Search Documents

By Jerome P. Downey

In the thermal treatment of electric arc furnace (EAF) dusts, zinc is reduced, volatilized, and ultimately recovered either as liquid metal in a splash condenser or as solid zinc oxide in bag filters. During the process, the duet's chlorine and fluorine content also enters the gas phase and condenses as dross in the splash condenser or as salts which contaminate the zinc oxide product. Pretreatment of EAF dust by pyrohydrolysis appeared to offer a means of minimizing the duet's halogen content. The primary research objectives were to experimentally verify the technical viability of pyrohydrolysis and delineate the process parameters requisite for efficient halogen removal. To this end, representative EAF duet samples were secured and characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Mössbauer analyses. Specific- experimentation focused on the response of halogen extraction to variations in temperature, retention time, water vapor partial pressure, and various additives. The experimental results proved that 97 to 99 percent chlorine extraction and 80 to 85 percent fluorine extraction are consistently achieved when EAF dusts are blended with silica and roasted at temperatures of 850°C or greater in a furnace atmosphere of 75% steam (diluted by air). A statistical analysis further established that more than- a single optimal point exists, thus affording flexibility in parameter selection (e.g., by increasing temperature, the necessary retention time and additive concentrations are decreased). The findings substantiate the feasibility of pyrohydrolysis roasting in reducing the chlorine and fluorine in the EAF dust to a level that will obviate industrial concerns about halogen contamination. The end-product of the pyrohydrolysis procedure is a de-halogenated, self-fluxing calcine which can be directly charged to a plasma or flame reactor. The paper includes design parameters and flow diagrams illustrating the pyrohydrolysis process integrated with the plasma and flame reactor technologies.

Jan 1, 1992

By John J. J. Chen, Barry J. Welch

"As in many industrial processes, the detailed mechanisms involved must first be understood before being able to redesign, or to carry out improvements or optimisation of the process and equipment performance. In a great majority of metallurgical processes, visual observation and actual measurement of process variables are either very difficult or near impossible. Often, the cost and effort involved are prohibitive. Consequently, physical modelling is often used to provide some understanding of the process and for the validation of computer numerical models. In this paper, we summarise some of the work carried out at The University of Auckland on the modelling of the Hall-Héroult electrolytic cell, the in-line melt treatment process, and the steel casting tundish. IntroductionIn any industrial process, it is essential to understand the underlying mechanisms before any optimization or process improvement can be carried out. In many metallurgical operations, the processes are conducted at elevated temperature and under rather hostile environments. Consequently, it is often difficult, and sometimes impossible, to observe the actual processes occurring, or conduct measurements which are pertinent. In some situations, it is possible to formulate mathematical equations purported to describe the process, and obtain the solutions numerically. However, in this latter case, the validity of the simplifying assumptions made are often uncertain. Physical modelling may provide the necessary information for the validation of such numerical models. Furthermore, through an application of the principle of similitude, it is possible to apply data obtained from physical modelling to actual metallurgical processes. This paper will summarise some the work carried out at The University of Auckland on the physical modelling of gas-induced flow in the Hall-Héroult electrolytic cell, an in-line melt treatment unit, and the flow in a steel casting tundish.Gas-Induced Flows in a Hall-Héroult CellIn an aluminium cell, the effects due to electro-magnetic forces have been addressed and various design modifications such as magnetic shielding and the positioning of risers have been carried out to control or lninimise the effects of magnetic fields'. Consequently, the effects of gas-induced flows are now becoming significant providing the impetus for the study of the gas behaviour in the bath. Furthermore, the shape and size, and the rate of evacuation of the anodically generated gases affect the cell voltage affecting the energy efficiency; at the same time, the back-reaction between the anode gas and the metal produced is the predominant cause of the loss of current efficiency. Figure 1 shows a cross-section of a conventional cell in which the gas evolution occurs directly under the anodes, and the gas induced flow is confined mainly to the region occupied by the bath"

Jan 1, 1994

By F. Garcia-Carcedo

This research aimed to develop a clean technology for the production of ZnO from residues generated by the steel making industry. Scientific and technologic parameters were both investigated in order to define an industrial methodology allowing the integral recycling of EAF dusts. A reengineering of the Waelz process was perform,~d, aiming to produce a clean fraction of ZnO, fluorine free, as well as a slag enriched in metallic iron, which can be recycled in electric arc furnaces. The technical conditions used to produce the ultra pure fraction of ZnO are described. The magnetic separation of the EAF dust allowing the production of a phase high in iron and recyclable to the electric arc furnace is also discussed. Thermodynamic of the volatilization of all the elements contained in the EAF dust was performed in order to better control the thermal process in the rotary kiln. Tests were run using different reducing agents, weakly or highly reactive, aiming to determine their specific efficiency.

Jan 1, 2000

By Jim A. King

The total pressure oxidation of copper concentrates is a potentially viable option for treating copper concentrates that are either low grade or contain significant impurities. Both concentrate types are heavily penalized in smelter contracts. The total pressure oxidation process involves autoclaving the copper concentrate at temperatures of 200-220 C under oxygen pressure. The autoclave discharge can be separated into a solid (oxidation residue) and a liquid (oxidation solution) product. The oxidation solution can be treated for copper recovery by solvent extraction - electrowinning or by direct electrowinning. The direct electrowinning recovery of copper requires prior removal of selenium and tellurium by cementation on finely divided scrap copper. The oxidation residue is washed thoroughly to remove acid and dissolved copper prior to precious metals recovery by conventional cyanidation in the presence of lime. The results of a benchscale investigation involving a number of copper concentrates are reported. Copper recoveries in autoclave oxidation and gold recoveries by cyanidation of the oxidation residue exceeded 99%. The results of benchscale experiments to demonstrate copper recovery are described. Various flowsheet options are presented.

Jan 1, 1993

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 Lenny Winkel

With the aim to develop a solar-driven process for the extraction of copper from sulfide concentrates research on the decomposition of copper sulfides under inert atmospheres has been initiated. Thermogravimetric measurements on chalcocite (CuzS) revealed that copper is formed already at 1823 K. Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) also disintegrates at this temperature, although at a lower rate. Copper and iron have been identified in the solid residue. The results confirm the feasibility of copper extraction by direct decomposition of sulfides under atmospheric pressure. The decomposition under inert atmosphere prevents generation of SO2, it also alters the behavior of volatile impurities during decomposition of copper sulfide concentrates. Chemical eqUilibrium calculations for chalcopyrite contaminated with enargite (Cu3AsS4) have shown that the absence of an oxidic slag allows for a complete evaporation of arsenic and subsequent separation from intermediate sulfides. The need to better assess the potential of direct sulfide decomposition has prompted the development of an experimental setup for studying the decomposition reactions. The experiment has been devised such that data on the decomposition kinetics and on impurity removal can be obtained at temperatures up to 2500 K.

Jan 1, 2003

By T. Ueno

Naoshima Smelter & Refinery of Mitsubishi Materials Crop. commissioned a new Mitsubishi continuous copper smelter in May 1991. Process offgas volume of the conventional reverberatory furnace line, one of the previous smelters having been shut down, was very large and thus two acid plants had been operated. It was expected that the offgas volume would be reduced at the new smelter to about a half of the sum of those from previous two 1 smelters and the sulfur dioxide strength would be increased. So various alternatives were studied to minimize the operation cost. And it was decided to utilize both of the plants with minor modifications by diluting the gas either with air or with dilute gases. The acid plants now receive offgases from the new copper smelter, a sintering machine of a lead smelter and a decomposer of waste acid. The paper discusses plant design, operation, improvements and modifications realized in relation with the retrofitting of the copper smelter.

Jan 1, 1992

By Pengfu Tan

A thermo-chemical model of the copper P-S converter and a viscosity model for the converter slag have been developed to predict the behavior of magnetite in the converter slag, amounts of slag and matte, compositions of slag and matte, volume of the bath, bath temperature, slag blow endpoint determination, SEMTECH OPC signals, and the viscosity of converter slags. The predictions of bath temperature, slag and matte compositions, and magnetite content in the slag have been validated by the industrial data. The effects of fluxing strategy, returns and skim charges, oxygen enrichment, and temperature on the magnetite formation in the slag have been predicted and discussed. The effect of oxygen potential, SiO2/Fe in slag, detection of slag blow endpoint, and temperature on Fe3O4 content in converter slag, slag viscosity, liquidus temperature of converter slag and skimming operation has been modeled and discussed as well. Some applications of the industrial operations have been presented.

Jan 1, 2009

By Xuewei Lv, Yuelin Qin, Guibao Qiu, Chenguang Bai

"Blast furnace slag (BF slag), is the main by-product in the ironmaking process, which contains large amounts of sensible heat. To recover the sensible heat, this paper described the hot experiments which were carried out in a rotary multi-nozzles cup atomizer, where the molten BFS was transformed into granules without water impingement; subsequently, a new method-pyrolysis the printed circuited board (PCB) with the hot BFS particle, was proposed for recovering the sensible heat in this study. The gaseous products were analyzed by gas analyzer. The residual of the PCB was analyzed by FT-IR and XRD respectively, and the obtained slag particles were analyzed by XRD.The results showed that it is a feasible process of pyrolyzing PCB powder with the hot BFS particle. The sensible heat of hot BF slag could be converted to chemical heat and a large amount of combustible gas could also be generated during the process.IntroductionDue to the rising of the product cost of blast furnace iron (BFI) and the increasing public awareness of environmental problems, the steel industries have to focus on the energy saving and emission reduction. Blast furnace slag (BF slag) is a byproduct from blast furnace exhaust temperature of 1450°C or so, is a high-quality waste heat resources. In China, the steel industry produces approximately 220Mt ofBFS per year, and the enthalpy of those slags is approximately equivalent to 13.3% of the whole energy consumption in the ironmaking process[!]. It can be seen, recycling waste heat is an important way of energy saving for iron and steel enterprises. The molten slag was treated by conventional water quenching method without any recovery of heat in spite of its huge potential. Also, the water quenching process consumes a plenty of water, pollutes the air and water[2]. Additionally, the extra energy is necessary for the drying process of slag to produce cement. As a kind of secondhand resource which can be reused, the BF slag contains a large amount of sensible heat. To recover the sensible heat of BF slag, three key problems should be considered, which refer to ( 1) the dry granulation of BFS without consuming water, (2) how to recover the heat of slag particles efficiently, (3) how to use the slag particles after heat recovery."

Jan 1, 2012

By Mikiya Tanaka, Mikio Kobayashi, Mansour A. S. A1Ghamdi, Kenji Tatsumi, Yukinori Saiki, Hirotaka Senba

"In order to recover nickel ion in a spent electroless nickel - phosphorus alloy plating bath and, at the same time, to remove impurities such as iron and zinc, the applicability of solvent extraction with LlX84I as the extractant has been investigated using actual spent solution. Although the extraction efficiency of nickel from the spent solution is considerably lower than that from the nickel sulfate-nitrate solution, nickel in the spent solution is selectively extracted with high efficiency at the pH of 6 - 7. The extracted nickel is effectively stripped by sulfuric acid at a pH of less .than· 3. On the basis of these results, a· flowsheet for recovering nickel from the spent solution is proposed Chemical equilibrium calculations of the spent solution has shown that the complex formations of nickel with anions such as lactate and phosphonate ions become predominant in the pH range between 2 and 6. This results in the depression of nickel extraction efficiency from the spent solution as compared with that from the .nickel sulfate-nitrate solution. By combining these aqueous equilibrium calculations with the· extraction model considering the extraction stoichiometry and the aggregation of the extractant in the organic phase, the extraction behavior of nickel is quantitatively predicted.IntroductionElectroless plating is indispensable for the recent advanced industries such as the electronic and mechanical industries. Electroless plating baths are repeatedly used by supplying the metal salts; however, the accumulation of the counter anions of the metal ions, the components formed by the oxidation of the reducing reagents in the plating baths, and the metal ions as impurities dissolved from the surface of the objective materials degrades the· quality of the plating. Thus, the baths are finally treated by a precipitation method to form a large amount of metal sludge, which is disposed in dumping sites. Therefore, from the standpoints of environmental protection and resource preservation, it is highly desired to establish a recycling process of the plating baths with minimum emission. Solvent extraction seems to be one of the 'suitable methods to recover metals from the spent electroless plating baths, because the concentration of the metal ion in the baths is relatively high, which is advantageous to solvent extraction as compared with the ion-exchange and adsorption methods. Some studies about the application of solvent extraction have already been carried out using simulated spe11t electroless plating baths [1-3]."

Jan 1, 2000

An iridium oxide coated titanium electrode was tested as anode in copper electrowinning. Initial results confmed that the DSA-type anode was significantly more active for oxygen evolution than traditional lead anodes. However, during longer runs, the anode potential was observed to increase linearly at a rate of 220 mV/year. Scanning elecuon microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) showed that the anode passivation could be attributed to elecuochemical dissolution of the coating. The effect on the anode potential of organic additives (glue and thiourea) and lead in solution was also examined. A preliminary economic evaluation of the anodes is given.

Jan 1, 1992

By Jose Bengoa

Low metal prices and environmental restrictions are always a challenge for copper smelters operation and its productivity. Thus, in order to reduce production costs and control gas emissions, improvements of the Teniente Converter (CT) operation were made at 110 Smelter Plant of Southern Peru Copper Co., 110, Peru, and the main objective was to increase its capacity for smelting copper concentrates without affecting normal operation. The present work corresponds to a recent study conducted during the normal industrial operation of the Teniente Converter in this plant and, it shows the effect of increasing air oxygen enrichment from 28 to 34% on its productivity. The results show an increasing of concentrate smelting rate from 800 to 1370 tpd and hence a notorious improving in copper production, and practically no effect on the refractory consumption. The increment of the concentrate throughput, increases also the SO2 concentration and the sulfuric acid production, showing the effort done by this operation in order to accomplish the environmental Peruvian regulation.

Jan 1, 2003

By M. Wallin

Millions of tons of sludge from different metallurgical processes are produced worldwide annually, and the environmental impact of landfilling these often hazardous sludges stresses the need to understand their role as valuable resources. The current work explores the potential of producing a saleable low-phosphorous ferromanganese alloy by utilizing sludge from the silicomanganese industry together with an iron source. The aim of the project is to explore the feasibility and practical challenges related to reduction and dissolution of manganese and silicon from the sludge to liquid metal and slag. Parameters such as ratio of input material as well as the effect of adding limestone and coke to the mixture were explored by thermodynamic calculations and adapted experimentally. Results show that a ferromanganese alloy, in fact, can be formed, while silicon and calcium forms a complex slag that captures a significant amount of impurities.

By Shijie Wang

In pressure oxidation leaching of copper anode slimes, than 65% of the tellurium is m' cxtraoted during decopperizing. About l0- 15% of the selenium is also dissolved simultane¬ously by severe leach conditions. Current operation for the treatment of the leachate is to constantly recirculate the leach solution through a bed of copper turnings. The tellurium and sele¬nium are precipitated from the leach liquor as copper telluride and copper selenide and sepa¬rated from the solution by filtration. In order to improve the reaction efficiency and reduce the process cost, viz, minimize the copper addition, cut retention time, and reduce the energy consumption; a chemical reducing agent is studied and the cementation process tested in the laboratory. In this paper, the test results are presented and the process chemistry is discussed.

Jan 1, 2003

By V. I. Lakshmanan, R. Roy

"TiO2 is used in paints, plastics, rubber, paper, inks, textiles and other miscellaneous applications. The demand for the pigment grade Ti02 is growing at 3.0%/year on average and this invites the development of innovative and cost effective processes. The current processes are not designed to recycle the reagents and thereby discharge the effluents into the environment, causing an environmental concern.During this study, synthesis of TiO2 from an ilmenite concentrate was investigated using an innovative atmospheric mixed-chloride leach process. The solution purification was carried out using solvent extraction in two stages. In the first stage iron removal was carried out and in the second stage titanium was extracted. The strip solution obtained from the second stage solvent extraction contained the purified titanium and from this stream pigment grade Ti02 was recovered. The barren solution was used for reagent recovery and the regenerated leach liquor was recycled."

Jan 1, 2011

By M. J. Adam

The Bureau of Mines is investigating the feasibility of partitioning complex sulfide minerals to simpler sulfide phases by sulfidation reactions. Such partitioning can afford opportunity to improve selective extraction of mineral constituents of value. This report describes research involving sulfidation partitioning of byproduct chalcopyrite concentrates from Missouri lead ore processing, and a Utah chalcopyrite concentrate from Cu ore processing. Small chalcopyrite samples were sulfidized with elemental S in glass capsules sealed after evacuating and backfilling with He, by heating for 1 to 24 h at specific temperatures in the range of 250? to 500? C, extending from below to above the boiling point of S (-4450 C).

Jan 1, 1987

By Jie Li

Series of carbon compounds as anode materials were prepared for super lithium ion capacitor using graphite and active carbon (AC) as raw materials. Their electrochemical properties were investigated by constant current charge-discharge test. The results showed that the compound anode had good capacitive performance as well as Li-ion battery performance. The potential of the capacitor could be as high as 3.5V vs Li/Li+ when compared with 2.5V vs Li/Li+ in the AC-AC capacitor, accordingly, the energy density increased from 21.7Wh/kg to 40.3Wh/kg. The compound anode also had excellent rate performance that as the current density increasing from 0.1A/g to 1A/g,the capacitance decreased only 1.3F/g, and good cycle performance that the capacitance holding remained 96.7% after 10 times cycles even at the highest potential of 3.5 V vs Li/Li+.

Jan 1, 2009

By Jared Ball, Darren Snashall, Paul Telford, Pengfu Tan, Ben Hogg

"The foamed converter charges were up to 3 8 per month in Xstrata Copper Smelter at Mount Isa. The issue of high converter foamover frequency had remained unsolved for many decades in Mount Isa. A thermodynamic model of copper P-S converter and a viscosity model of converter slag have been developed to simulate the slag blow and copper blow, in order to understand the mechanism of converter foamover. The model predicts the chemistry and viscosity of slag during slag blow and copper blow. The effects of oxygen potential, charge of dirty reverts, slag carryover, under-blowing, over-blowing, and temperature on the foamover and viscosity of slag in copper blow have been discussed. A theory has been developed to understand the mechanism of converter foamover. The practical solutions have also been developed and implemented in Mount Isa Copper Smelter. Some improvements of the industrial operations have been presented. After a series of improvements, the number of foamed charges per month in the converter operations has been decreased significantly from 35 in Aug 2008 to only one per month in 2009/2010.1. IntroductionThe Copper Smelter in Mount Isa receives the concentrate containing about 25% copper and produces anode copper that contains about 99% copper. There are several stages in the process. The first stage carries out in the ISASMELT™ furnace. The ISASMELT™ process produces a molten copper matte containing about 60% copper. An iron-silica slag and a sulfur dioxidebearing off-gas are the by-products of the process. The slag is taken to the slag dams for cooling before it is recycled through the Mount Isa Copper Concentrator.The matte is sent to Peirce-Smith converters. The converters further remove iron and sulphur to produce blister copper which contains about 97% copper. The anode furnaces remove any remaining sulphur and oxygen to produce anode copper that is about 99. 7% pure. This is cast into anodes and sent to the Xstrata Copper Refinery in Townsville for final refining.In the copper pyrometallurgical industrials, slag foaming is an important phenomena which occurs when the gas bubbles have stability and not rupture. Foaming greatly increases the interfacial area between matte, slag and gas and is essential for the operation of high intensity smelting processes. However, foaming or foamover is undesirable in P-S converter since it can damage the equipment and injure the operators. Figure 1 shows that the whole process of a foamover development in a converter."

Jan 1, 2011

By Patrick R. Taylor

Keywords: Thermal Plasma, Electroreduction, Electrolysis, Transition metals, Waste treatment, Molten oxides, Chromium oxide. An innovative process to treat transition metal oxide waste materials from diverse sources is presented. This technology involves using reverse-polarity DC plasma driven electrolysis in molten oxides. The process results in the recovery of the transition metal and other heavy metals from waste. By-products generated throughout the processing was converted to environmentally acceptable slag. The significance of this technology is that the treatment of the waste is accomplished in one step which in turn lowers the cost of remediation. Moreover, this process uses high temperature properties of thermal plasmas, which makes it possible to use molten oxides instead of halides as electrolytes. Chromium was successfully reduced from chromium oxide through the plasma driven electro-reduction process. It was shown that the selection of the appropriate ionic conducting oxides was critical for the formation of a slag that would enhance the reduction of chromium oxide.

Jan 1, 2004

By R. M. Taylor

Lime addition to acid mine drainage (AMD) leads to precipitation, predominantly of metal hydroxides and calcium sulfate, and is the benchmark for remediation by precipitation. Geo2 Limited of Melbourne, Australia has developed and patented a novel alternative precipitation scheme based on the formation of mixed valency, M(I1)-M(III), hydroxide sulfate salts. When the composition of AMD is appropriate, the Green Precipitate Process provides a useful and more effective alternative to conventional liming. The characteristics and utility of the Green Precipitate Process are described in terms of the underlying chemistry, and a case study where the Green Precipitate process outperforms conventional liming. A mobile pilot pipe reactor rig which was built by Geo2 to demonstrate the process, and used successfully in both Australia and the United States, is described.

Jan 1, 1998