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By Philippe Charlier

Recycling of aluminium contained in used aseptic beverage cartons is a difficult task which has nevertheless to be tackled by our modern societies. Techniques have earlier been developed by the paper and pulp industry for the recycling of the board fibres from collected post-consumer beverage cartons. A joint technical feasibility study by Granges and a leading beverage carton producer has dealt with different techniques for handling residues from repulping facilities. The aluminium obtained can be used as raw material for the production of thin gauge foil, thus closing the recycling loop.

Jan 1, 1995

By Brandon R. Ball

An investigation of the effects of ozone and ozone-induced hydroxyl radical on reducing whole effluent toxicity is described and discussed relative to the application of ozone for industrial water treatment. Results from operation of an ozone system treating industrial effluent from a lead and zinc mine in Colorado are presented. The mine discharges 1,000 gpm of wastewater into a tributary of the Arkansas River and has historically exceeded Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) limits and on occasion has exceeded numeric limits for copper, ammonia, and cyanide. Based on results of a Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) conducted on the effluent and individual process waste streams, the source of effluent toxicity is believed to be primarily associated with organic reagents used in the milling process. Based on test results, an applied ozone to COD ratio of 3: 1 by weight and a contact time of 30 minutes was found to be effective for reducing whole effluent toxicity at pH 11 but not at pH 7, indicating oxidation by hydroxyl radical to be the dominant mechanism responsible for toxic-ity reduction. At an applied ozone to COD ratio of 3:1 and a pH of 11, toxicity was improved from 0 percent survival to 100 percent survival for Ceriodaphnia dubia and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) based

Jan 1, 1996

By Hu Meilong, Liu Lu, Bai Chenguang

Extracting perovskite from high titanium-bearing blast furnace (BF) slag is a green and potential method to recover the second titanium resource. The non-isothermal crystallization process of perovskite in synthesized high titanium-bearing slag was studied in situ by confocal scanning laser microscope (CSLM) with cooling rate of 20 K/min. The results showed that perovskite was the primary phase formed during cooling process in the titanium-bearing synthesized slag (TiO2=23%). Perovskite started to precipitate at 1719 K and finally presented an orthogonal straight lines morphology.

Jan 1, 2014

By Maria G. Alves, Alexandre M. Stumbo, Francisca M. A. Pinheiro, Jonas Alexandre, Sergio N. Monteiro, Valdo da S. Marques, Paulo R. N. da Silva

"Brazil is among the few countries with potential for developing all sources of renewable forms of energy. In particular, the country is leading the world efforts of substituting petroleum based fuels for biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel. Most of the Brazilian petroleum, which has now achieved self sufficiency, is extracted from offshore wells located at the north region of the state of Rio de Janeiro. In view of the future depletion of petroleum, the State University of the Northern Rio de Janeiro (UENF) has created a Center for Alternative Energies (NEAL) to carry out R&D programs on renewable forms of energy. Today, the main project of the NEAL/UENF is a model park for generation of renewable forms of energy. The objective of this work is to present the structural concept of the park and discuss its contribution in terms of scientific, technological, economical and environmental benefitsIntroductionEnergy is presently a key issue in the world agenda for sustained development and environmental protection. It is of common agreement that the existing status of increasing use of fossil fuels, mainly petroleum, natural gas and coal will not only cause depletion of these resources with a consequent elevation in price but also climate changes, especially global warming. In fact, the humankind may be already facing an irreversible situation of climate alterations as well as reduction of conventional sources of energy. The worse predictions foreseen by specialists, still for this coming century, are dramatic disasters due to catastrophic weather in association with a profound energetic crisis. This scenario may, however, be avoided by actions that could effectively tackle the core of the problem. These actions have been suggested and discussed by scientists and leading authorities, especially in international symposia [1-3]. In particular, the Kyoto Protocol proposed goals for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as well as a mechanism of carbon credits to allow for decreasing CO2 content in the atmosphere without affecting industrial production [3]."

Jan 1, 2008

By R. Parada

In January 1995, Disputada Mining Company Ltd. (Compañia Minera Disputada de Las Condes) started up the Expansion Project for the Chagres Smelter, following an investment of US$M 2 15. The new smelter replaced the 44,000 tomes per year revervatory furnace with an Outokumpu Flash Smelting Furnace (FSF) designed to produce 118,000 tonnes per year of copper. Nowadays, this smelting unit has achieved a 40% over design performance. The landmarks of this modernization project are described. The start up period in 1995-1996 was characterized by the impacts of several restrictions that prevented the smelter from reach design production. The design performance was reached in 1997-1998 through the implementation of solutions designed to eliminate, or at least mitigate, the restrictions found early on. The smelter has been further optimized in the 1999-2000 period, leading to a new record anode copper production rate of 148,000 tonnes in 2000 while obtaining 98% approval for our different anode shapes. The objective of this paper is to discuss the consecutive processes of start-up, achievement of design capacity, and operational improvements to go well beyond the design capacity. These processes took place between early 1995 and late 2000, under the principles of Continuous Improvement that promotes the effective participation of the workers in the technology innovation and Enterprise Management.

Jan 1, 2002

By Sridhar Seetharuman

Sulfur and oxygen dissolved in nickel and cupronickel melts can be removed as gaseous oxides of sulfur by a vacuum treatment. Presented in this paper is a new matched thermochemical diagram that permits direct evaluation of the equilibrium partial pressure of SO, as a function of temperature over an alloy of specified composition. The matched thermochemical diagram consists of a central plot which shows the integral Gibbs' energy of mixing for the binary system S-O2, at different temperatures. The central plot is flanked on either side by terminal plots of the chemical potentials of oxygen and sulfur, as functions of temperature, for different alloy compositions. By projecting the chemical potentials of oxygen and sulfur from the terminal plots on to the central diagram, the equilibrium pressure of SO2,can be directly read on the nomograms on the central plot at different temperatures. The matched thermochemical diaerams are - useful in assuring the efficiency of vacuum refining.

Jan 1, 1993

By R. R. Odle

A laboratory and pilot-scale investigation of direct smelting of copper concentrates was conducted to determine the effect of concentrate analysis and the degree of roasting on the yield and quality of copper produced in a subsequent smelting step. A stoichiometric :mOdel of direct smelting is presented which predicts the? quantity of copper; slag, and white metal' prOduced'and the distribution of copper in these phases as a function? of the concentrate '(calcine) analysis.

Jan 1, 1983

By Ker-Chang Hsieh

Four three-phase equilibria and one two-phase equilibrium in the FeNi- S-0 quaternary system in the vicinity of 1023 K and Pso2 = 1 atm were studied using the following emf cell 2 Pt,o2 (air)Zr02 .CaO/Pso2 = 1 atm, mixture of phases, Au The four three-phase equilibria are sp + (Fe,Ni )S + Ni 3s2, sp + Ni 3s2 + NiO, sp + NiO + N1S04 and Fe2 o3 + sp + (Fe,NOS04 -Y:he two-phase equilibrium is sp + (Fe,Ni)S. The two-.phase equilibrium was measured by using mixtures containing a major portion of one phase and a minor portion of the other. The results are presented in terms of oxygen potential as a function of YNi = nNi/(nN1+nFe) at constant temperature and pso2 = 1 atm. The stability diagram was also calculated using appropriate thermodynamic models for all the pertinent phases. The calculated diagram is in accord with the measured ones.

Jan 1, 1985

By Run Huang, Xuewei Lv, Songli Liu, Chenguang Bai

"Titanium alloy was prepared from titania-bearing blast furnace slag (Ti-BF slag) by aluminothermic process in an induction furnace. The effects of aluminum amount on the titanium silicon yield and titanium recovery ratio were studied. The phase transformation and chemical composition of the prepared alloy were investigated by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) respectively. It was found that the mass fraction of silicon and aluminum increased with increasing the aluminum amount, however, the mass fraction of titanium increased first and then decreased with increasing the aluminum amount. Furthermore, both the titanium alloy yield and titanium recovery ratio increased with the increase of aluminum amount. The main phases of the alloy were TixSiy and AlTi3. The titanium alloy samples prepared in various conditions had a composition (wt.%): 38–50% Ti, 29-34% Si, 4-11 Al%, 1.6-2.2 Mn%.IntroductionPanzhihua and Xichang regions in the southwest of China are rich in vanadium-titanium magnetite containing iron, vanadium, titanium and gangue. According to the characteristics of the resource, iron and vanadium are successfully recovered with a blast furnace process and a converter process. However, most content of titanium are entered in the blast furnace slag with TiO2 22% -26% and metallic Fe 2%–6% called Ti-BF slag. Due to the dispersed distribution of Ti in various fine grained mineral phases with a complex combination between Ca, Al and Si, it is difficult to recover the Ti components[1]. This slag is generated at a current rate of 3.6 million tons per year, which adds to the existing 70 million tons of slag produced so far[2]. The slag has had to be piled as large as the mountains, which not only waste of resources but also cause a pollution of the environment. Therefore, the study of integrated utilizing Ti-BF slag has become very significant."

Jan 1, 2012

By John L. Uhrie

Oxide stockpile leaching operations can realize increased copper recovery and decreased acid consumption from in-situ generated acid resulting from the oxidation of intentionally introduced pyrite recovered from mill tailings or other sources. While all oxide leach ores can benefit from pyrite addition, low acid consuming ores can show remarkably increased recovery and net acid generation; however, more highly acid consuming ores will show benefit more exclusively through increased copper recovery. Additional work shows that the value of highly acid consuming ores can be optimized by balancing copper recovery against acid consumption.

Jan 1, 1999

By Jean P. Murray

The extractive metallurgical industry is a major consumer of high-temperature process heat. It is, consequently, a major contributor of C02 emissions and other greenhouse gases derived from the combustion of fossil fuels for heat and electricity generation, or from the process itself. These emissions can be substantially reduced by replacing fossil fuels with solar energy as the source of process heat. Concentrated solar radiation can supply a large amount of thermal energy to endothermic reactions at temperatures exceeding 2000 K. Another potential for C02 emission reduction exists as well. Thermodynamically, the total amount of energy required for metal production at any given temperature is the enthalpy change of the reaction, AH. Of this total, an amount equal to the Gibbs free energy AG must be supplied as high quality energy in the form of electrical work or by using a reducing agent. Many conventional metallurgical electrolytic processes and reducing furnaces are unable to add only the thermodynamically required electricaVchemical energy due to process inefficiencies. Electrical work in excess of AG for the reaction may be used to supply process heat, or excess chemical reducing agent burned to supply process heat. Besides the thermodynamic and economic drawback, this inefficiency results in excess C02 emissions derived from the combustion of fossil fuels. With these practices, energy becomes an important cost element of the metal produced. Highly-concentrated solar energy has the demonstrated potential to separate these two forms of process energies, allowing the addition of only the thermodynamically required high-quality energy while high-temperature solar process heat is provided to the reactor. Examples of metal oxide reduction processes that have been studied experimentally in solar furnaces include the production of Fe, Al, AI/Si alloy, Mg, Zn, Tic, Sic, CaC2, TIN, Si3N4, and AIN by carbothermic reduction of their oxides, and the high-temperature solar- electrothermal reduction of ZnO.

Jan 1, 1999

By Vojteh Leskov?ek

The tribological load is the load on forging tools resulting from the relative motions between the plastically deformed workpiece and the die. In comparison to many other forming processes hot die forging has an especially disadvantageous tribological system. The advantages of the application of hard coatings, which are well known for cutting tools, are to a much lesser extent explored for casting, extrusion, molding and forging tools. Increasing the lifetime of these tools is an important task in surface engineering because of the complex loading conditions and often complicated tool geometry. The plasma-assisted chemical-vapor-deposition (PACVD) technique is well suited to depositing hard coatings onto large dies and molds. The aim of this study is to present and discus results obtained on a duplex PACVD hard coating in an industrial application like the hot forging of automotive parts. A new generation of vacuum-melted and remelted (VMR) hot-work tool steels has been developed; these can reach a hardness of 58 HRc, and have a fracture toughness at this hardness equivalent to that of standard hot-work tool steels at 45 HRc. This offers one of two advantages: the steels can be used at the higher hardness to provide resistance to wear or deformation, or, when used at a hardness of 47?49 HRc for hot forging, to provide temper resistance, nitriding behavior and adhesive wear resistance. The results presented here are from a preliminary investigation. The experimental results indicate that the introduction of a proper duplex PACVD hard coating will lead to an improved wear resistance and a longer lifetime for the hot-forging dies. Furthermore, by using a hard, low-friction coating excellent anti-sticking properties can be obtained. At this stage of the investigation it is also necessary to carry out pilot trials to determine the wear resistance and the tool life in practice.

Jan 1, 2006

By E. A. Werner, A. Pichler, A. Spalek, G. Reisner, P. Stiaszny

"Interstitial free (IF) sheet steels are used for complex shaped parts because of their excellent formability. If a deep drawn part is subjected· to a impact deformation at low temperature brittle fracture of the part may occur. This phenomenon\ is called secondary work embrittlement (SWE). One possibility to characterize this material/structural behavior is the drop-weight test. The result of .this .test is a temperature at and below which a crack can initiated in a deep drawn part under the investigated set of parameters. This paper addresses the influence of the preforming process on the sus- . . ceptibili.ty of IF steels to SWE.IntroductionInterstiiial:free (IF-) steels are frequently used in the automotive industry for complex· shaped p·arts because of their excellent deep drawability. The microstructure of the steel consists of a highly ductile ferritic matrix with embedded precipitates of nitrides and/or carbides. Brittle fracture can occur in deep drawn parts, if they are subjected to a high speed deformation at lo""w temperature. This phenomenon is called ~econdary Work gmbrittlement (SWE) [1-11]. Up to now there are no standardized testing procedures available to quantify the sensibility of IF-sheet steel to SWE. Neveitheless, a reasonable testing procedure which allows to quantify the tendency of a predeformed part to SWE is necessary for further material development. A commonly used test method is the drop-weight test performed at low temperatures. In such ·tests a cone-like drop weight expands a deep drawn cylindrical cup [l-3, 6, 8, 9, 11]. From this expansion experiment the temperature is determined at and below which a brittle crack can be initiated in the deep drawn cup under the investigated impact test parameters. The highest measured temperature at which a deep drawn cup fails by brittle fracture is called frack appearances !emperature (CAPT). The lower the value of the CAPT the lower is the sensibility of a deep drawn part of IF-sheet steel to SWE. This paper aims to clarify the role of the preforming process on the impact behavior of an IF steel. For this purpose a numerical analysis of the deep drawing process and cup expansion tests are conducted."

Jan 1, 2000

By Yongzhong Xiao, Tiejun Chun, Jian Pan, Deqing Zhu

"An innovative process of reverse floatation-direct reduction-low intensity magnetic separation was developed to effectively beneficiate the superfine run-of-mine (ROM) ore mined from Hunan Province, China. Mineralogy was measured that the ROM ore is of superfine low grade hematite ore type, assaying 27.2wt%Fetotal and with main valuable minerals of hematite occurring at size between 3 to 5µm. The upgrading results show that the final iron concentrate, assaying 88.3wt%Fe total and 94.5% metallization degree was obtained at an overall iron recovery of 69.9% under the following conditions: rough concentration by grinding of ROM up to 88.7% passing 0.074 mm and reverse flotation at pH=9.4, 100 g/t starch and 200 g/t dodecylamine (DDA), and coal reducing the rough concentrate pellets containing 12% calcium containing complex additive at 1200 oC for 120 min, and finally magnetic separation of the reduced pellets by grinding up to 89.2% passing 0.043 mm at 0.08 T field intensity.IntroductionWith the rapid development of iron and steel industry in China, there has been a soaring demand for iron ores in the past decade. The imports of iron ores have increased from 148 million ton in 2003 to 628 million ton in 2009 [1]. Iron making industries increasingly demand for high grade raw materials to improve product quality and reduce operation cost. However, availability of high grade natural ores is limited and enrichment of lower grade ores is necessary to meet the demand. Therefore, large quantities of superfine low grade iron resources are necessary to utilize in China at the moment."

Jan 1, 2011

By Michael S. Moats

As commercial copper electrorefineries look to expand their capacities by increasing their operating current density, the likelihood of anode passivation intensifies. To improve the industry?s understanding of the passivation phenomena, the role of anode composition was evaluated. While previous studies have focused on studying one impurity element at a time, this study was conducted using forty-four commercial electrorefining anode samples supplied by ten copper companies The passivation response of each sample was evaluated under accelerated galvanostatic conditions in synthetic copper electrowinning electrolyte at 65°C. This information allows for correlations between composition and passivation tendencies over a wide range of impurity elements and concentrations. It was found that selenium, tellurium, silver, lead and nickel accelerated passivation. It appeared that oxygen accelerated passivation when increased from 500 to 1500 ppm, but further increases did not have an effect. Arsenic was the only impurity found that inhibited passivation.

Jan 1, 2006

By Ross R. Bhappu

A theoretical and experimental investigation into pyrometallurgical refining of chloride leach/electrowin copper is described. The two techniques investigated were (i) vaporization and (ii) gaseous halogenation. Experiments were carried out with a packed bed of electrowon copper crystals and a boat of melted copper crystals. Nitrogen gas and Freon 12/nitrogen mixtures were used as the carrier and reac.tive gases. Vaporization was found to be effective in removing Bi, Pb and S while halogenation was effective. in removing As, Bi, Pb, S and Sb. Silver resisted all attempts at removal. Iron was removed but less effectively than the other impurities.

Jan 1, 1985

By Cao rong-jiang, Tang Xin-he

"In ordinary manufacture process of tungsten powder, a preferable intermediate product used is ammonium paratungstate (APT). The particle size of tungten powder made from it through W2OO58 is larger than 1. 0 um. In order to obtain ultrafine tungsten powder with narrow size distribution, a new type of tungstate, hydraziniull tungstate, was studied. Its formula is 5(N2H5)2O·12 WO.s , with tetragonal crystal structure of a=5.821 , c=18. 468. Three methods for preparing hydrazinium tungstate (ART) were set up and ART can be produced by current industrial APT process with little modification of operation and without any change of equipment.Under certain PH and operation condition of the solution from which ART was produced, an autoreduction of tungsten occured, which produced a lower valency tungstate with blue color when ART was heated at different temperatures, in N atmosphere, tungsten bronze, tetragonal W0290 and W02.7E could be obtained respectively. They all have the superiorities, in the production of tungsten powder, of superfine size and narrow size distribution [average size of 0.5um or even smaller.The rate of autoreduction of ART is very fast at elevated temperature. The reduction reaction, which gaves tetragonal WO290, could be handled smoothly without explosion. To research their behaviors at autoreduction temperatures and the products of autoreduction will be new advances of tungsten chemistry and may also serve tungsten industry with new processes and materials."

Jan 1, 1988

By Chen Song

In the experiments of purifying the solution of chlorine leaching from nickel concentrate with N235, the effects of organic phase composition on purifying efficiency have been studied. From the results obtained, the optimal organic phase composition is found to be 25%N235+12%isomerous alcohol +63%sulfonic kerosene (VIV) and the saturated content of cobalt in organic phase is7.95 g*dm3. And then the serial experiment is carried out. The results show that at the given organic phase composition, the purified solution contains p(Ni) >200 gm dm3, p(Ni)l p(Co) >50000 and the contents of Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn meet the technical criterion of standard nickel electrolyte. The cobalt chloride solution contains p(Co) >I10 g L-1, p(Co) lp(Ni)>50000 and the enrichment of cobalt has been achieved.

Jan 1, 2006

By Mark Kruzynski, Srinivas Garimella, James T. Wiswall

"A flue gas recirculation (FGR) system for a combustion fired aluminum melting furnace is experimentally investigated. The FGR system flows combustion air in a turbulent jet within the flue gas stream, and the turbulent jet flow is collected in a tube at a distance from the jet exit. Entrainment of the flue gases as well as heat transfer between the flue gases and the jet occurs over the length of the exposed jet. Heat transfer between the flue gases and the jet, and the amount of flue gas entrained into the jet (derived from temperature, flow rate and oxygen fraction measurements) were measured as a function of nozzle exit velocity and the distance between the nozzle exit and collection tube. In addition to flue gas entrainment, a fuel savings of up to 7%, due to heat transfer over the length of the jet, was projected from the measurements obtained.IntroductionFlue gas recirculation can be applied to aluminum melting furnaces to control combustion temperature. When coupled with a device to improve furnace efficiency by recovering heat from the furnace exhaust, flue gas recirculation provides a control technique that is integral to achieving the goals of reducing fuel consumption, increasing product yield, increasing the longevity of infrastructure, and reducing pollutant emissions. In particular, combustion temperature control can help reduce reactivity of the products of combustion with the molten metal surface and furnace refractory materials. Combustion temperature control can also help improve the life of heat exchangers used to recover energy lost to the environment in the flue gases, and reduce NOx formation in the combustion process. Flue gas recirculation can also dilute oxygen used in oxy-fuel combustion to reduce reactivity.Flue gas recirculation has been used since the 1970s to control flame temperatures in the automotive industry [1-3] and has successfully reduced NOx emissions. Many different flue gas recirculation approaches for high temperature melting such as melting aluminum and glass have been patented since the 1980s [4-12]. There has also been academic interest to determine the fundamental performance characteristics of flue gas recirculation in high temperature furnaces and in combustion [13-15]."

Jan 1, 2014

By José Luiz Rodrigues Bravo

The production of electrolytic copper with assured quality corresponding to international standards, in a conventional electrorefkery of a custom smelter, is a hard and cautious task, if no advanced technologies for selective control of electrolyte impurities are available. The improper control of the amount of As , Sb and Bi in the anode that enter the tankhouse , attributable either to a bad schedule of concentrate input or to the unavailability of clean concentrates in the international market , as well as the lack of means to maintain the suitable level of these elements in the electrolyte together with other operational circumstances, can result in off-grade copper, as well as affect the starting sheet chemically and physically. This paper presents in a practical way the relationship between the operational conditions and the cathode and starting sheet quality produced at CMSA, covering the period of the last five years of operation, discusses the technologies available in the market for antimony and bismuth removal and compare the results of testwork, achieved in the laboratories of CMSA, using two resins not associated with patented technologies.

Jan 1, 1997