhanced by acid reconcentration to nearly its original strength or as high as 14-20%. Continuous treatment also recovers heat to the tankhouse or bath and improves metal quality due to consistent acid quality. Conventional fixed bed ion exchange (I-X) systems are impractical for acid recovery because of complex control design and large resin inventories needed to process very low liquid-to-resin treatment ratios associated with strong acid concentrations.

Jan 1, 1996

By M. R. Jolly, J. -C. Gebelin

"A number of different types of so-called ""filters"" are used in the metal casting industries to impart some cleaning effect and flow control on the liquid metal as it passes through them. The filters range from simple planar meshes through extruded channels to reticulated foam structures and they are manufactured from a range of material going from metals to glass or ceramics. It is most common that software packages used in the industry model the filters by a simple pressure drop associated with some area fraction and permeability parameters.Recent experimental work at the IRC in Birmingham [1] has shown that filters of the same type can behave very differently depending upon the casting process in which they are employed. Modelling filter geometries for a range of different casting processes has indicated that the flow of metal and heat losses through the filters are rather complex and should be considered when using filters in the casting processes. This paper will present a number of cases of different types of filters modelled and different processes and indicate some of the sensitivities of the processes to boundary conditions imposed by the process.IntroductionFilters are commonly used in the foundry industry. The real action of the filters on the liquid metal is not really understood. Some filters are claimed to have a chemical action on the liquid metal or to be able to clean the metal by stopping the impurities or oxides that will result in inclusions in the cast part. However, some recent experiment carried out at the University of Birmingham in investment casting and results available on sand casting [2] have shown that the action of filters may be different in these two processes. As the main difference between these two processes is the mould temperature, the hypothesis of a partial solidification of the metal in the filter occurring in the sand casting process during the primary stage of the filling has been advanced, whereas there is little or no solidification in investment casting. In order to verify this hypothesis, and to reach a better understanding of how filters work, a numerical investigation of the flow and heat transfer in filters in both sand and investment casting has started at the University of Birmingham, in the framework of the FOCAST project. The FOCAST project is an EPSRC project aimed to increase the understanding of the investment casting process. Another issue is the way the simulation packages predict the influence of the filters on the metal flow. The filters are most of the time modelled as porous obstacles characterised by a pressure drop calculated from porosity and some surface ratios or proprietary coefficients. This paper will present the preliminary results of this numerical investigation. First, the different models that have been used are presented, followed by the obtained results. A discussion of these results and their perspectives conclude the paper."

Jan 1, 2001

By Edgar E. Vidal

The deposition of ceramic materials onto substrates is of special interest in the development of surface related technologies. Research interest has been placed on using thermal plasma as the deposition method, specifically inductively coupled plasmas. Many different modifications to the same basic principle of deposition have been performed through out the materials research community. Such a technique may have many advantages over more conventional techniques, such as high deposition rates, high surface area coverage, clean energy source, no contamination from electrodes and operation near atmospheric pressures. Materials deposited vary from simple oxide systems like TiO2 to more complex structures like ternary oxides and nitrides. This paper reviews recent developments relative to the inductively coupled plasma deposition of thin films.

Jan 1, 2003

By K. Sanjay

Factorial optimisation technique has been used to develop regression equations at different time intervals for extraction of manganese from precipitated manganese oxide/hydroxide in sulphuric acid using charcoal as the reductant. The three parameters chosen for a 23 full factorial design were : acid concentration, amount of carbon and temperature. The regression equations were used to predict >> 90% extractions as well as kinetic data.

Jan 1, 1996

By M. Wenzel, Dang Thanh Tung, Nguyen Anh Duc, Nguyen Huu Luong, Dang Van Sy, N. Kelly, K. Gloe, K. Kretschmer, Phuc Nguyen Le, K. Schnaars, S. Robles M, L. Götzke, J. J. Weigand

The recovery of rare earth metals from secondary sources has attracted much attention due to their ever expanding demand in the high-tech industry. The studies reported here focus on the hydrometallurgical recovery of lanthanum and cerium from spent fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts in a two-step process: leaching with nitric acid and solvent extraction by tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) and di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA). The experiments show a high dissolution yield of about 93% lanthanum and 42% cerium in a single leaching step with 2 M (126 g/L) HNO3 at 80 °C; only 11% aluminum has been dissolved simultaneously. In the subsequent solvent extraction step the best results for this leach liquor could be achieved using a 1:1 mixture of 25% (v/v) TBP (0.92 M) and 25% (v/v) D2EHPA (0.76 M) in n-decane without the need for any pH adjustment. In that case La(III) and Ce(III) can be extracted with 60% and 74% yield respectively in one stage from the majority of accompanying matrix elements. In particular no extraction of Al(III) could be observed under these conditions.

Jan 1, 2016

By Bart Blanpain, Muxing Guo, Zhuangzhuang Liu

In order to stabilize free lime in the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag to achieve high value products, quartz sand and other additives are injected into slag. However, the current hot stage slag stabilization does not work in case of slag (before treatment) with a liquid fraction lower than 90%, where the slag containing solid particles is too viscous. Therefore, it is essential to understand how solid phases affect the viscosity of the slag system. In this study, the industrial BOF slags were investigated with respect to the correlation between volume fraction of solid phases and its viscosity. Slag viscosity was measured with a rotating type viscometer at temperatures below the liquidus. The volume fraction of solid phases was quantitatively calculated with FactSage. The Einstein-Roscoe equation was employed to predict the viscosity of BOF slag.

Jan 1, 2016

By R. N. O'Brien, E. Peters

"It has been discovered that copper concentrates can be leached in strong (40-60%) sulfuric acid with nitric acid, or with oxygen if nitric acid is present as a catalyst. Chalcopyrite is rapidly decomposed at temperatures well below the boiling temperature of the lixiviant (-150 C.) and the resulting copper and ferric salts are precipitated as CuS04.H20 and FeH(S04)z.4H20. Other metal sulfides such as zinc, lead, nickel, etc. are also converted to sulfates that are nearly insoluble. Sulfur is partially converted to elemental and partially to sulfuric acid. Reduction products of nitric acid can be recovered from the distillate with good recovery. Conversion of as-received copper concentrates is largely complete in about 1 hour. Introduction9 molar sulfuric acid is an unusual hydrometallurgical lixiviant: it has a boiling point of about 150 C. and a low solubility for base metal sulfates. Below about 6 molar acid, the boiling point falls below 120 C. and yields much higher sulfate salt solubility, while above 12 or 13 molar acid and at higher temperature sulfuric acid becomes an oxidizing agent, yielding gaseous S02' Thus, sulfuric acid within this range of concentration is capable of acting well above the temperature of boiling water without requiring autoclave conditions, and if typical oxidative leaching conditions are applied to suspended mineral sulfide concentrates, it is possible to obtain a conversion of these sulfides into 'crystalline sulfates. Thereafter, the sulfates can be separated by filtration or by solid - bowl centrifuge and the solution can be recirculated to the reactor vessel. Meanwhile, the solid sulfates can be treated in a typical hydrometallurgical circuit, i.e., dissolved in a return stream that is essentially water, separated from each other by, for example, solvent extraction, and recovered as metals by electrowinning."

Jan 1, 1997

By Jilai Xue

Fe-Ni alloys can be used as raw material in making stainless steel. Laterite nickel ore is one of mineral resources for producing nickel alloys. In this work, the laterite ore after dehydration at 800 °C and the anthracite as reducing agent were mixed for pre-reduction at 900 °C, and then reduced to form Fe-Ni alloys at 1550-1620 °C through carbon-thermal reduction process. A high Ni-content alloy component in the metallurgical mixture can be formed through pre-reduction. Better separation of the resulting metals from the slag is found with lower Ni-content alloys produced or higher temperatures during reduction. An effective processing of Fe-Ni alloys needs further understanding of the process fundamentals and optimizing of the process parameters.

Jan 1, 2010

By Jian Li, P. Liu, R. Zhang and J. Lo

In the past decades, focused ion beam (FIB) has evolved into a powerful microscope that provides capabilities that no other microscopes can offer. The combination of high-resolution imaging and stress-free ion beam cross sectioning provides valuable microstructure information both at the specimen surface and beneath. FIB techniques are also the preferred method to prepare site-specific transmission electron microscope (TEM) specimens. CanmetMATERIALS owns a world-class microscopy facility, where advanced microscopy work provides strong supports to research programs that cover a wide range of subject areas. This paper is aimed to provide a few practical examples of FIB applications in microstructure characterizations that include cross-sectioning and imaging, serial sectioning, and advanced TEM specimen preparation in materials research at CanmetMATERIALS.

Jan 1, 2015

By Alex Luyima, Honglan Shi, Lifeng Zhang, Yongqing Jiang

"Leaching process has been suggested to recover most metals from waste PWBs. In this study, the leaching behavior of most metals present in waste PWBs is evaluated before and thermal treatment. Different leaching acids: hydrochloric acid (HCl), nitric acid (HNO3) and aqua regia are compared. The effects of acid concentration, particle size of sample, leaching time and temperature are examined. Results revealed that most metals are present in small particle size and sequential leaching of PWBs with a combination of HCl acid and aqua regia is capable of dissolving most of the metals content of PWBs. Leaching of thermally treated PWBs produced the highest leaching percentages for similar leaching conditions.IntroductionApproximately 20–50 million tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) is produced globally per year. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) or E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world. In developed countries, it equals 1% of total solid waste on an average [1]. The growing stockpile of used and obsolete consumer electronics has been called the “largest toxic waste problem of the 21st century [2]. Printed wiring boards (PWBs) is an essential part of almost all WEEE, and accounts approximately 3% of all WEEE by weight [3]. PWBs are a platform upon which microelectronic components are mounted. PWBs contain metals (~40 wt. %), ceramics (~30 wt. %) and plastics (~30 wt. %) [4]. The metallic part includes; Cu, Pb, Zn, Fe, Cd, Be, Cr, Au, Pt, Pd, Ag, etc. The plastic part of the PWBs is mostly epoxy resins. These plastic resins also contain very toxic halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) [5]."

Jan 1, 2012

By Thenepalli Thriveni, Ch. Ramakrishna, Yujin Jegal, Ji Whan Ahn, Jyothi Rajesh Kumar

In alumina production or alumina refining, bauxite is converted to alumina (aluminium oxide) The rare-earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemically similar metallic elements (15 lanthanides, including scandium and yttrium). Rare earth elements play a key role in many industrial applications, petroleum refining, clean energy, automobile, electronics, and defense applications. These rare earths are essential to the success of green technologies. China today controls more than 95 percent of the rare-earth supplies and nearly all rare-earth refining and after 2009 year rare earths crisis raises due to China’s export restrictions and growing internal demand for rare earth elements. The extraction of gallium and yttrium from Korean red mud (KC red mud) by selective acid leaching was explored. The recovery of gallium and yttrium from a leach solution of the Korean red mud using solvent extraction was studied. A number of extractants were investigated for the extraction of those mentioned two rare earth elements and also we proposed a flow sheet of rare earth elements respectively. The toxic heavy metals presented in KC red mud were removed by CO2 stabilization.

Jan 1, 2015

By P. Mazumder

Numerical analysis is carried out to examine the effects of thermosolutal convection on the formation of complex patterns in directionally solidified binary alloys. A finite-difference analysis is used for dynamic modeling of a two-dimensional prototype of Vertical Bridgman system that takes into account heat transfer in the melt, crystal, and the ampoule; melt flow and solute transport. Actual temperature data from experimental measurements are used for accurately describing the thermal boundary conditions. A range of complex dynamical behavior is predicted in the melt flow due to flow transitions and this is found to be directly related to the spatial patterns observed experimentally in the solidified alloys. The model is applied to single phase solidification in the Al-Cu and Pb-Sn systems to characterize the effect of convection on the macroscopic shape of the interface. The application of the model to hyper-peritectic alloys in the Sn-Cd system shows that the presence of oscillating flow can give rise to a novel convection induced microstructure in which a tree-like primary phase in the center of the sample is embedded in the surrounding peritectic matrix.

Jan 1, 1999

By Alim Ullah

Process, quality and management control are necessary in order to produce DRI of required quality and at minimum cost. Although the characteristics of the two (2) principal inputs, that is, iron oxide feed and natural gas (for gas-based DRI plants) can affect the operation of a DRI plant significantly, they are outside the control of plant operators, at least in the short run. The quantity of reduction gas, its composition and reduction gas temperature are some of the key process variables. Statistical Process Control (SPC) can be used in a DRI plant to minimize the production of off-grade material and costs, as well as to improve the overall operation of the plant. One of the key quality variables to be measured and controlled is percent metallization, defined as FeM/FeT*100 where, FeM and FeT respectively are metallic iron and total iron in DRI. Control charts are used to monitor the quality of DRI produced and, when necessary, corrective actions are taken to bring the product back within the control limits. Management control can consist of essentially following how well the plant performs against some pre-established standards of parameters like daily production, downtime, consumption of material and energy, etc. In this respect, it is suggested that yield, defined as theoretical consumption/actual consumption of iron oxide feed, be used to monitor the consumption of feed material. Similarly, instead of using natural gas per ton of DRI produced, a better criterion would be efficiency, defined as theoretical natural gas consumption/actual natural gas consumption.

Jan 1, 2006

By Takashi Miyamoto, Hideo Nakae, Hideki Yamaura, Takeshi Yanagihara

"For the production of partially composed metal matrix composites, namely discontinuous MMCs, using a casting· process, the interpenetrated phase composites with SiC particles were fabricated by pressureless iDfiltration using molten Al-Si alloys. This process is based on a wetting phenomenon, therefore, we discussed the technique based on the reactive wetting. The SiC particles coated by diluted water glass were sintered in a mullite Tammann tube and simultaneously infiltrated with molten Al-Si alloys in air at 1173~1573K. As for the improvement of the wettability between the SiC and the liquid aluminum alloy, Fe3O 4 powder was mixed with the water glass due to the thermit reaction between Fe3O4 and molten aluminum alloy. In some experiments, pure aluminum powder was placed on the sintered SiC to increase the interfacial area and the chemical reaction between the sintered Sic. and the melt. By combining these conditions, we succeeded in the complete infiltration without pressure at 1173K.IntroductionAs is well known, the mechanical properties of metal matrix composites (abbreviated MMCs) are superior than that of ordinary metals. However, their use has not been widely accepted because the production cost is very high due to their poor machinability. Therefore, the production of partially composed, namely discontinuous MMCs, by as the Lanxide process [l,2] has been investigated for many years. The Lanxide process, it takes a long time, sometimes up to 10h, in a nitrogen atmosphere for the infiltration. Therefore, the cost will be higher for common use. On the other hand, a high 'pressure process has been adopted for the production of discontinuous MMCs by the Toyota Motor Corp.[3]."

Jan 1, 2000

By John G. Reid

When the paper "Operations at the Greenvale Nickel Project Mine and Refinery" was delivered at the 1st International Laterite Symposium in February 1979, the Yabulu Caron plant had been operating for four years and production had just stabilized. The design had been based closely on the Caron plant at Nicaro, Cuba, built in 1944, also by Freeport. Yabulu had 10 Herreshoff ore roasters and production in 1978 was 18,682 tonne nickel as impure oxide sinter and 763 tonne cobalt in a mixed sulphide with a cobalt to nickel ratio of 1 :2.5. In the 25 years since the 1st Symposium, two more roasters have been added, but dry ore processing rate has remained relatively unchanged at 2.4M Uyr to allow a lower feed rate per roaster with associated higher recovery. The ore source has changed from the domestic Greenvale mine to imports from New Caledonia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Nickel production between 1978 and 2003 has risen by 67%, cobalt has risen by 146% and the products have changed to high purity nickel compacts and "ChemGrade" cobalt salt. The plant changes that have contributed to the increased recovery, production and product value are discussed. Keywords: Caron, Yabulu, nickel, cobalt, ammonia

Jan 1, 2004

By H. Deveci

Bioleaching/biooxidation is essentially a dissolution process with the involvement of acidophilic bacteria acting as the "catalyst" to accelerate the dissolution of metals from sulfide minerals. The contribution of bacteria to the metal dissolution is closely controlled by the growth of bacteria, which is itself affected by the physico-chemical conditions within the bioleaching environment. There are a number of operating parameters controlling bioleaching processes, which are required to be maintained within a certain range in the leaching environment whereby the activity of bacteria with the resultant oxidation of sulfide minerals can be optimized. In this regard temperature, acidity, oxidizing conditions, availability of nutrients, oxygen and carbon dioxide, surface area and presence of toxic ions are of prime importance for control and optimization of bioleaching of sulfide ores/concentrates. Bioleaching processes are temperature and pH dependent with optimum metal dissolution occurring in a particular range where the bacterial strain is most active e.g. mesophiles at 35-40°C and pH 1.6-2.0. Provision of nutrient salts is required to maintain the optimnm growth and hence metal dissolution with the quantity of nutrients apparently being dependent on the availability of substrate i.e. head grade/pulp density of an ore/concentrate. Oxygen transfer is one of the most critical factors since the oxygen levels below 1-2 mgll may adversely affect the oxidizing activity of bacteria. Bioleaching rate tends to improve with increasing the surface area at low pulp densities but, in practice. the pulp density is limited to -20010 w/v. Increasing concentrations of ions such as cr may also adversely affect the oxidative activity of bacteria. Keywords: Bioleaching, Biooxidation, Acidophilic bacteria

Jan 1, 2003

By Katja Reinharter

Arsenic can be found in different sulfidic copper concentrates and residues, which for several years have commonly been used in copper metallurgy, as the “arsenic-free” resources are getting rare. Due to the high toxicity the removal of arsenic in the copper smelting process is a very important topic. The typical chemical slag and sulfur attack on the refractory material is getting enhanced by the presence of arsenic. This work deals with post-mortem investigations of a magnesia-chromite brick and castable used in copper smelting furnaces showing an additional and increased chemical attack by arsenic. The knowledge on the wear behaviour is not only based on a detailed chemical and mineralogical characterization, but also on thermochemical FactSageTM calculations, which are carried out on provided post-mortem samples. Post-mortem investigations on used refractory materials represent an important prerequisite for the product development, as well as for special engineered lining concepts to support our customers.

By Eric J. Beckman

Recovery of metals from dilute solution, whether the matrix is solid, or liquid, remains a considerable technical and financial challenge. Methods currently exist whereby metals can be extracted from either type of matrix, yet these methods consume significant quantities of reagents and can also generate multiple waste ,streams in the process. Technology developed in our lab allows efficient application of environmentally-benign CO2 to a number of separation problems involving metals. For example, we have employed biphasic mixtures of C02 and water as a green acid leach medium. Metals have been extracted from a steelmaking process residue and then recovered as metal carbonates through depressurization. In this process, metals are extracted and recovered without the use of reagents other than CO2 and water, and CO2 is sequestered as a solid. In addition, through synthesis of Cal-miscible phase transfer agents, we have shown that CO2 can replace the organic solvent currently used in refining of precious metals, The sensitivity to pressure of phase behavior in a CO2-mixture may allow significant streamlining of the process as well. Finally, CO2 soluble chelating agents have been used to extract toxic metals from acidic effluent such as that found in plating facilities.

Jan 1, 1999