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By Donald G. Rogich

The concept of initiating a large action-oriented contract, directed toward inherently safe mining systems, was conceived by the U. S. Bureau of Mines in January 1970. At that time we were in the process of establishing research contracts and grants, about 100 of which were let in FY 71 to deal individually with fairly specific technological areas. These projects in the aggregate covered a wide spectrum of health and safety problems. What appeared to be necessary was the creation of a project or program that would provide a focal point for the demonstration of many of the results of this research and also in the action sense culminate with working hardware and systems that could be tested and demonstrated over a fairly long teen. The concept of working demonstrable systems, rather than just a conceptual study, was, felt to be necessary for two significant reasons. In the development of any new system, the translation from concept to working hardware is usually a costly and time consuming process which acts as a deterrent to implementation. Secondly, many decisions in the mining community to change equipment or systems ,are based on first hand observation of the new system, in operational practice, an attitude which is certainly understandable in view of the high capital costs of equipment. The decision was made to procure a single R&D contract which would be aimed at developing underground coal mining systems which

Jan 1, 1972

By Zhisong Chai, Wei Xu

Q&P steels undergo continuous multiple processes, including hot rolling, intermediate heat treatment, cold rolling and continuous annealing etc. The inheritant effect of initial microstructure could affect the final microstructure and mechanical properties of Q&P steels. In this work, effects of different hot rolled microstructure/texture on the final microstructure and properties subjected to Q&P process were investigated in Fe-0.38C-1.58Mn-1.6Si system. Different initial microstructures were generated combing different TMCP and cooling strategies. The microstructure and texture of hot rolled materials were characterized in detail. The hot rolled material was subsequently processed by intermediate annealing, cold rolling and continuous annealing. The comparison reveals great effects of the initial hot rolled microstructures, i.e. inheritance effect. The faster reverse transformation would lead to more sufficient austenitization and it would greatly weaken the inheritant effect of the initial microstructure. Although the difference of final phase fraction for different initial microstructures was not significant, the inheritance effect was mainly reflected in the effect on austenite morphology. For the mechanical properties, no obvious difference in strength was shown for the samples with different initial microstructures after Q&P heat treatment, but there was fluctuation in elongation.

Oct 1, 2019

By Rommel Solís Salazar

El presente trabajo señala los beneficios del uso del inhibidor de incrustamiento para la extracción de oro y la plata. El inhibidor tiene la función de suprimir e inhibir la nucleación de cristales de carbonatos como un agente dispersante soluble en el agua, de forma que genera estadísticas de mejores ciclos de operación, reduce paradas por lavados, así como el empleo de ácidos fuertes adaptados de algunas otras industrias como la calderería y agricultura.

Jan 1, 2013

By W. Gan

The interactions between bitumen and quartz sands in aqueous solutions were studied with the objective of recovering residual bitumen from Athabasca oil sands froth treatment tailings. It was observed that the presence of various multivalent metal cation (Fe3-, Fe2+, Mg2+,Ca2+, etc.) increased the mutual coagulation between quartz particles and oil or bitumen droplets within certain pH ranges. While the increased coagulation was detrimental to the recovery of the bitumen since it lowered the degree of bitumen liberation from sands, this effect could be reduced or eliminated by the addition of organic chemicals such as citric acid, oxalic acid and EDTA. Among these organic chemicals, citric acid was found particularly effective even at very low concentration.

Jan 1, 2006

By V. Castranova, L. Wu, K. Van Dyke, J. Gutierrez, V. Vallayathan

Since it has been demonstrated that silica caused phagocytic cells to activate lipoxygenase metabolism of unsaturated fatty acids we thought selective inhibition of this metabolic pathway might be helpful in treatment of silicosis. It is known that lipoxygenase metabolism plays a role in the pathogenesis of a variety of inflammatory and hypersensitivity conditions. Further, it is believed that the alveolar phagocytic cells which engulf silica begin the inflammatory cycle which produces the metabolic products, cytokines and growth factors which causes fibrosis in the lung. There have been indications that drugs which inhibit lipoxygenase can inhibit fibrosis from other causes. Previously, we developed a method which detects the activity of lipoxygenase metabolism by measuring free radical oxidation via light production or chemiluminescence (CL). We decided to apply this method to phagocytic cells that would be found in the lung in the presence of silica with and without newly developed inhibitors of the lipoxygenase reaction. We used drugs which inhibit lipoxygenase directly including AA861 (TAKEDA), A63162 (Abbott), and an inhibitor that scavenges free radicals produced from the lipoxygenase reaction, nordihydroguairetic acid. In addition we used an indirect inhibitor, tetrandrine. We found drug inhibition of silica activated CL from alveolar macrophages, neutrophils and human leukemia (HL-60) cells differentiated with DMSO. Nordihydroguairetic acid 2x10-5M produced almost complete inhibition in all three cell types. In human leukemia cells (HL-60) A63162 and tetrandrine were equally inhibitory at 42% while in human neutrophils A63162 and tetrandrine were less active 22 and 10% respectively. In macrophages A63162 and AA861 were less than 50% inhibitory to cellular CL at 2xl0-5M. Direct assay of tetrandrine (2x10-5M) with sodium arachidonate and soybean lipoxygenase reveals no inhibition. All antilipoxygenase drugs regardless of mechanism were inhibitory to cellular chemiluminescence from all three types of phagocytic cells. These drugs alone or in mixtures could prove useful in treatment of silicosis.

Jan 1, 1991

Inhibition of Bubble Coalescence by Salts and Sugars

Sep 13, 2010

By R. H. Reist, R. D. Dey, V. Castranova, J. P. Durham, Y. Rojanasakul

"Silicosis is a fibrotic pulmonary disease produced by inhalation of silica-containing dusts (Peters, 1986). Chronic silicosis may develop 20-40 years after initial exposure to crystalline silica, and the disease may progress from a simple to a complicated form. Few symptoms are evident in simple silicosis with pulmonary function being relatively normal. However, chest radiographs reveal small rounded ·opacities in the upper lobes of the lungs. These silicotic nodules consist of collagen arranged in a distinctive circular pattern. As fibrotic changes become more severe, the disease progresses to complicated silicosis (progressive massive fibrosis). Complicated silicosis is associated with shortness of breath and decreases in pulmonary function characteristic ofrestrictive lung disease. Chest x rays reveal numerous large silicotic nodules which may be associated with scar emphysema. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the cellular events which result in silica-induced lung damage and fibrosis (Lapp and Castranova, 1993). They include: ( l) direct cytotoxicity of silica, (2) activation of oxidant and enzyme release from alveolar macrophages, (3) recruitment and activation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, and (4) stimulation of fibroblast proliferation and collagen synthesis.Tetrandrine is a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid derived from the Chinese herb Radix Stephania tetrandra. It has a molecular weight of 622.73 and an empirical formula of C38H420 6N2. The chemical structure of tetrandrine has been published previously by our laboratory (Castranova et al., 1991 a). Its structure is characterized by methoxy groups at C7 and C12 , uncharged nitrogens at N2 and N’2 and two 17-carbon ring members connected by a double oxygen bridge between Ca-C7 and C11-C12. Tetrandrine has been shown to reduce both silica-induced fibrosis and the elevation of lung collagen content in rats (Huang et al .. 1981; Yu et al., 1983; ldel, 1987). Furthermore, tetrandrine has been used as an antifibrotic agent in Chinese clinical trials (Li et al.. 1981 ). Preliminary results suggest that administration of tetrandrine to patients with silicosis results in substantial improvement of symptoms, increases in diffusion capacity, and decreases in the size of shadows on lung x rays."

Nov 1, 1995

The results of studies to ameliorate acid mine drainage by retarding the rate of oxidation of pyrite at source are discussed. In the transpassive region, pyrite oxidizes by reactive dissolution, mass transfer through the product layer and diffusion in the bulk solution. One can decrease the rate of pyrite oxidation by inhibiting either oxidation reactions or cathodic reactions. It is demonstrated in this study that some surface active reagents extend the passive region by affecting both the anodic and cathodic processes. The extension to higher potentials occurs by inhibition of the anodic dissolution process whereas to lower cathodic potentials through decrease in the rate of reduction of molecular oxygen and/or ferric ions. To retard the oxidation of pyrite by ferric ions, which is considered to be the dominant oxidant under conditions of acid mine drainage, it would be necessary to restrict mass transfer or promote complexation of ferric ions at the surface. Imidazoline based reagents were found to be most effective in meeting this goal.

Jan 1, 1994

By M. W. Barger, J. K. H. Ma, J. Y. C. Ma, V. Castronova

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of various bisbenzylisoquinoline (BBIQ) alkaloids on respiratory burst activity of alveolar macrophages and to characterize the interaction of these drugs with alveolar phagocytes. BBIQ alkaloids were chosen for study because they exhibit a wide range of antifibrotic potencies in a rat model, with tetrandrine being very effective and tubocurarine being ineffective. These drugs inhibited zymosan-stimulated oxygen consumption with a potency sequence of tetrandrine (IT) = fangchinoline (FA) > berbamine (BE) ., cepharanthine (CE) "" cycleanine (CY} ~ tubocurarine (TU). This inhibition of respiratory burst activity could not be attributed to a drug-induced decline in the ATP content of these pneumocytes. Drug binding to alveolar macrophages was directly dependent on temperature and drug concentration. The sequence for binding capacity was FA > TT = BE = CY > CE ~ TU. Therefore, there was no simple relationship between binding capacity and inhibitory potency. Binding capacity was not related to lipophilicity of these alkaloids. In addition, tetrandrine failed to bind to metabolically dead cells or sonicated macrophage preparations. These data suggest that the interaction of BBIQ alkaloids with phagocytes is not simply nonspecific binding to membrane lipids. Alteration of the cytoskeletal system with vinblastine, taxol, or cytochalasin B decreased tetrandrine binding by approximately 33% when adtkd separately and by 93% when added jointly. Pre-exposure of alveolar macrophages to stimulants increased the ability of BBIQ alkaloids to inhibit both oxygen consumption and superoxide release. These data suggest that the mechanism by which BBIQ alkaloids inhibit activation of phagocytes involves microtubules and bules and microfilaments. Pre-exposure of macrophages to stimulants would change the conformation of cytoskeletal components and may make these structures more susceptible to drug interaction.

Mar 1, 1992

By D. M. Lewis, J. K. H. Ma, Y. Rojanasakul, J. Y. C. Ma, J. H. Kang, V. Castronova

"Tetrandrine is a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid which has been shown to exhibit antifibrotic activity against silicosis. Tetrandrine is characterized by its strong binding to alveolar macrophages and inhibition of particle-induced respiratory burst activity in these phagocytes. In contrast, tubocurine and tubocurarine are structurally similar to tetrandrine but exhibit little effect on fibrosis or activation of alveolar macrophages. The objective of the present study was to test the effect of tetrandrine on macrophage production of monokines in response to occupational dusts, and to determine tetrandrine's effect on monokine-medicated cell growth using a mouse thymocyte proliferation assay and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as a positive control. Stimulation of alveolar macrophages by respirable silica dust resulted in a release of monokines which caused a fourfold increase in thymocyte proliferation. Coal dust, on the other hand, had no effect on macrophage production of this cytokine. Tetrandrine was found to exhibit a dose-dependent inhibition of monokine release from both silica and LPS-stimulated alveolar macrophages. In experiments where thymocytes were directly treated with tetrandrine, a dose-dependent inhibition of thymocyte proliferation was noted with both interleukin-1- (IL-1) specific and nonspecific mitogenic (concanavalin A) actions. In contrast to the inhibitory potency of tetrandrine, tubocurarine was found to have no effect on either the production of monokines by LPS-stimulated alveolar macrophages or IL-I-mediated thymocyte proliferation. These results provide a correlation between the ant:fibrotic effect of tetrandrine and inhibition of macrophage activation. INTRODUCTIONThe pathogenesis of chronic pulmonary fibrosis caused by inhalation of occupational dusts has been associated with abnormal activation of alveolar macrophages such as the release of various cytokines capable of inducing fibroblast proliferation and collagen synthesis. These macrophage-derived cytokines include interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor-B (TGF-(B), macrophage derived growth factor (MDGF), and interferon [1, 2].Interleukin-1 is a major macrophage-derived cytokine that has been shown to exhibit multiple biological effects on a variety of target cells. It is known to cause leukocyte [3, 4] and endothelial cell activation [5, 6], and to affect the synthesis and maintenance of the extracellular matrix by stimulation of fibroblast proliferation [7-9], synthesis of collagens [10] and gluco-saminoglycans [11], and prostaglandin E2 production [12]. In addition, IL-1 plays an important role in the initiation of an immune response through its direct activation of lymphocytes and stimulation of the production of other cytokines, such as interferons and hemopoietic colony-stimulating factors, needed for the expression of an immune response [13]. As a major cytokine in the immune-inflammatory sequela, IL-1 is also produced by epidermal, epithelial, lymphoid, and vascular tissues after infection, injury, or antigenic challenge [14]. Agents such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), immune complexes, and particulates are known to activate the synthesis and release of IL-1 by monocytes and macrophages [15]. These substances also trigger intracellular signals leading to altered arachidonic acid metabolism. Although the mechanism is still not clear, prostaglandins have been shown to suppress IL-1 translation via the induction of cyclic adenosine-monophosphate (CAMP), whereas leukotrienes produce a positive signal for IL-1 production [13]."

Mar 1, 1992

By R. Darlington, S. Ji

"High pressure die casting is a promising process to make thin-wall components with high dimensional accuracy and excellent surface quality. However, the non-uniformity is one of the important features in castings. The inhomogeneity in tensile properties and microstructural characteristics were studied for the castings with different thicknesses made by high pressure die-cast Al-Mg-Si alloys. For the local mechanical properties in the die-castings, the casting skin provided the highest, whereas the casting centre provided the lowest yield strength, UTS and elongation. The yield strength, UTS and elongation were significantly decreased towards the casting centre. The microstructural inhomogeneity is characterised by the segregation of coarse fragmented dendrites, the reduction of solute concentrations of Mg and Si, and the increase of porosity level from the surface to the centre of castings. The growth velocities of eutectic a-Al phase estimated using the Jackson-Hunt model confirm that the growth variation is larger in the thin castings than that in thick castings.INTRODUCTION Inhomogeneity is an inherent characteristic in as-cast microstructures of a variety of alloys because of their non-uniform chemistry, microstructure, defects, topology and the resultant mechanical properties in the different ranges of localization (Campbell, 2003). Generally, three types of inhomogeneities characterise casting microstructures, which include (a) the casting defects of shrinkage and gas porosity, misruns, cold shuts, inclusions, hot tears and hot spots; (b) the non-uniform microstructure from the surface to the centre of castings; and (c) the non-uniform microstructure from the dendrites grown from primary solidification and the structure formed during the subsequent eutectic solidification in inter-dendritic regions. The chemical composition and the morphology between the primary dendrites and the inter-dendritic eutectics also differ in the as-cast microstructure. Obviously, the inhomogeneity is different in the castings obtained from different casting processes."

Jan 1, 2018

By Wagner Luís Garcia Silveira

Nos últimos anos a thyssenkrupp Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico – CSA tem passado por uma série de mudanças no que diz respeito ao perfil de qualidade das matérias-primas, principalmente em relação à piora de qualidade do minério de ferro extraído do quadrilátero ferrífero em Minas Gerais, o qual compõe 100% da carga metálica utilizada pela CSA. Uma das principais mudanças observadas foi o aumento do teor de fósforo na carga metálica (sinter produto, pelota e granulado), tornando-se necessários estudos para minimizar os impactos na elevação de P no gusa, tais como, desenvolvimento de novos fundentes e aditivos. O fósforo é um elemento que traz poucas alterações nos processos de Metalurgia da Redução (Sinterização, Coqueria e Alto forno) e existem métodos eficazes de redução destas alterações [1], porém é extremamente prejudicial à qualidade, produtividade e custos de uma Aciaria, principalmente em produções de aços que exigem baixo teor de fósforo em sua composição [2]. Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar os esforços realizados pela Sinterização em relação à redução do teor de fósforo no Sinter Produto e consequentemente no Gusa, por meio de simulações de qualidade envolvendo novos fundentes e aditivos.

Aug 17, 2017

By Guillermo Manrique

El presente texto describe las estrategias planteadas por la empresa Southern para la convivencia pacífica con las comunidades afectadas por el desarrollo de las operaciones mineras. Para ello, se requiere definir los objetivos y la filosofía corporativa (responsabilidad social) que garantice el apoyo de dichas propuestas. Asi también se realiza un estudio base de la comunidad, donde se priorizen las necesidades de las comunidades a través de la estrategia de concertación y así ejecutar proyectos participativos de desarrollo social. Finalmente, la información recolectada se sustenta y validad por las experiencias llevadas a cabo en las 36 comunidades del entorno de las operaciones de SPCC, convirtiéndose en un aporte para el tratamiento comunitario.

Sep 13, 2001

By M. Gangal, B. Paul

It may be seen from Maurer's survey (Maurer,l 1966) that most of the common methods used in rock drilling today depend upon mechanical loading of the rock. In order to predict the behavior of rock under an imposed system of stresses, it is necessary to have a valid criterion which delineates those combinations of stress which cause macroscopic rock failure from those which do not. Admittedly, the conditions under which brittle materials fracture depend very much upon statistically variable local effects such as inclusions, grain boundaries, minute imperfections, etc. However, it is extremely desirable to be able to predict fracture under complex states of stress by means of a stress-criterion of failure, where, for a given material, the effects of the other variables mentioned are incorporated into a small number of experimentally observable parameters. One of the most successful of these "macroscopic stress criteria" has been the Coulomb-Mohr theory 2,3 (also see Jaeger 4 and Terzaghi 5), modified by the addition of tension cutoffs (Paul 6). At first thought it might seem rather odd that a macroscopic theory is capable of predicting fractures which originate at highly localized random imperfections at an atomic level (or more likely at the level of individual mineral grains in rocks). However, Griffith7 showed that fractures originating near the tips of randomly oriented elliptical cracks lead to the macroscopic stress criterion of failure indicated in Fig. 1 (a). Fig. I (a) is to be interpreted in the following way: P and Q represent the maxi mum and minimum principal stresses (compression is considered positive) in a macroscopically isotropic body; fracture will not occur for any combination of principal stresses lying within the 'fracture curve' shown, but

Jan 1, 1967

"This research represents a shift away from empirical models that lock the industry into 50-year old inefficiencies with little response to operating variability. The mechanistic and intrinsically dynamic mill model under development steps up to a new paradigm using the latest computing capabilities and physical understanding of breakage and transport to transform predictive capabilities for design, optimisation and on-line control with variable feed. The milling process is broken down into discrete sub-processes, each of which can be modelled as an object in the whole model and in the model code. These objects can be upgraded or exchanged without having to rewrite or restructure the remainder of the code. Sub-processes include: feed into mill; transport along mill; presentation to impacting events; range of impacting forces; probability of being impacted in different zones in the mill as a function of particle size and density; suspension in slurry; and discharge out of the mill. The unit and processes surrounding the mill (feed and recycle conveyors, slurry pump and pipe, cyclone and recycle crusher) have also been modelled, in order to incorporate the effect of recirculating load coming from a cyclone or a recycle pebble crusher, respectively for ball mills or SAG mills. Each unit is modelled dynamically and PID controllers have been added to control pumping flowrate from sump and water addition for cyclone feed dilution. The paper demonstrates the predictive capability of a dynamic, mechanistic model and is used to test the sensitivity to the sub-processes, comparing different formulations and highlighting the aspects that require further development. Validation on pilot tests and application to industrial data is presented. This approach is currently undergoing industrial trial on sites, for use in on-line model-informed process control. Considerable further development is required to incorporate the full mechanistic structure planned for this model."

Jan 1, 2018

By Kristian Drivenes, Steinar L. Ellefmo, Kurt Aasly, Ben Snook, Przemyslaw B. Kowalczuk, Rolf Arne Kleiv

"Since Ellefmo et al. (2014) published resource estimates of undiscovered seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (AMOR), there has been an increased focus on establishing new knowledge about exploitation technologies for such deposits. This also includes understanding the process mineralogical properties of typical SMS deposits.The part of the AMOR that lies between Jan Mayen and the Svalbard Islands and is located within Norwegian jurisdiction and, as such, investigating the potential for mineral production from hydrothermal vent fields has been seen as strategic. The AMOR has been explored for active hydrothermal vent fields since early 2000s (Pedersen et al., 2010b). One of the active vent fields discovered, Loki´s Castle, is located in the northern part of Mohn´s Ridge. This vent field was first described by Pedersen et al., (2010a) and consists of two mounds, each approximately 100-150 m diameter and 20-30 meters high, hosting several active chimneys, up to 11 m high.Loki´s Castle has been selected as a case site in order to study the properties of typical SMS occurrences with respect to possible future deep-sea mining activities. As part of the MarMine cruise in 2016, the Loki Castle was visited and sampled for e.g. mineral characterization and mineral processing analyses. In total, more than 500 kg rock samples were collected using ROVs, and intended for further research (Ludvigsen et al., 2016). In addition to sampling mineralized rock fragments, survey data like bathymetry, magnetics and Underwater Hyperspectral Imaging (UHI) was collected using Automated Underwater Vehicle (AUV)."

Jan 1, 2017

By Eric Sitorus, Septian Prahastudhi, Roy William, Wieda Azani

In July 2020, massive slope failure occurred in the southeast corner Grasberg open pit. This was the final episode in the breakthrough of Production Block 2 South (PB2S) of the Grasberg Block Cave to connect to the surface. This breakthrough had been rapidly evolving during the first half of 2020 and occurred as expected with no adverse impacts to safety or operations. To manage and safeguard the exposure to the workforce and operations, numerous hazards were identified and anticipated. The failure of the sill pillar between the open pit and PB2S cave was identified as the main area of interest and was closely watched during the failure process. This paper reviews the systematic approach developed to convert monitoring data into information around the collapse of the GBC PB2S cave sill pillar. The data that was interpreted consisted of micro-seismic, piezometric, ground-based radar and observational inspections. Geological structures on the boundary of the PB2S cave were clearly involved in the breakthrough process. As the cave propagation reached these structures and triggered instability, the resulting acceleration and breakdown were clearly shown by IBIS radar units associated with high movement in the slope. The focus of this paper is on the evolution of changes seen in the micro-seismic data and how it was used to understand the rapidly changing conditions of the sill pillar. The seismic parameters evaluated were event distribution, Es/Ep value, and the seismic moment tensor inversion. The changes of breakthrough indication seen in these parameters were substantiated by Shear Wave Splitting (SWS) analysis that showed a close correlation with the fractured zone above the PB2S cave as indicated by the increasing anisotropy.

Jan 1, 2022

By A. B. Cortes

This research work discusses the development of a two-dimensional model that represents the flow that occurs in the inlet section of hydrocyclones. The governing equations are the two-dimensional, unsteady, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in cylindrical polar coordinates with primitive variable formulations. In this approach, no assumptions have been made other than independence in the axial direction. The full two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation in the r-a plane is used. The commonly used simplifying assumption of axisymmetry is not used. A numerical technique based on a newly developed spectral-difference method is used to solve the equations. The spectral-difference method is a multi-domain, and multi-dimensional extension of the Jacobi polynomial collocation technique. The computational grid for the inlet section is composed of 25 sub-domains which result from five partitions in the angular direction and five partitions in the radial direction. Several test cases are used to validate the appropriateness of the numerical model.

Jan 1, 1995

By Robert L. Gamble

The world's largest fluidized bed steam generator located at Rivesville, West Virginia is currently undergoing initial operation. This unit is designed to generate 3708 kg/s (300,000 Ib/hr) equivalent to 30 MWe of superheated steam while firing coal in a fluidized bed of limestone. Coal was first fired in this unit in December, 1976 and start up operation is progressing.

Jan 1, 1977

By Winrove G. S, Herdie G. J, McCarthy C. A

Production of hot metal from the Hlsmelt Research and Development Facility at Kwinana, Western Australia commenced in October 1993. The stand-alone facility is a unique, coal-based, integrated ironworks equipped to process iron ore fines to pig iron and simultaneously undertake a wide range of research tasks. The data generated will be used to verify the commercial potential of the technology and to set the design and operating parameters for a full-scale production plant. The design, construction, commissioning and initial operation of the HRDF has required many innovative and practical solutions to be developed and implemented by the international group of organisations contributing to the Hlsmelt Project. Initial operation has produced results which demonstrate the potential of the unique process technology associated with the core plant smelting unit. The recent achievement of post-combustion levels of 60 per cent with heat transfer efficiencies greater than 85 per cent demonstrates that the performance obtained with the Small Scale Pilot Plant in Maxhutte, Germany can be reproduced at a larger scale. The results presented in this paper support the thrust for further intensification and future commercialisation of the process.

Jan 1, 1995