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By Wenxuan Xu, Shusen Cheng, Tian Chen

Pulverized coal injection (PCI) can generate heat and reducing gas in the raceway and replace some expensive metallurgical coke in the blast furnace ironmaking process. In this paper, a three dimensional mathematical model of the raceway including the coke bed has been developed to simulate the complicated phenomena of pulverized coal injection. The effects of oxygen enrichment, particle diameter in the raceway are investigated in this study. The establishment of the 3D model is expected to analyze the raceway working state accurately and optimising the PCI operation of blast furnaces.

Mar 1, 2017

By Shoji Taniguchi, Lifeng Zhang

"In this paper, firstly the 3D single-phase turbulent steady fluid flow in a vessel with four baffles stirred by a single impeller is mathematically simulated. Turbulence is modeled by using the standard k - e model. Sliding-grid method is used to model the impeller. The flow domain is divided into two cylindrical, the inner one rotates at the same speed as the impeller, and the outer one is fixed with the baffles. Results indicate that the high-speed zone is near the paddles, and larger stirring speed generates larger fluid flow velocity. The calculated stirring intensity data are used to analyze the experimental results. Secondly the effects, such as filter pore size, gas flow rate and NaCl concentration, on bubble size are studied by experiment. For the particle removal rate by bubble flotation in this vessel, first order kinetics is adopted. The effects of initial number of the particles, gas flow rate, particle and bubble size, stirring speed and surface condition, on the removal rate constant are discussed, and an empirical equation is derived by experimental data. At last, a simple model is developed to study the particle attachment probability on bubble surface under turbulent flow conditions. IntroductionIt is well known that inclusions have a bad effect on steel quality. Trying to remove inclusions from liquid steel as many as possible is one of the main objects for the metallurgical workers. Lots of ways are developed to remove inclusions from liquid steel. Gas injection is an effective one. This technique is used to achieve homogeneity in the temperature and metal composition and to assist in the removal of second phase and dissolved impurities from molten steel. Gas injection is commonly applied to the secondary metallurgy processes and continuous casting, for example the ladle argon gas treatment, RH vacuum degassing, and the gas injection in the Submerged Entry Nozzles (SEN) of continuous casting mold, etc. The development of these processes focuses on achieving two conditions: fine bubbles and good mixing. Fine bubbles provide a large gas/liquid interfacial area and a high attachment probability to inclusions, and good mixing enhances the efficiency of impurity transfer."

Jan 1, 2000

By J. M. Rapkoch

In late October 1996, an acid plant at a major U.S. copper smelter was faced with unexpected and rapidly increasing pressure drop across the gas cooling tower in the acid plant, indicating a build-up on the packing. This threatened to halt operations if not resolved. Earlier that month, a smaller vessel in the acid plant was found to be completely plugged with lead sulfate. It was feared that a similar fate awaited the gas cooling tower unless the scale build-up was stopped. Although lead sulfate is present in most copper smelter acid plants, this accumulation was unusually severe. An investigation was launched to find the source of the lead, determine how lead is transported to the gas cooling tower, recommend operating practices to prevent such severe scaling, and seek ways to recycle the lead value in the scale covered polypropylene packing. Late in the investigation it was learned that the lead originated from an improperly executed recycling program.

Jan 1, 2000

By Z. Yang

The flotation behavior of the. green algae Chlorella vulgaris and a wild Chlamydomonas spp. was studied in the presence of Zn(II) using dodecylammonium chloride as collector. At about pH 6. both organisms readily float as amine concentration approaches lx10-3 kmol/m3. In addition, electrokinetic measurements were made on the organisms as a function of pH in both the presence and absence of Zn(II). It was found that the Zn(II) has a considerably greater effect on the zeta potential of C. vulgaris than on Chlamydomonas. Zn(II) adsorption studies also indicated that C. vulgaris is able to accumulate more Zn from solution than the Chlamydomonas.

Jan 1, 1991

By B. Madelin

Over the last ten years, Minemet Recherche and Metaleurop have used an approach in order to investigate and improve the operation of its Smelting furnace and its lead blast furnaces. This approach gives importance- to three complementary means of investigation : - Probing campains in the industrial furnace (temperature and gas analysis profiles), - Chemical and physical modeling (coke combustion, sinter reduction modes, flows patterns, ?.) , - Staged mass and heat balances or kinetic model. This allows to define the limits of operation of each blast furnace and to predict the influence of operating parameters on the furnace performances. For the zinc Imperial smelting furnace, the probing results show the existence- of both an Isothermal reserve zone at 1015ºc and a chemical equilibrium between ZnO and gas which makes possible the use of a practical model for heat and material balances. In particular, very good prediction on the influences of operating parameters can be made. On the contrary, for lead blast furnaces, the probing results show that the thermal and chemical equilibria are not reached. Consequently, classical models for staged heat and mass balances are not sufficient. The use of the other means allows then to characterize the specific influences of operating parameters on the thermal instabilities of these furnaces and their allowed limits.

Jan 1, 1990

By Jogre A. S Tenório

he aim of the present investigation was to investigate technological features of the Fe-NbC dissolution in liquid Fe-C alloys. Fe-NbC is a Ferro-niobium alloy with 7%C, has a particle size smaller than 150 pm and its micro constituents are polygonal niobium carbides and an iron matrix. The obtained dissolution time was less than one-minute and the yields were in the range of 80-90% at 1873 K. In the Fe-NbC dissolution process, the dissolution occurs at first, and as a consequence the niobium carbides become free to dissolve. These carbides will dissolve until the melt reaches a saturation point. The non-dissolved carbides remain trapped in the liquid or will form a dross. The addition yields decreases when the niobium concentration reaches this limit value, that depends on the carbon concentration. These define a saturation curve.

Jan 1, 1994

By Senlin Cui, In-ho Jung

Significant amount of commercial aircrafts will be retired in 2020, and the recycling of Al components in such aircrafts becomes an important issue in aerospace and Al industry. Recycling of Al from obsoleted Al products can effectively reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emission which is more economical and ecofriendly. In the present study, thermodynamic analysis for the various recycling technologies of Al alloys were performed based on the comprehensive and accurate thermodynamic database. The recycling technologies reviewed in this work include the vaporization process to reduce Zn, precipitation process to reduce Fe, Mn, Si, Ti, Zr, flux treatment for Al 2O3 and MgO, etc. Several key issues and limitation of the recycling of the aircraft Al were discussed. The recycling technologies discussed can also be utilized to recycle other Al alloys for common usage. All the thermodynamic calculations were performed using the FactSage FTlite database.

Mar 1, 2017

By Yiling Zhang, Paul A. Salvador, Gregory S. Rohrer

"Photocatalysis utilizes solar energy to produce hydrogen by splitting H2O. When a thin film of photocatalyst TiO2 is supported on a ferroelectric BiFeO3 substrate (band gap ~2.5 eV), the TiO2/BiFeO3 heterostructure is capable of photochemically reducing Ag+ to Ag0 in aqueous solutions under blue light with enhanced efficiency. The observation of spatially selective silver patterns on surface of the heterostructure after reaction suggests that photogenerated electrons and holes in ferroelectric BiFeO3 are driven in opposite directions to reduce their chance of recombination. Comparisons of the amounts of reduced silver on TiO2 film grains with distinct phases/orientations show that the reactivity is mildly preferential on anatase TiO2 phase and does not strongly depend on crystallographic orientation of BiFeO3.IntroductionTitania (TiO2) is capable of photocatalytically converting H2O to hydrogen and oxygen under the irradiation of ultraviolet light. [1, 2] One of the limiting factors for titania to be used as an effective photocatalyst is its band gap. Because the absorption edges of rutile and anatase titania are at 3.0 eV and 3.2 eV, respectively, they can only absorb light in the UV portion of the spectrum, which is about 3% of the available solar energy. [3-5] This limitation has motivated attempts to modify the absorption edge of titania so that it can absorb visible light.One strategy is to substitute a portion of the titanium and/or the oxygen with other atoms. There are numerous reports on visible light absorption of titania by doping and co-doping of Cr, V, Mo, Sb, Fe, N, S, C, and F. [6-34] Another strategy is to add an adsorbed molecular species that absorb visible light and donate an electron or hole to the titania, such as organic dyes [33, 35, 36] and Ce3+/Ce4+. [37, 38]The strategy in the present work takes the approach of depositing a pure titania thin film on a visible light absorbing substrate BiFeO3 to induce visible light activity of the heterostructure. BiFeO3 is a semiconductor with a band gap of about 2.5 eV [39-41] and is photocatalytically active in visible light. [42, 43] It is also ferroelectric with spontaneous polarization along pseudo-cubic <111> directions of 6.1 µC cm-2. [44] The spontaneous polarization gives rise to internal electric fields that drive photogenerated charge carriers, namely electrons and holes, in opposite directions to reduce their chance of recombination. [45-47] Additionally, the separation of electrons and holes leads to the spatial separation of reduction and oxidation half reactions so that the back reaction of intermediates is also suppressed. Such charge carrier separation has been reported in TiO2/BaTiO3 heterostructures with UV light illumination. [48-51] The TiO2/BiFeO3 heterostructures in this work combine both advantages of the relatively narrow band gap and the internal fields in BiFeO3 to enhance the overall photocatalytic activity."

Jan 1, 2014

By D. J. Donaldson

The PAL process for recovering nickel from laterite ore requires large volumes of thick abrasive slurry to be raised lo high temperature (245°C+) and pressure (40 atm.+). Flow diagrams of the process typically result in facilities that have serious operating and reliability problems. Most of the problems can be attributed to using multiple pump stations to raise the slurry to autoclave pressure, large amounts of flash and live injection steam to heat the slurry to autoclave temperature and several steps of flash cooling to lower the temperature and pressure of the abrasive autoclave slurry down to atmospheric conditions. It is proposed that operating and reliability problems of PAL facilities can be mitigated by using Tube-in-tube heat exchangers and "float type" positive displacement pumps. The subject paper describes an innovative application of such equipment in the facility design of the PAL process. Keywords: Nickel, Laterite, PAL, Heating, Slurry

Jan 1, 2004

By William Petruk

The mineralogy of the primary and oxidized ores from the Malanjkhand porphyry copper deposit in India was studied to determine ore characteristics that affect metallurgy, and to assess applicable processes for recovering the copper. Three mineral assemblages were found. One occurs in primary ore, another in moderately oxidized ore, and a thir:d in intensely oxidized ore. Chalcopyrite, the main mineral in the primary ore, is relatively coarse-grained, with grain size increasing as the ore grade increases. High chalcopyrite liberations should be achieved at a relatively coarse grind, and good chalcopyrite recoveries should be obtained. The chalcopyrite, however, tarnishes readily and oXidizes to chalcocite in a relatively short time (several months). The presence of both the tarnished chalcopyrite and chalcocite may affect chalcopyrite flotation and reduce copper recoveries, The moderately oxidized ore occurs in an oxidized cap immediately above the primary ore, and stockpiled primary ore alters quickly to a moderately oxidized ore. Chalcocite is a major copper-bearing mineral in moderately OXidized ore. The concentrator processing this ore should be capable of handling a chalcocite-rich ore. The intensely OXidized ore contains a wide variety of acid-soluble copper-bearing minerals. Leaching may be required to recover the copper from them.

Jan 1, 1987

By T. C. Goel, A. Venna, R. G. Mendiratta

"Processing of ferrites has gained tremendous importance in recent times to meet the high performance demands on ferrites in keeping with the fast emerging· technologies. The quality of ferrite powders has strong influence on ·the performance of final device. Fabrication· of high performing ferrite components requires starting ferrite powders of precise stoichiometry, purity and microstructure. It is difficult to obtain these attributes by the conventional ceramic method. The key to obtaining quality powders lies in the· solution techniques. With this in view soft ferrites have been prepared by a wet chemical process, known as the citrate precursor method, which involves the formation of citrate complexes of the constituent cations. The advantages of this process are the ease of preparation and close control of composition, homogeneity, purity and particle size. Electrical and magnetic measurements on lithium ferrites have shown resistivity higher by more than two orders of magnitude compared to that observed for samples prepared by the conventional ceramic method, and low magnetic losses, making the ferrites specially suitable for high frequency applications.IntroductionProperties of ferrites are known to be sensitive to .their processing technique. A small deviation in the compositional stoichiometry of the ferrite affects its properties greatly. Soft ferrites such as Ni-Zn, Mn-Zn and Mg-Mn. are well known ferrites covering wide-ranging applications [1,2]. Lithiiim ferrites have also assumed technological importance for microwave applications and are potential substitutes for the expensive garnets [3]. Lithium ferrites are often doped with zinc to tailor the saturation magnetization required at high frequencies. Lithium and lithium-zinc ferrites, however, present difficulty to processing due to the volatile nature of both the cation components, namely Li and Zn. These ions are volatile at temperatures > 1000°C which makes their processing difficult. One of the main considerations of high frequency performance of ferrites is the high eddy current losses which prevent the interaction of the magnetic field with the ferrite component and hence impair device performance. These losses can be reduced by having a material of high resistivity. Electrical conductivity in lithium ferrite has been attributed to electron hopping [4] between the two vaience states of iron, Fe2+ <=> Fe3+, on octahedral sites. Maintaining the + 3 valence state of otahedral- Fe ions is thus a prerequisite for achieving high resistivity. The resistivity of ferrites is normally found to be low when processed by the conventional solid-state or the ceramic method [5]. This is attributed to (a) extensive ball-milling employed in the method to mix the component oxides results in non-stoichiometric compositions due to introduction of additional Fe ions on abrasion of steel balls during milling, (b) high processing temperatures involved which result in significant volatilization of Li and Zn ions creating thereby oxygen non-stoichiometry which results in reduction of Fe3 + to Fe2 +, (c) large and non-uniform grain sizes. In the present work, preparation of Li and Li-Zn ferrites by a non-conventional method known as a citrate precursor method [6, 7] which requires lower processing temperatures and duration is reported. The method gives stoichiometric compositions on account of homogeneous atomic-scale mixing of the constituent cations via the formation of metal-citrate complexes mixed in solution state. The method is also capable of giving small grain size which aids the oxidation ofFe2+ ions."

Jan 1, 2000

By G. A. Brooks

Reactive ball milling has been proposed as a new route for producing carbides from oxides through carbothermic reduction. It is claimed that through milling oxide and graphite powders to the nanoscale, amorphous materials with very high reactivity are formed, that allows for easy transformation of the starting material to another in a subsequent thermal process. Thermodynamic analysis of this proposed process suggests that unless particle sizes are reduced to below 10nm, then reduction in size alone cannot explain a change in the stability of oxides. Even with nanometer scale powders, the products formed need to have a lower total surface energy than the reactants before a chemical change will occur. A model developed by Bhattacharya and Arzt for predicting localized temperature changes based on milling conditions suggest that temperature rises less than 400 K will be achieved in laboratory conditions. The present calculations suggest that nanometer scale powders formed through high speed ball milling (> I 0 mls) may have undergone a process analogous to melting and quenching. Further work is required to fully distinguish these features.

Jan 1, 2003

By Basant L. Tiwari

An electrolytic process, based on a three-layer concentration cell, to extract magnesium from commercial aluminum alloy scrap has been examined. The process was repeatedly tested at 1025 K with two cells of d1fferent sizes, 0.6 kg and 5 kg feed aluminum, to have a better understanding of the opera ting parameters and evaluate the scale-up potential. In both cells, the magnesium content of the scrap was selectively reduced ?from 1. 1 to less than 0.1 wt.% at anodic current dens-Hy as high as 1. 1 A/cm2 with current efficiency exceeding 85%. Magnesium was recovered in the form of salt coated globules. Comparison of performances for the two cells suggests that the process can be scaled up. With further development, this process could become a viable alternative for demagging secondary aluminum.

Jan 1, 1985

By E. W. Lithgow

Commercial volumes of nickeliferous laterite ores overlie part of a 90 km long belt of peridotites in central Dominican Republic. Protores are serpentinized harzburgites and dunites, with lesser serpentinite. The ore mineralogy consists mostly of goethite, serpentine-group minerals, quartz and poorly crystallized, x- ray amorphous materials. Minor constituents are hematite, gibbsite, olivine and enstatite. In the Ore Dressing plant the mine feed is subjected initially to proper sizing and blending to produce a homogenized mix. Subsequent drying and upgrading, by selective crushing and screening of rock fragments through a Barmac circuit, complete preparation of the ore for pyrometallurgical processing.

Jan 1, 1993

By Christoph Czettl, Christian Storf, Gregor Kücher, Stefan Luidold

The purpose of this investigation is to provide a basis for the semidirect recycling of hard metals. The present investigation focuses on revealing the fundamental chemical kinetic aspects during cemented carbide leaching in hydrochloric acid media. The kinetic relations of cobalt binder leaching from WC-Co cemented carbide are studied using a central composite face-centered design of experiments with temperature, acid concentration, and hydrogen peroxide as variables.

Mar 1, 2017

By P. Ret, E. Üstiindag, R. Dieckmann, R. Subramanian, S. L. Sass

"Partial reduction reactions in the Ni-AI-O system, starting with the spinel compound NiAI20 4, are used to form metal-ceramic microstructures. By suitable choice of processing parameters, such as reduction temperature, oxygen partial pressure and time, two different morphologies of nearly pure Ni particles, equiaxed and rod-like, form within a ceramic matrix, which is either a-A12O3 or a metastable ""defect spinel"". Electron microscopy studies were performed for microstructural characterization, phase identification and chemical analysis. The fracture toughness of the Ni-AI2O 3 mixture was significantly improved with respect to that of the original spinel phase. The important issues that must be addressed to form useful metal-ceramic microstructures by partial reduction reactions rue discussed. It is shown that cracking at the original spinel grain boundaries, likely due to the large volume changes associated with the reduction reaction, can be avoided by the addition of small amounts of ZrO2• Initial results illustrating effect of ZrO2 on the microsuuctures are presented.IntroductionEngineering materials used in load bearing circumstances, particularly under extreme conditions (e.g. high temperatures or stresses), generally are formulated with complex microsuuctures. Such composite-like materials can possess properties unobtainable by either of the individual constituents. With metal-ceramic composites, for example, a material can be obtained with an optimum combination of the low density and high strength of the ceramic, and the toughness of the metal. For high temperature service, where demanding conditions are often present, for example, inside jet turbine engines, a successful new material must have low density, high Young's modulus as well as good oxidation resistance, strength, fracture toughness, creep and fatigue resistance. The candidates include intermetallic compounds, and metal-ceramic, intermetallic-ceramic and ceramic-ceramic composites."

Jan 1, 1994

By Nobumasa Kemori

Six kinds of copper &apos;90ncentrates. were treated individually in a ,pilot scale. Outokumpu flsah smelting furnace ~n order to study their ?flash smelting behavior with respect to oxygen efficiency and dust generation. The copper concentrates tested were selected from the more than twenty sources which are treated at the Sumitomo Toyo copper smelter, so as to provide a wide range of chemical composition in terms .of Cu, S,Fe, Pb + Zn + As, and Si~ content. Oxygen efficiency &apos;and dust generation rates obtained in &apos;the experiments ranged from 80% ,to 108% and 11% to 20%, respectively. Relationships between these results and experhnental conditions such as chemical and mineral composition of the copper concentrates, flux ratio, fuel consumption and so on are also discussed quantitatively in this paper.

Jan 1, 1998

This paper describes developments in ferro-nickel furnace technology, specifically improvements to cooling methods, furnace controls, and high voltage furnace operating regime. The evolution of these technologies is briefly presented, as context for describing the current state of the art that has enabled ferro-nickel furnace operation at over 75 MW and specific energy consumption of less than 400 kWh/t dry ore. Examples from existing operations are used to illustrate present best practices, and potential future trends are discussed: The paper begins with an overview of the fundamental aspects of pyrometallurgical treatment of lateritic ores that drive ferro-nickel furnace design. Furnace wall cooling methods are related to the requirements resulting from specific furnace process conditions, including slag and metal compositions, as well as arc and bath power. The benefits of high productivity and low specific energy consumption resulting from high voltage (shielded-arc) operating practice are discussed, along with the furnace controls and electrical power train that enable such operation even with captive power generation. This paper is an update of that which the authors prepared for the Infacon X ferro-alloys conference.

Jan 1, 2004

Conventional ferronickel smelting has five main steps: Drying, calcination, prereduction, smelting and refining. In the scope of the current work, smelting experiments were conducted using Sivrihisar laterite ores (1.26% Ni) of Turkey. The ore samples previously subjected to drying, calcination and prereduction stages were smelted in alumina crucibles in a laboratoryscale horizontal tube furnace under argon atmosphere. Smelting experiments were performed at 1500, 1550 and 1600 oC. The amount of excess coal used in prereduction step was another variable. Sivrihisar laterite ore is a limonitic one with low MgO composition. Therefore, MgO was added to the smelting charge as a flux. The effects of experimental variables on metal Ni content and slag composition were investigated.

Jan 1, 2012

By David Norval

Water solidification of mattes, metals, alloys and certain slags with high metal entrainment has customarily not been practiced due to the belief that such processes are too dangerous and unproven in the Pyrometallurgical Industry. Slag granulation on the other hand is extensively applied, although in some cases crudely, with disastrous effects, as a result of not recognising the high heat capacities prevalent in slags. This paper will examine the most common air solidification processes and compare such processes with water solidification, mainly slag and matte granulation processes and design criteria for safe and reliable operation. Finally, purpose designed granulation and solidification processes will be discussed taking into account specific applications and the individual signatures of alloys and slags, emphasising that no slag, matte or alloy responds in similar fashion to a granulation practice.

Jan 1, 2006