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By Jong-Jin Pak

The present work reports the commercialization of a recycling process of spent acid to recover molybdenum. The process consists of ammonia gas neutralization of spent acid containing molybdenum, crystallization and filtration of ammonium molybdate, roasting and hydrogen reduction of molybdic oxide to produce a commercial grade molybdenum metal powder. The mother liquor, highly nitrogeneous residual solution after the filtration of ammonium molybdate, can be utilized to produce chemical fertilizers.

Jan 1, 2006

By R. D. Prengaman

Lead usage in paint, anti-knock gasoline additives, pipes, seals, and solder has declined markedly over the past 30 years. Products utilizing the unique properties of lead and its ability to be recycled have survived and grown. These products include shielding, glass (particularly TV and computer screens), sheet for roofing, stabilizers for PVC, insoluble anodes for metal production, electronic solders and lead acid batteries. With the loss of markets many companies have decreased lead product development efforts. Much of the patent lead materials development is devoted to lead acid batteries. In the past 25 years, the automobile battery has been almost doubled in power and reduced in weight, leading to a nearly three-fold increase in performance. Corrosion-resistant lead alloys and improved battery designs have made battery lead usage more efficient. The same corrosion-resistant battery alloys are utilized to increase the life of electrowinning anodes. The challenge for lead product development is not only to maintain and improve the existing lead products, but also to develop the growing lead acid battery market for telecommunications, uninterruptive power sources, remote area power, hybrid and electric vehicles. Lead

Jan 1, 2000

By Alain Jardy, Valerio De Felice, Jean-Pierre Bellot, Ismael Lis Alves Daoud, Stephane Hans

"Gas-stirring ladle treatment of liquid metal has been pointed out for a long time as the processing stage mainly responsible for the inclusion population of specialty steels. A steel ladle is a complex three-phase reactor, where strongly dispersed inclusions are transported by the turbulent liquid metal / bubbles flow. We have coupled a population balance model with CFD in order to simulate the mechanisms of transport, aggregation, flotation and surface entrapment of inclusions. The simulation results, when applied to an industrial gas-stirring ladle operation, show the efficiency of this modelling approach and allow us to compare the respective roles of these mechanisms on the inclusion removal rate.IntroductionThe reduction of the weight of high performance materials together with the improvement of mechanical properties and the increase of the recycling of used metal are new challenges which emphasize the importance of metal cleanliness. Ladle treatment of specialty steels has long been described as the secondary metallurgical process mainly responsible for the non-metallic inclusion derived from the deoxidation process. The treatment is accomplished by blowing argon through one or more porous plugs for the purposes of desulphurization, minor composition adjustments, and inclusion removal. Gas injection is applied on routine basis to achieve both the stirring of the liquid bath (thermal and chemical homogenization) and the entrapment of the inclusions by the bubbles (flotation). Furthermore, the turbulence produced in bubble swarms enhances the probability of inclusion collisions and makes aggregation the first mechanism for particle removal. The physical processes involved in gas stirred ladles are numerous and complex owing to the three dimensional and multiphase (metal-gas and inclusions) nature of the reactor. Despite these difficulties, the population balance equations can be implemented in CFD code11'21 and combined CFD-PBM (computational fluid dynamics - population balance method) models are investigated for steel ladle processes13'41 and produce very promising results in terms of inclusion removal efficiency."

Jan 1, 2012

By Roger W. Lee

The commissioning of the prototype Imperial Smelting Furnace (ISF) in 1950 was a technological breakthrough in the pyrometallurgical smelting of zinc and provided significant advantages over the existing retort processes. However, for most zinc concentrates the electrolytic zinc process continued to be more economic. Therefore, the Imperial Smelting Process (ISP) specialised in smelting zinc and lead concentrates that were less amenable for treatment by either the electrolytic zinc process or the lead blast furnace. Subsequently, improved mineral processing techniques led to a decrease in the availability of these concentrates so the treatment of secondary materials in the ISP assumed greater importance. This was facilitated by the development of techniques such as hot briquetting and tuyere injection. In 2002 over 1 million tonnes of zinc and 400,000 tonnes of lead were produced by the ISP. However, in the 2002-3 the economics of the Process became extremely difficult because of low metal prices and increased operating costs. This resulted in the closure of four ISP smelters in 2003 and two in 2005. Nevertheless, two new ISP smelters are scheduled for commissioning in China in 2006 where local economic conditions continue to favour the process. The economics of the process are examined particularly in respect of smelter margin and operating costs. The need to increase the smelter margin means that the future of the process will be closely linked to its ability to consume secondary materials and an examination will be made of its potential for conversion to 100% secondary operation. Apart from a reduction in raw materials costs, a substantial reduction in operating costs would ensue from not operating sinter and sulphuric acid plants.

Jan 1, 2006

By H. Ipek

In this study the effects of interstitial ratios on k-feldspar samples were investigated. The k-feldspar samples were taken from Egypt using dry batch grinding conditions and a kinetic model. Three different mono size fractions (-3350+2360, -850+600 and -300+212 µm) were ground separately for 0.5, 1, 4, and 8 minutes and at four different interstitial ratios (125%, 100%, 75% and 50%) using a Bond mill with a mixture of five ball sizes. The mill used was at a size of 30.5 cm diameters, with 30.5 cm length, providing a total mill volume of 22272 cm3. The mill has a total mass consisting of 22648 g. steel ball mixtures of 38.10, 31.75, 25.40, 19.05 and 12.70mm diameters, occupying 22% of mill volume. The mill rotates at a speed of 70 rpm. The weights of the feed charges were 3000, 2000, 1000, and 500 g for 125%, 100%, 75% and 50% filling of the interstices of the balls respectively. The specific rate of breakage (Si) was determined from the top size fractions at different grinding times that were mentioned above and the model parameters were compared for the four different powder filling ratios (U). In many investigations, it has been found that an interstitial filling ratio of U = 0.6-1.1 is a good powder ball loading ratio to give an efficient breakage in a ball mill. In this study, it was found that U=1.25 is a good ratio for K-Feldspar.

Jan 1, 2006

By J. E. Dutrizac

The behaviour of the lanthanide elements during the precipitation of sodium and potassium jarosites at 98oC from sulphate media was systematically investigated. The lower atomic weight lanthanide elements (La to Gd) are characterized by the limited solubility of their alkali-lanthanide sulphates, such as NaNd(SO4)2?H2O, which commonly contaminate the jarosite precipitates. Hence, single phase jarosite-type compounds were precipitated only from solutions containing <0.4 g/L of the La to Sm lanthanides. The sulphates of the heavier atomic weight lanthanide elements (Tb to Lu) have significantly higher solubilities such that solutions containing up to 10 g/L of the individual lanthanides could be investigated without the precipitation of alkali-lanthanide sulphate species. Even at the highest lanthanide concentrations, however, none of the jarosite precipitates incorporated more than 0.3 wt% of any of the lanthanide elements. Comparable levels of lanthanide incorporation were noted in both Na-jarosite and K-jarosite. Although the mass of the jarosite precipitate increased with increasing ferric sulphate concentration or with increasing pH, the extent of lanthanide incorporation was not significantly affected. Clearly, the trivalent lanthanide elements do not substitute extensively for trivalent iron in the jarosite structure. This behaviour likely reflects the significantly lower hydrolyzability and larger size of the trivalent lanthanide ions relative to ferric ions.

Jan 1, 2003

By Ahmet Geveci

In this work it is aimed to assess the plant analytical data which appeared during efforts to decrease the effect of carry-over slag (basic oxygen furnace slag) that can not be prevented to leak during tapping of steel in the ladles. While the amount changes, carry-over slag that escaped to ladle, consists of appreciable amount of reducible oxides (?FetO? and MnO) which act as oxygen source for steel bath. By using aluminum dross, containing %30-35 metallic aluminum, which is a non-recoverable process outcome (discard) for most of the aluminum factories, slag reduction behavior will be analyzed together with other parameters such as reaction time, initial amount of total Fe+MnO, amount of reducing agent and reducing effect of soluble aluminum in steel bath while obtaining a slag composition which promotes higher desulphurization capacity and inclusion removal for liquid steel.

Jan 1, 2006

By T. T. Chen

A mineralogical study of copper anodes and copper anode slimes was carried out to elucidate the silver phases present and the behaviour of silver during copper electrorefining. Most of the silver in the anodes is in metastable solid solution in the copper metal. As the copper dissolves, silver also dissolves, but is rapidly removed from solution by a variety of reactions. Some of the silver is precipitated as Ag by cuprous ions and some is precipitated as a complex CU-Ag-Pb-As-Se oxidate phase. Much of the silver, however, reacts with copper selenides to form, progressively, (CU,Ag) 2se, AgCuSe and Ag2se. The reaction commences at the periphery of the selenide grains and progresses inward; the result is commonly a silver-rich species on the outside of a silver-deficient core. Slimes collected periodically throughout the electrorefining cycle show a progressive silver enrichment of the selenides. Traces of Ag2Te also may be present, but the telluride seems to J:ie a rare constituent of most raw anode slimes.

Jan 1, 1989

By Jean Igor Margem., Lucas Barbosa de Souza Martins, Frederico Muylaert Margem, Sergio Neves Monteiro, Artur Camposo Pereira, Rômulo Leite Loiola

"The fibers extracted from the stem of the bamboo plant have been investigated as possible reinforcement composites due to their relatively high tensile strength. Although previous works have already been conducted about the mechanical properties, up to now a dimensional characterization of the distribution and the effect of diameter on the elastic modulus of bamboo fiber of the specimen dendrocalmus giganteus has not been performed. The aim of the present work was to statistically characterize the distribution of the diameter of a lot of bamboo fibers of that specimen. Based on this characterization, diameter intervals were set and the dependence of the Elastic Modulus (E) of theses fibers with a corresponding diameter was analyzed by the Weibull Method. The results indicated an inverse dependence, in which the highest Elastic Modulus were obtained for the thinnest fibers. Moreover, it was found that a mathematical hyperbolic relationship fit well this inverse correlation between the Elastic Modulus and the bamboo fibers diameters.IntroductionBamboo is a well known grass-type plant with a hard and stiff stem or culm that can reach, in some species, more than 10 cm in cross section diameter and stand several meters height. Owing to its low density, approximately 0.9 g/cm3, bamboo culms have been used in house construction from scaffoldings to panels. As an abundant natural resource in tropical and temperate regions, specially in Asia and South America, bamboo is also a substitute for wood and plastics in furniture and lightweight parts of automobile [1,2]. The cylindrical shape of the culm is, however, a limitation for its direct use in engineering systems. Consequently, research works have been conducted on bamboo fibers stripped off from the culm as reinforcement of polymer composites. [1-12]. According to Shin et al [3] bamboo fiber-epoxy laminates can be made into specific sizes and shapes, preserving the natural microstructural properties. These fiber composites overcome the limitation of the culm's cylindrical macrostructure. As a further advantage, Shin et al [3] indicated that cracking and bioerosion caused by insect pests is prevented."

Jan 1, 2013

By P. A. Botha

The coal seams in the Waterberg basin occur in correlates of the Vryheid and Volksrust Formations as developed in the main Karoo basin. In the Vryheid Formation, five thick seams of predominantly dull coal are present, whereas a multitude of thin, lenticular seams (a few millimetres to 2 metres}, predominantly of bright coal, are developed in the overlying Grootegeluk Formation. During exploration, the coal seams were divided into 11 zones. Analytical data on float and middlings fractions (RD less than 1.40 and between 140 and 1.80, respectively} were used mainly for stratigraphic correlation of the zones in the Grootegeluk Formation. The affinities of the major and trace elements for different mineral phases and/or organic material are discussed on the basis of correlation matrices and vertical variation diagrams. Titanium and vanadium clearly show some degree of organic affinity. P 205&apos; AI203 and alkaline-earth elements are also positively correlated by the presence of goyazite in the coal. This type of investigation gives an indication of the degree to which undesirable elements like P and S can be removed during coal beneficiation, of which coal zones are unsuitable for the production of metallurgical coal on account of a high content of these elements, and to what extent the blending of different coal zones is required to keep the concentration of these elements within acceptable limits.

Jan 1, 1991

By Gary A. Campbell

This article is an analysis of world consumption of copper for the years 1976-1996. It is done to provide a comparison of what has happened over this time period with the trends of previous years in order to learn more about world copper consumption and to forecast world copper consumption trends into the new millennium. The analysis begins by documenting the geographic trends of consumption of copper for the years 1976-1996 by both region and key individual countries. Then, variables based on the intensity-of-use hypothesis and the intensity-of-use technique are selected and tested against the observed consumption behavior by using the correlation coefficient technique. The statistical results and their implications for the consumption of copper into the new millennium are discussed.

Jan 1, 1999

By Nickolas J. Themelis

The role of copper in the economy will not diminish in the 21st century. Following the tenets of industrial ecology, production and use of copper must take into account both human needs and also how to minimize "collateral" effects on the environment. Dispersive uses will be phased out and post-use recovery of copper will increase. This will result into an advantage for smelting processes that can accommodate mixed metal scrap and waste streams. The bath smelting processes of Noranda and Mitsubishi will continue to make progress but the dominance of the Outokumpu flash smelting will not be challenged until the Noranda reactor overcomes the obstacles to the direct production of copper, thus eliminating the need for a converter.

Jan 1, 1999

By M. E. Ramos Rada

Mexicana de Cobre, which is part of Grupo Mexico, carried out studies for the construction of a copper refinery in the La Caridad Metallurgical Complex located in Nacozari, in the state of Sonora, Mexico. After the studies were concluded, the decision was made to construct a 180,000 t/y refinery using the state of the art permanent cathode Kidd Process. The basic engineering was developed by Fluor Daniel and the detail engineering and the construction were carried out in record time by the Mexican company Bufete Industrial. During the construction phase, Grupo Mexico decided to expand the refinery, and actions were taken to increase its capacity by an additional 120,000 t/y; the final result was a refinery capable of producing 300,000 tonnes of grade A cathode per year. Construction began in January 1996, and the operation of the first stage began on July 1, 1997. The operation of the second stage commenced on January 7, 1998. The capacity of the first stage was reached in November, 1997 and the total capacity of the refinery was achieved in May, 1998. This presentation describes the process and equipment installed in the refinery, the steps leading to the start-up, the operation and the results obtained during the first two years, the handling of anodes with high impurity contents, and the problems confronted and the way they have been solved. It also includes personnel productivity, the control parameters and the most relevant data on the operation of the process.

Jan 1, 1999

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 G. Hanko, A. Lebleu, M. Sibony, J. Lecadet

The New Jersey distillation process is today the most important pyrometallurgical method for the production of zinc of very high purity. The flexibility of the pyrometallurgical zinc production process, especially its ability for recycling, makes it competitive, although it is energy intensive. A deeper knowledge of the New Jersey process is necessary to further increase its technical performance by ensuring its global safety. A project, integrated in the European research program EUREKA, has been started in order to define the process chemistry of distillation. Experimental measurements have been carried out with a column at the laboratory scale, and the results, linked with industrial measurements, support the development of a model based on material and thermal balances. The first conclusions indicate that the key parameters for process optimization are the column geometry and the distribution of the thermal losses.

Jan 1, 2000

By L. Dornelles, M. H. Prediger, R. de C. de S. Schneider, D. A. R. Lopez

In this work it was evaluated the environmental impact of sunflower plantation for biodiesel production. It was considered, for life cycle analysis (LCA) of sunflower in familiar agriculture in the South of Brazil, data collected in 23 experimental farmings with sowing in the period from August to November (2006 -2007). The LCA has considered the plantation conditions, energetic efficiency, man power, diesel volume, type of machines, fertilizers and pesticides used. From the analysis carried through it was evidenced that the sunflower produced in small scale does not need the use of tractors to have an excellent productivity and low impact. Therefore, the sunflower can be cultivated, with the necessary cares, in periods that do not compromise the man power for other cultures and the sunflower is an alternative so that the familiar property can produce biodiesel.

Jan 1, 2008

By Oleg I. Platonov

The process for desulfurizing coke oven gas in a regenerative system ?scrubber-stripper?, with sour gas being fed to Sulfur Recovery Unit (SRU) and tail gas being recycled to raw coke gas scrubber, has been developed. A key problem of this process is the presence of elemental sulfur in the SRU off-gas, which may deposit on gas-blowing equipment, thus disrupting its operation. A new treatment technology for SRU off-gas that has been worked out for a Claus unit operated by «Russian Metallurgical Company» (RMC) in Magnitogorsk (Russia) is presented. It incorporates a catalytic hydrolysis/hydrogenation stage, where all sulfur-bearing species such as sulfur dioxide, carbonyl sulfide and elemental sulfur are converted to hydrogen sulfide. The SRU in Magnitogorsk comprises three main units: gas re-heater; catalytic hydrolysis reactor and waste gas cooler. Re-heater is required to increase temperature of the process gas up to a level of catalytic conversion (beyond 330-3500C). Oxygen utilized as an oxidizing agent reduces the volume of waste gas to a minimal possible value. The operational data garnered since 16.07.2004 clearly shows that the new technology allows high-level purification of Claus tail gas from elemental sulfur. Unlike SCOT ? process, this technology does not require separate stages for H2S removal and enrichment that tangibly simplifies its implementation at lower capital and operation expenditures.

Jan 1, 2006

By O. Kitamura, H. Kubota

The Harima Works started its ISP operation in 1966 and been expanding its production capacity from 3,000 tonne Zn/month and 1,500 tonne Pb/month to 7,500 tonne Zn/month and 2,500 tonne Pb/month. It is not only treating zinc, lead and bulk concentrates but also secondary materials like Waelz kiln oxide from the Shisaka Works of Sumitomo Metal Mining, waste treatment sludges, industrial wastes and others. Its final products cover Prime Western Grade (PWG) zinc, Special High Grade (SHG) zinc, continuous galvanizing grade zinc, electrolytic lead, cadmium, indium, thallium and sulfuric acid. This paper briefly describes the smelter's historical and present operations. The key data for the current impurity control management and for the distribution of impurities such as copper, iron and arsenic are presented.

Jan 1, 2000

By John B. Dale

A primary objective of copper mining, smelting and refining operations is the cost- effective, efficient, and environmentally-acceptable control of the level of various metal ions throughout the processing and effluent treatment flowsheets. Effective ionic control maximizes product and by-product quality, allows for broad flexibility in sourcing impurity laden ores, minimizes capital and operating costs, and can achieve zero discharge operations. In order to meet increasingly stringent cost, environmental and product quality requirements, separation technologies are needed that can selectively remove and recover deleterious or valuable ions. Ideally, the subsequently obtained salts or metals can be recycled in the process, disposed of in an environmentally acceptable manner, or sold as valuable by-products. The use of MRT, a highly selective separations technology, has been demonstrated to be a cost effective, efficient, and environmentally- sound treatment for a wide range of cations and anions that are commonly found in copper electrorefining and electrowinning circuits, as well as in environmental treatment operations. These include heavy and transition metals, precious metals, halides and alkali/alkaline earths. This paper will review a number of areas of interest including: recovery and refining of platinum group metals from copper anode slimes, recovery of copper from acid mine drainage streams, extraction of Bi, Sb and C1 from copper electrorefining and electrowinning circuits.

Jan 1, 1999

By John C. Taylor

With growing emphasis on energy conservation and increased concern over the presence of heavy metals in the environment, it is fortunate that most metals are readily recycled. In this respect, metals have a significant advantage over plastics and similar materials used as metal substitutes. For many years a secondary industry has processed scrap copper, nickel, lead and zinc to produce refined metal which has, to varying degrees, influenced the price and displaced the production of primary metal. This paper reviews some of the challenges the industry will face and the changes in process technology which will be required as pressure mounts to increase the amount of metal recycled. In the case of most base metals, this will have an impact on primary metal production; as the tonnage of metal recycled increases, the requirement for primary production, or new metal, will depend more and more on the growth in consumption.

Jan 1, 1993