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By Michael J. Nicol

One of the preferred methods for the recovery of gold from refractory gold ores and concentrates involves pressure oxidation in acidic solutions. The main refractory gold-containing minerals are pyrite and arsenopyrite and there is evidence that the presence of even small amounts of chloride can inhibit the oxidation of these minerals and also substantially reduce the recovery of gold. In this paper, the results of a study of the anodic (oxidation) and cathodic (reduction) behaviour of pyrite electrodes in acidic sulfate solutions containing ferric ions at different chloride concentrations and temperatures up to 200oC and pressures of 2000KPa are presented. The electrochemical studies have been complemented by pressure oxidation experiments on a refractory gold concentrate. Results have shown that, as the chloride concentration increases, the anodic reactivity of pyrite is largely unaffected but the rate of the cathodic reduction of iron(III) decreases. The rate of oxidation of a sulfide concentrate and the recovery of gold by cyanidation of the residues decreases at high concentrations of chloride.

Jan 1, 2003

By Barry T. Kilbourn

A dominant characteristic of many derivatives of the lanthanides is stability at high- temperatures. Combine this with novel solid-state behavior under those conditions and there is the potential for new materials that can not only improve existing applications but also help create new technologies. These property themes will be traced through new uses ranging from efficient energy generation and raw material conversion to control of environmental emissions and temperature measurement. Conducting ceramics, methane conversion catalysts, sulfur oxide capture agents and phosphor hosts will be described. Some categories will account in the future for significant lanthanide consumption whereas others will remain commercially negligible but technologically vital. All uses will illustrate the versatility of those elements inappropriately termed rare.

Jan 1, 1992

By Pradeep kumar Jha, Manas Mohan Mahapatra, Sabin Kumar Mishra, Satish Kumar Ajmani, Satish C. Sharma

"Due to mechanical/ electrical failure in the C.C. line or inadequate availability of molten steel from coming ladle, sometimes one/two outlets of a multi-strand tundish in continuous casting unit is closed. Closing any of the outlets affects the flow distribution inside the tundish which in turn governs the quality of steel coming out. Hence it is important to study which of the outlets should be closed to have proper results in terms of flow behavior and inclusion removal inside the tundish. Present study aims at finding the effect of closing one or two outlets on flow behavior and inclusion removal in a multi strand tundish. It was found that closing the near outlet (outlet near to the inlet) increases the inclusion removal tendency than closing the other two outlets in a six-strand billet caster tundish (only three outlets are considered because of symmetry).IntroductionContinuous casting process transforms molten metal into solid on a continuous basis. This process is the most efficient way to solidify large volumes of metal into simple shapes for subsequent processing [1]. Molten metal is tapped into the ladle from furnaces. From the ladle, the hot metal is transferred via a refractory shroud (pipe) to a holding bath called a tundish. The tundish allows a reservoir of metal to feed the casting machine while ladles are switched, thus acting as a buffer of hot metal as well as smoothing out flow, regulating metal feed to the moulds and cleaning the metal [2]."

Jan 1, 2012

By Richard D. Hagni

The techniques of reflected light microscopy and cathodoluminescence microscopy are uniquely suited to the study of the products from many important industrial problems. Ref1 ected 1 ight microscopy provides the means to rapidly identify the mineralogy of an industrial sample, determine the abundance of each phase, and examine the mineral intergrowths or textures. Cathodoluminescence microscopy is a relatively new instrument that provides the means to cause many minerals to cathodoluminescence under the microscopy. The cathodoluminescence of a mineral allows it to be readily distinguished from other phases that differ in cathodoluminescence but are similar in optical properties. Cathodoluminescence microscopy is especially useful to detect cathodoluminescence minerals that are present in only small quantities. Reflected 1ight microscopy and cathodoluminescence microscopy have been successfully applied in studies of beneficiation products, prediction of beneficiation and leaching problems, phosphatic iron ores and mill products, pyrometallurgical products, roasted refractory gold-bearing sulfides, ceramic build-ups, electric arc furnace and smelter dusts, and other industrial products.

Jan 1, 1993

The entrainment of copper matte in the slag during the slag skimming stage of a Peirce-Smith converter was studied with a dam break model. Experiments were carried out with a range of fluid pairs where the lighter fluid was allowed to overflow a weir and the amount of entrained heavier fluid measured. The resulting entrainment is measured as the ratio of the heavy to light fluid withdrawn. The fluids include oil-water, water- glycerol and salt solutions-water pairs to cover a wide range of densities and viscosities. It was found that the Richardson number, Ri, correlates the entrainment well. For the case of the liquid-liquid interface initially at the same height as the weir, the entrainment was found to vary with Ri-1/3. The transient flow was simulated with a volume of fluid (VOF) code written in-house and used a stairstep approach to represent flow obstacles. The code was validated against the experimental results with good agreement for the variation of the heights of the two fluid with time. The simulation showed that the prevailing mechanism for entrainment is due to a pressure differential created across the liquid in the converter during pouring resulting in the heavier liquid being rotated upwards and over the weir.

Jan 1, 1999

By Olga K. Karakasi, Angeliki Moutsatsou, Ioanna Kavallari

"The present study focuses on the amelioration of the behaviour of high calcium fly ash (HCFA), investigating its application in a new environmental field: oil spill clean up. High calcium fly ash is a by-product of electric power plants, produced annually in large quantities, whose greater amount is landfilled. Some of its properties, such as its chemical and mineralogical composition, its fine particle size, its porosity, floating ability and hydrophobic character make it an attractive material for this purpose. Researches showed that when added to an oil spill, it forms a semi-solid phase, which allows the quite total removal of the oil, but it is not stably retained on the surface. In order to ameliorate its floating ability, the decrease in its specific gravity by mixing with a lighter material is investigated. In the present study the mixing with two materials, already used in oil spill clean up, sawdust and a polymer, has been examined. Addition of 15-25% w/w sawdust to HCFA results in a material with better performance than HCFA or sawdust alone: it has a satisfactory floating ability and allows total removal of oil. Addition of the polymer, however, has resulted in no significant amelioration of the oil sorption behaviour of HCFA, probably because no affinity between HCFA and polymer has been achieved.IntroductionCoal fly ash is a by-product of coal combustion in electric power plants, produced worldwide in huge quantities, approximately 500 million tones annually. High calcium fly ash (HCFA) is classified to class C presenting a (Al2O3 + SiO2 + Fe2O3) > 50%. The production of lignite fly ash in Greece comes up to 13 million tones annually, of which only 12% is used in construction applications, the other being landfilled [5, 6].Besides its limited application worldwide as a construction material, research is focusing on the development of new environmental applications, such as waste stabilisation and solidification, soil and water environmental improvement [9, 12]. For the application of fly ash in further environmental fields several chemical modifications have been applied, in order to improve its properties. Extensive research has been focused on the conversion of both coal and lignite fly ash to zeolite and its further application in environmental field, such as the uptake of inorganic (heavy metals and ammonium [8, 11]) or even organic compounds (methylene blue [15]) from waste water streams, or the use as molecular sieves, to adsorb water molecules, SO2 and NH3 from gas streams, due to the high cation exchange capacity and porosity of the produced zeolithic material. Furthermore, lignite fly ash has been combined with sodium silicate solution, prepared by treatment of rice husk ash, and tetrapropylammonium bromide, to synthesise hydrophobic zeolite ZSM-5 [4]."

Jan 1, 2008

By C. Lupi

Zinc chloride electrowinning presents difficulties in obtaining smooth, compact and dendrite free deposits with a high current efficiency due to the presence of undesirable metal ions. However, it is hard to define a level of impurities tolerable in zinc deposition, and despite a lot of research in this field, the reaction mechanisms of the undesired metal ions are still not clearly understood. In this study, the influence of Fe, Cd, Co, Ni and Cu additions were investigated, as well as their synergic effect on the zinc electrodeposition process from chloride electrolytes and on the obtained deposit morphology. The tests were all performed in presence of TBACl which reduces the harmful effect of such impurities on the zinc reduction.

Jan 1, 2003

By Ian G. H. du Preez

It is illustrated how differences in the basic chemistry of individual metal ions can be exploited to develop new or improved separating agents. Factors like coordination number preferred by the specific metal ion, the degree of coordinate saturation reached by the metal ion and its relation to the phase transferability of the complex species, kinetic factors as opposed to thermodynamic factors controlling the success of the separation, the nature and type of the donor atom employed in a separating agent in relation to the preferences of the metal ion, the significance of stereochemical factors and the hydrophobicity of the media are some of the important factors which are discussed and applied for the development of pa1ladiwn(TI) and nickel(TI) specific separating agents, respectively.

Jan 1, 1999

By M. D. Bishop

Loss of organic solvent extraction circuits occurs through several accepted methods. Losses are commonly attributed to entrainment of the plant organic and evaporative loss of diluent. Evaporative losses of diluent have been estimated using various models or by considering all losses over and above entrainment to be due to evaporation. Other possible loss mechanisms are discussed and data on losses during weather conditions are presented. Accurate estimation of evaporative loss is vitally important to the industry due to both cost factors and environmental concerns. Data for and description of the Diffusive Flux Model are presented as an improved-method of estimating evaporative losses:

Jan 1, 1999

By G. Azimi

Calcium sulphate precipitation, mainly as gypsum, during neutralization of acidic hydrometallurgical process solutions can lead to excessive scaling problems. In this work, a self-consistent fundamental chemical model is presented based on the OLI software platform. The model employs the new Mixed Solvent Electrolyte (MSE) activity coefficient model of OLI. A thermodynamic database has been developed and calibrated on experimental data from metal sulphate solutions. The model predicts very well the solubility of calcium sulphate within a wide temperature range and can be used to assess the scaling potential of a particular process stream composition. The effect of temperature, acidity, and divalent metal concentration on the solubility of calcium sulphate in multi-component process streams is also simulated and discussed.

Jan 1, 2006

By Heikki Jalkanen

The mineralogical composition and morphology of solidified copper smelting and converting slags are of some interest from slag cleaning (by froth flotation), impurity elimination, and environmental points of view. Properties result from both the state of molten slag before solidification and processes taking place during solidification and cooling. In solidification and cooling, copper and sulfur dissolved in molten slag are .precipitating substantially from the silicate phase. Even in water quenching of slag, dissolved copper is pushed out of the solution in the form of finely divided precipitate. Elements present in the raw materials are distributed in a distinct manner between the solidified slag and non-silicate solidification products. Arsenic, antimony, and tin are strongly accumulated in copper precipitate, but not the other metallic constituents common in copper concentrates. Smelting and converting slags differ remarkably on their mineralogical composition and morphology although resulting principally of same chemical processes. Converter slags are more inhomogenous; they often contain solid particles and copper content is .as a rule higher than in matte smelting slags. The final copper content of converter slags was observed to be in a distinct manner dependent on iron oxide - silica ratio. Slag forming, solidification, and precipitation phenomena are discussed on the basis of mineralogical and morphology analysis of smelter slags and laboratory scale experiments.

Jan 1, 2002

By R. M. Donovan

This paper documents the efforts to improve quality and production at the Amarillo Copper Refinery. It summarizes the change in attitudes, work procedures, equipment maintenance, instrumentation, and the ever changing market. The Amarillo Copper Refinery is dedicated to the ASARCO Management System, ISO-9002 and continuous improvement.

Jan 1, 1999

By Milton Manrique

The thermal decomposition of ilmenite concentrates in a non-transferred arc; thermal plasma flow reactor was investigated. The plasma torch was operated using argon-helium and argon-nitrogen mixtures as plasma gases. The effect of power, feed rate and particle size was studied. Products were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and ICP techniques. Free energy minimization plots were used to predict the thermodynamic behavior of the system under different operating conditions. The results of this investigation showed a significant segregation process where titanium-rich products are collected in the reactor, while iron-rich products are collected in the quenching box and filter. The average size of the product is in the sub- micron range. Titanium nitride was formed and condensed in the reactor zone when using an argon-nitrogen mixture as the plasma gas.

Jan 1, 1998

By Tanm Engin, Ali Riza Tarakcilar, Derya Dispinar

"Nowadays, the casting industry is developing parallel with the information technologies (IT). Particularly the casting simulation software is being frequently used in foundry floors for casting quality control and optimisation. In this study, the filling and solidification analysis of a rolling roll manufactured by spherical graphite cast iron were carried out by Vulcan casting simulation software. The appropriate defect relieving suggestions were presented by anticipation of defects that may form during the casting process.IntroductionThe optimisation of a casting process has long been the most focused area in manufacturing plants. Many of the work involve not only the process itself but the cost as well. When it comes to the process, it is important to be able to control the defects that may form during casting.The casting process begins with the melting of a charge; followed by pouring into the mould cavity. One of the most important factors is the difference in the liquid/solid density which may lead to porosity. On the other hand, turbulence during filling is another significant factor in casting operations [1].During solidification, due to the density difference between liquid and solid, porosity might form which leads to crack-like defects. There are several other factors that may determine the quality of a casting such as segregation, inclusions, grain size and etc. However, porosity is one of the first parameters that can be easily determine and controlled by the help of simulation software. Simulation is a cost-effective tool in the optimization of process parameters and castings can be visually observed. Time loss and economic expenses could be minimized [2]."

Jan 1, 2012

By Harvey Alter

National attention in, recycling focuses on municipal solid waste (MSW), even though only about 50'million tons or so of MSW can be recycled, including grass, leaves and other yard wastes. The scope and value of the recycling of industrial "wastes" is much greater. It is possible to account for some 240 million tons of material recycled at the industrial scale annually, which is likely a conservative estimate. Some of this recycling reduces what would otherwise be hazardous waste to 'comrnodities and non-hazardous residue. Global trade in recycled commodities is outlined, as well as the-effect of the Basel Convention on the Trans boundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes A recent Decision under the Convention can, diminish the trade; deny developing countries needed secondary raw materials, and put world markets in chaos. Current U.S. government policies and activities toward ratification of the Convention, and possible new regulation of industrial recycling activities, will be discussed. There are federal proposals that would regulate industrial recycling differently for on-site and off-site facilities and judge legitimate or "sham" recycling according to the concentration of so-called "toxics along for the ride."

Jan 1, 1995

By Kwan Soo Han

A thermodynamic model for predicting the distribution coefficients has been developed by taking into account the extraction mech-.ism and the chloride complexation when Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy and Ho for single component systems are extracted from acidic chloride solutions by di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid and 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester in kerosene, respectively. The model equation includes two constants, of which one corresponds to the apparent extraction equilibrium constant and the other is due to the variation of the activity coefficients of organic species. These values are determined from a few experimental data by the curve fitting method Then, the distribution coefficients under untried conditions have been predicted from only the initial data by iterative calculations. Bromley's formulation is used to estimate the activity coefficients of aqueous species and the interaction parameters for some rare earth chlorides are reported in terms of molality and molarity using data from Spedding et al. The validity of this method has been confirmed by excellent agreement between the experimental and the predicted distribution coefficients.

Jan 1, 1989

By Akram Alfantzai, Farzad Mohammadi, Maysam Mohammadi

"Degradation of lead anodes has always been a major concern among the electrowinning industries. In this study, the effect of agitation of the zinc electrowinning solution on the integrity of lead anodes was investigated. Galvanostatic experiments were performed at 37±0.5°C using 0,600 and l000rpm magnetic stirring rates for 24 hours. The Pb02 layer formed on the anode surface was reduced to PbS04 (discharged). The discharge information was used to calculate the amount of Pb02 present on the surface. Weight loss measurements along with the discharge calculations revealed that the degradation rate of the lead anode increased as the solution was stirred more vigorously. Furthermore, the amount of remaining Pb02 on the surfaces was decreased as a function of solution velocity. Therefore, it may be concluded that, degradation rate oflead anodes is controlled by detachment of the corrosion products from the surface rather than by electrochemical reactions. IntroductionElectrowinning is one of the extraction stages of zinc, in which pure zinc is deposited from acidic solution after froth flotation, roasting and leaching processes. The anode electrode materials play important roles in the electrowinning process. Their electrocatalytical capacities determine the oxygen evolution overpotential, and consequently the cell potential and energy efficiency of the zinc electrodeposition [l]. Purity of the zinc deposited on the cathode is affected by the solubility and corrosion resistance of the anode materials. Using insoluble materials as anode in the electrowinning leads to the higher purity of the deposited metal on the cathode[2]. Lead (Pb) and its alloys have been used as the anode in the zinc electrowinning because of its special properties such as relatively low cost, low melting point, insolubility in solutions containing sulphuric acid and high conductivity in both states of metallic and oxidized [3, 4]. In zinc electrowinnig, zinc reduction occurs on the cathode (reaction 1) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) (reaction 2) is the main anodic reaction [5, 6]."

Jan 1, 2013

By I. Hilario, D.Y. Medina, V.J. Cortés, J.D. Muñoz

The process of Tribofinishing is investigated as a memns to reacha state of quality for the surface teated. During the said process there occurs mass transferat the interface of the piece to be treated and the abrasive charge (abrasive plus additives). This stiuation is studied for Titanium as a possibility for application in prosthesis. With these results is intended to produce a model of the mass transfer that would allow having further control of the process.

Jan 1, 2012

By Norberto Benitez, Christian Ludwig, Simona Regenspurg, Fabian Mendez

"Navarro is the main garbage dump in the city of Cali (Colombia). Operated since the late 1960s it collects about 1.600 tons of waste daily. The environment surrounding Navarro is highly contaminated and the pollutants released by the dump threaten human health in the adjoining neighborhoods. The goal of our project is to identify major pollutants released from the dump and their distribution in the surrounding ecosystem. In a first phase of the sampling and analysis program landfill leachate was collected and screened for heavy metals and for the most common persistent organic pollutants. This allowed us to identify the most relevant compounds on which we focused in a more detailed second phase investigation. These compounds were quantified in the vicinity of the landfill (groundwater, surface water, drinking water and soil) to get information on their mobility and possible pathways into the human body.IntroductionThe usual technique of waste disposal in most developing countries is by landfilling on not -, or not well controlled sites, where people live close by or even on the waste itself. A typical example for this practice is Navarro, the main garbage dump in the city of Cali (Colombia). Operated since the late 1960s it now consists of about 23 million tons of household and industrial waste. The dump is located on a wetland in the riverbed of the Cauca River, the main drinking water source for Cali. Two ponds of unknown permeability located next to the landfill collect a fraction of the waste leachate. During the rainy season, the ponds frequently overflow and drain into the soil (alluvial, loamy sediments) of surrounding sugar cane fields. The environment of Navarro is assumed to be highly polluted and there is evidence that it affects the health of nearby inhabitants. Specifically, the incidence of respiratory diseases was higher among vulnerable individuals (<3 and >50 years old) living in a <3 km perimeter of Navarro as compared with a control group (Solano et al., 2006). Further, a clustering of extremely rare congenital malformations (sirenomelias and cyclops) was observed in a small area during a short time period (<6 months) (Filigrana et al., 2008)."

Jan 1, 2008

By Thamyres C. Carvalho, Edemarino A. Hildebrando, Roberto F. Neves, Francisco R. Valenzuela-Diaz

Synthetic clays are an option of materials that can be modified to obtain better and specific properties when compared with natural clays. Although clays are found in nature, they have many disadvantages that limit the use of them, such as existence of impurities, and variations in composition. Therefore, the objective of this work was to obtain synthetic clay/polyester resin nanocomposites. To characterize the clay, we used X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Total Attenuated Reflection Spectroscopy in the Fourier Transform Infrared Region (ATR-FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope with Field Emission (FEG-SEM) methods and the nanocomposites were characterized by XRD and mechanical resistance to compression. The results show the purity of the clay and the time of synthesis is an important parameter for its crystallization process. The clay/polyester nanocomposites were obtained and showed an increase in the ductility.

Mar 1, 2018