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By Dietrich Gross

This paper describes an advanced oxy-fuel combustion technology for re-melting aluminum that significantly reduces energy consumption and emissions. This oxy-fuel combustion technology developed by Jupiter Oxygen is a patented process for combustion of fossil fuels with pure oxygen while excluding air, thereby creating an undiluted high flame temperature and increased efficiency for process heating in industrial furnaces. This unique process has led to improved heat transfer and longer residence time while maintaining the same process temperatures as with air combustion. The energy efficient combustion process allows aluminum companies to operate at a substantially lower cost due to a dramatic fuel savings of up to 70% for natural gas and waste oil (1). The results of more than 10 years of day-to-day experience utilizing the Jupiter Oxygen Corporation oxy-fuel combustion technology licensed to Jupiter Aluminum Corporation in the aluminum re-melting business are discussed.

Jan 1, 2008

By Richard D. Hagni

The mineralogy of dusts from the lead sinter and lead blast furnace at the Doe Run Smelter at Herculaneum, Missouri is being studied by reflected light microscopy and scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectroscopic analysis (SEM-EDS). Oust from the sinter plant consi5ts of abundant slag and galena particles, and lesser amounts of coke, sinter, and chalcopyrite particles. In contrast, dust from the blast furnace consist of abundant coke and sinter particles, and lesser amounts of slag, galena, chalcopyrite, metallic lead and lead-copper particles. The particles in dusts from remote sampling sites !-l mile from the sinter plant and blast furnace are fine-grained and composed principally of calcium-aluminum silicates that are locally derived, but some of the larger particles consist of sinter, slag, galena, and other minerals. Additional dust samples from the plant and remote sites are currently being studied.

Jan 1, 1991

By Denise Corrêa de Oliveira

Common dry batteries use zinc as the negative electrode. Producers commonly use additives such as mercury to prevent corrosion and to increase the mechanical resistance of the zinc anode. Alkaline batteries also contain it, as an anti-corrosive agent. When mixed with the common municipal solid waste, heavy metals as zinc and mercury pollute soil and ground water supplies, moving to the food-chain and affecting human health. Due to these possible damages, this kind of waste must be properly disposed, or recycled. Thus, even in low amounts (ppm) in batteries, mercury has to be eliminated or, at least, its content should be reduced. This work presents the use of pyromettalurgical processes, to reduce mercury content and recover zinc. The tests involved batteries treatment at temperatures from 300° to 1000°C. Mercury is eliminated up to 650°C, and zinc is evaporated at higher temperature treatment. C

Jan 1, 2001

By Pinai Mungsantisuk

Keywords: Pd-Ni alloys, Pd-Fe alloys, Pd-Co alloys, Magnetostriction, Magnetic Properties The presence of congruent melting minima, the occurrence of ferromagnetic transition over a large composition range, and FCC type crystal structure make Pd-Ni, Pd-Co, and Pd-Fe based systems attractive candidates in our search for materials with no rare-earths, large low-field magnetostriction, and good mechanical properties. The presence of paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition over a broad range of composition also provides opportunity for fundamental studies. In this work, we have examined the magnetic and magnetostrictive behavior of Pd-Ni, Pd-Co, and Pd-Fe alloys over the entire composition range. Alloy sample rods were prepared by arc melting and casting. X-ray diffractometer was used to obtain lattice parameter data. Magnetostriction was measured along the rod axis using strain gages. Magnetic properties were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer.

Jan 1, 2005

By Purushottam Kumar

Keywords: Magnetostriction, magnetic properties, Pd(Fe,Co,Ni) single crystals Fe-Pd, Co-Pd and Ni-Pd alloy systems show appreciable magnetostrictive strains that are of interest for sensor applications. These systems exhibit congruent melting minima. In this work the magnetic and magnetostrictive behavior of congruent melting Fe-Pd, Co-Pd, and Ni-Pd compositions have been examined. The alloys examined include Fe-54.9 at.-% Pd, Ni-45.4 at.-% Pd, and Co-45 at.-% Pd. The paper describes the growth of bulk single crystals of these alloys using Czochralski technique. X-ray diffractometer was used to obtain rocking curves that were used to determine the [001] crystal direction. Magnetostriction in [001] direction was measured using strain gages. Magnetic properties were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer. Ni-Pd showed the highest magnetostriction values among the congruent melting compositions. Magnetic and magnetostrictive behaviors of these alloy single crystals are presented.

Jan 1, 2005

By Mitsuhiro Ohtaki, Tetsuzo Arakawa, Fujio Murata

Refining of Zn from aluminum scrap melt by some vacuum distillation processes was studied to promote aluminum scrap recycling. Effects of distillation conditions, such as melt temperature, vacuum pressure and holding time, on Zn distillation behavior were investigated theoretically and experimentally by 0.3kg/ch scale vacuum resistance furnace. Three methods to increase the surface-area/volume ratio of liquid metal, such as gas atomizing, mechanical atomizing and mechanical stirring, were tested to increase the Zn distillation rate in 5kg/ch scale vacuum resistance-furnace. It was easy to lower the remaining Zn content to less than 0.1 wt% within one minute by mechanical stirring method. A water-model simulation experiment indicated that a significant agitation of the melt by stirring would be effective to increase the distillation rate. Continuous agitation vacuum distillation process (CA VP) has been designed and the pilot plant is now in construction.

Jan 1, 2000

By Huang Rui

The coal asphalt is combusted at different temperature in a heating cabinet with the temperature limit by 1200°C. By comparing the mass of the remainder of each experiment, the completely combusting temperature of asphalt smoke can be determined. Based on the experimental process of asphalt smoke, a discrete mathematical model of the asphalt smoke combustion is set by theoretic analysis. Through computer programming, the dynamic combustion process of asphalt smoke is calculated to simulate the experimental model. The result of experiment shows that coal asphalt can mostly react upon 500°C and the mass of remainder is 49.41% to initial mass of sample in the condition. The computing result shows that the temperature and the concentration of asphalt smoke influence its burning temperature approximating linearity. The consumed quantity of fuel to ignite the asphalt smoke needs be considered with the two factors.

Jan 1, 2006

By Miguel Olivas-Martínez

A two-dimensional computational model for the hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) process to produce diamond films is presented. The model incorporates the transport of momentum, energy, and mass inside the reaction chamber of a HFCVD reactor. The gas-phase homogeneous reactions were represented by a simplified reaction mechanism. The gas-phase transport equations were coupled to the kinetic expressions representing the catalytic dissociation of the molecular hydrogen at the filament surface and the deposition rate of the diamond film on the substrate. The computational model was solved numerically by means of a commercial software. The model predictions showed good agreement with the experimental data reported in the literature in terms of both temperature and methyl concentration profiles along the filament-substrate center distance. Examples of the potential applications of the present formulation for the design and further optimization of the HFCVD reactor are discussed.

Jan 1, 2006

By F. San Martin, Y. Lefevre, F. Tamargo

The San Juan de Nieva smelter was commissioned in 1960 with an electrolytic zinc capacity of 15,000 t/y. After a number of minor expansions, the capacity was increased to 320,000 t/y in 1991 and will reach 440,000 t/y by August 2001. The expansion involves the construction of a 900 t/day Lurgi roaster and a new acid plant. The leaching will be fully revamped and modernised, including the construction of a new building for residue treatment and for j arosite precipitation with a separate circuit for silver-containing concentrates. The project also includes the construction of a fully automated 137,000 t/y zinc cathode tankhouse fitted with 3.4 m2 cathodes designed by Asturiana de Zinc, and based on the existing tankhouse and introducing some improvements. New melting and casting facilities, also designed by Asturiana, will be constructed.

Jan 1, 2000

By C. Allen

A series of zinc chloride electrowinning tests was carried out in a laboratory scale cell to evaluate the effect of temperature, current density, electrolyte composition, gas sparging and additives on the performance of the cell with respect to current efficiency, voltage, specific energy consumption and deposit morphology. The anode material was DSA for chlorine evolution and the cathode was made of aluminum. At 400 A/m2 current density, a current efficiency of 90.9%, a voltage of 3.4 V and an energy consumption of 2.78 kWh/kg were observed. Air sparging was found beneficial but was not pursued for health and safety reasons. Various additives in the same chemical family as tetrabutyl ammonium chloride (TBAC1) were tested. Both TBAC1 and tetrabutyl ammonium bromide were found to be equally effective. Attempts to carry out the electrolysis at 1200 A/m2 were not as successful.

Jan 1, 2000

By Wantae Kim

In order to establish the optimized recovery process for heavy minerals from Korean beach sand, we investigated the several physical separation methods such as gravity and magnetic separation followed by mineralogical characterization. There was clear relationship between the particle size and heavy mineral content that heavy minerals were mostly concentrated in the particles below 100mesh. Gravity separation using the spiral and shaking table separators made it possible to concentrate heavy minerals by rejecting the light and coarse particles consist mainly of quartz and other non-valuable minerals. The high-intensity magnetic roll separator and subsequent induced magnetic separator were applied to fractionate magnetic particles according to their magnetic susceptibility. The content of TiO2 of high susceptible ilmenite-rich fraction was 43.98wt.% while those of ZrO2 of non-magnetic and magnetic residue were 6.78wt.% and 3.11wt.%, respectively.

Jan 1, 2006

By J. Tang

The major problem with the Nd-Fe-B magnet is its low operating temperature, i.e., the coercivity decreases so rapidly with increasing temperature that the practical maximum operating temperature-is only 100 °C. Meanwhile, it has been reported that nitrogen addition can drastically increase the Curie temperature of both R2Fe17 and RTiFe11 (R = rare earths). A reasonable question is, then, can one see a similar effect in Nd-Fe-B system? Experiments have been conducted to examine how magnetic properties of Nd-Fe-B magnet are affected by the nitrogen addition. Our results show that part of Nd2Fe14B maintains its original crystal structure and no substantial change in To, due to such N2 treatment is found. However, part of the sample decomposes into a-Fe and, possibly, Nd nitride as a result of nitrogen treatment.

Jan 1, 1992

By Leonard J. Friedman

The recovery of sulfur dioxide from metallurgical gases for the production of sulfuric acid has been an effective means of reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from non-ferrous smelters. Sulfuric acid has been produced from gas originating from fluid bed roasters, electric furnaces, reverberatory furnaces, flash smelting furnaces, Pierce Smith and flash converters, sinter machines, etc. The gas from each of these sources has a unique set of variables that affect the design and operation of the sulfuric acid plant. In addition, the sulfuric acid plant itself has been evolving, with new equipment designs and materials. This paper will review each of the unit operations in the gas cleaning and contact sections of the metallurgical sulfuric acid plant, discussing various equipment designs, materials and the handling of gas stream variables and impurities. The paper updates to 2006 previous works on metallurgical sulfuric acid plants by the authors.

Jan 1, 2006

By Sesha S. Srinivasan

Mechanochemical synthesis has been employed to prepare new light weight complex borohydrides, Zn(BH4)2. The thermal calorimetric and gravimetric analysis of these complex borohydrides shows the hydrogen decomposition temperature (Tdec) of about 100° C with theoretical capacity of ~8.0 wt%. This advanced materials based technology is considered to be suitable for attaining the US-DOE grand challenge technical targets. The powder x-ray diffraction analysis of the mechanically milled Zn(BH4)2 exhibits the presence of zinc borate and NaCl phase. The FTIR spectra of BH4-ion in NaBH4 has a characteristic band at 2290 cm-1,whereas in Zn(BH4)2, it occurs at ~2061 cm-1 (bridging B-H bonds) and ~2451 cm-1 (terminal B-H bonds) as well. The reversibility of hydrogen decomposition and recombination process is carried out by PCT measurements with multi-cycling procedure.

Jan 1, 2006

By Allan J. MacRae

A copper alloy to be used for coils in cast copper cooling blocks has been identified and samples prepared for metallurgical examination and destructive testing to compare with cast cooling blocks manufactured from copper and nickel-copper alloy pipes. The copper alloy allows for the formation of a metallurgical bond between the pipe and the cast copper during the casting process, which does not normally occur with pure copper or nickel-copper alloy pipes. The alloy's coefficient of thermal expansion is also much closer to that of pure copper compared with nickel-copper alloys, so there is less strain induced at the pipe-cast copper interface due to differential thermal expansion. It is expected that this new pipe coil alloy and associated casting techniques will allow for the production of cast copper cooling blocks that have greatly enhanced service life in high heat load applications compared to existing technologies.

Jan 1, 2002

By Matthew Jeffrey

Leaching, cementation, electroplating and flotation are all electrochemical phenomenon. They are also key processes in the hydrometallurgical treatment of metals. Unfortunately electrochemical methods tend to be under-utilized when studying these processes and one possible reason for this is the confusion surrounding the large number of electrochemical techniques available. In this paper four former PhD students of Professor Ian Ritchie present an insight into how one electrochemical technique can be used to compliment rate/kinetic studies. The paper details how to perform the experiments, interpret data, and recognize complications with the results. Examples where this approach has been highly successful are presented, and include: cementation of zinc by aluminium, cementation of copper by nickel, cyanide leaching of gold and the cementation of gold thiourea by mild steel. The examples illustrate that this universal approach adopted by Ian Ritchie provides the key to understanding the mechanism of many hydrometallurgical reactions.

Jan 1, 2003

By Jose Luis Lopez Mendez

In May 1992, MEXICANA DE CANANEA, S.A. DE C.V. finalized the life of its Reverberatory Furnace which lasted 16 years. This created the need to prepare the Smelter for the next campaign.

Jan 1, 1994

By P. M. Tait, N. A. Warner

"The refining of thermally produced zinc is currently performed using a highly energy intensive and arguably outmoded process, distilling zinc under atmospheric pressure at temperatures of 900°C to 1000°C. In order to produce refined zinc more profitably and with less environmental impact a new process has been proposed. This process is generic to all thermal zinc smelters and aims to match the purity of zinc from current technology (99.99%-99.999%). The objective is to perform all separation processes using only the heat contained in the smelter product stream. Vacuum conditions are extensively used lowering operating temperatures and enhancing separations. As part of this process zinc is distilled under vacuum from high concentration obtaining a refined product with respect to lead content. A mathematical model has been developed from fundamental principles to describe this stage, the distillation of zinc across a temperature difference between two circulating zinc streams in open channels under vacuum. Heat for the distillation is supplied by the liquid phase, necessitating a large recycle to maintain high operating temperatures, and keep zinc concentrations high. In determining this model and the operating conditions required, relationships between temperature, pressure and composition are considered.IntroductionCurrent technology (the Refluxer) used to refine thermally produced zinc is both expensive and highly inefficient. At present 80% of the worlds zinc is produced via the electrolytic process reflecting the poorer performance of the thermal route, the zinc-lead blast furnace and Refluxer. A new process is proposed to overcome the drawbacks of current processes. These drawbacks are both economic and environmental. The Refluxer requires 6.6 GJ of energy to refine one tonne of SHG zinc 1, other disadvantages of the Refluxer stem from high operating temperature, around 900°C, and liquid zinc being highly corrosive towards ferrous metals. The Refluxer is constructed from silicon carbide sections which join together by means of flat machined faces making liquid metal leaks inevitable. The Refluxer columns are very sensitive to thermal cycling, thermal shock and mechanical vibration, which easily lead to structural failure. To avoid thermal stress on the columns the feed rate and feed temperature need to be kept constant which means the feed baths to the columns must be able to accept solid and liquid feed as the Refluxer has to operate when the smelter is shut down."

Jan 1, 1998

By Boxun Lu, Juan Wei, Kun Chen, Wanlin Wang, Lejun Zhou

"Slag system is an indispensable part during the continuous casting process, and playing various important roles like absorbing inclusions, modifying heat transfer rate, preventing oxidation of molten steel, etc. to ensure the smooth process and excellent slab quality. However most slags contains more than 8% fluorides which tend to introduce a series of environmental and health problems. This study involves the research of the removal of fluorine through the chemical composition optimization. Through the studies of CCT, DHTT, XRD and SEM, it has been successfully founded that the crystalline phase of Ca11Si4B2O22 discovered in this study shows very similar crystallization property as Cuspidine (Ca4Si2O7F2), which is the most important crystalline phase in the current fluorine bearing slags. Moreover, the optimized free/low fluorine slag shows the opportunity to replace conventional high-fluorine mold slag for casting medium carbon steels that is regarded as the bottleneck of green slag development for continuous casting.IntroductionMold flux has been widely used in continuous casting to control heat transfer, lubricate the strand, absorb inclusions, provide insulation and prevent oxidation of the molten steel[1-3]. It usually contains fluorides, like CaF2, NaF etc., which are used to control the viscosity and solidification temperature of mold fluxes [4-5]. However, the presence of fluoride leads to corrosion of equipment, serious environmental pollution (toxic volatiles and water pollution), and high processing cost of cooling water[6-7]. Therefore, the study of low or free fluorine mold flux is of interest and attracts worldwide attention.S. Y. Choi et al. [4] used B2O3 as a substitute for cuspidine in steel B2PB2) however, B2O3 content was extremely high (up to 30 w%). Other studies have investigated F-free mold flux by adding or optimizing components as MgO, Li2O, B2O3 et al[8-11]. However, most of these focused on the melting and viscosity issues or for low or ultra-low carbon steels, where crystallization tendency is not significantly strong. Very few studies regarding to the development of low/free Fluorine mold flux for casting medium carbon (MC) steels have been conducted, due to the difficulty of the crystallization and heat transfer control without the formation of cuspidine."

Jan 1, 2014

By Daniel Kim, Michael Free, Justin McAllister, Urian Marshall, Shijie Wang

"Cathode impurity levels of electrorefined copper were evaluated based on 1/10* scale laboratory electrorefining tests. Cathodes were evaluated near the top, mid-section, and bottom sections of cathodes on both the set and mold sides and strip and scrap cycles. Slime weights were measured, and slime and electrolyte samples were also evaluated for impurities. Results from these tests have been compiled and compared to evaluate the effects of changes in operating conditions and electrode location on cathode impurities.IntroductionMany types of impurities are commonly found in commercial copper electrorefining anodes. The smelter operations that produce the anodes process concentrates that contain a wide variety of impurities that vary based on the mineralogy of the ore. Most anode impurities are removed during electrorefining. However, a portion of the anode impurities is incorporated into the copper cathode product. The mechanisms by which impurities are transported from the anode to the cathode are not well understood. Some impurities can be transported as anode slime particles to the cathode where they are incorporated into the cathode. Other impurities can be transported as dissolved species that are electrochemically reduced with the copper to become part of the cathode. Although research has been performed on anode slimes and impurities [1-4], there is a need for additional information regarding the relationships associated with electrorefining cycles, electrode faces, local electrode positions, anode impurities and specific cathode impurities. The objective of this study was to evaluate lead, arsenic, and antimony cathode impurity trends associated with electrorefining cycles, electrode faces, local electrode positions, and anode impurities. A variety of techniques including electrolyte filtering, anode heat treatment, high electrolyte arsenic concentration, high arsenic and/or lead in anodes, flocculation of slime particles, and appropriate current density control were used to vary cathode impurity levels. Each test was performed only once for a strip cycle and once for a scrap cycle. Consequently, the results for the individual conditions are preliminary and are not the focus of this study. However, the collective set of data with varying impurity modifying techniques provides a broad range of impurity levels, and the associated trends with respect to lead, arsenic, and antimony are discussed in this paper. Approximately 180 analyses of copper cathode were used to track the antimony, arsenic, and lead impurities. Eighteen anode slime samples were also analyzed for antimony, arsenic, and lead."

Jan 1, 2012