Search Documents

By Qian Fu

Although chlorine fluxing to remove magnesium has been widely practiced in the aluminum industry for many years, there appear to have been few fundamental studies of the kinetics and transport phenomena involved. The paper describes such a study in which the rates of reaction of individual argon/chlorine bubbles with aluminum/magnesium melts were measured. The detachment of bubbles from a submerged nozzle, at variable depth in the melt, was detected by a microphone and the arrival of the bubble at the top surface by conductivity probes. Analysis of exit gases and mass balances yielded the overall progress of reaction. Experimental results are interpreted in terms of heterogeneous reaction kinetics and mass transport to the bubble-melt interface,

Jan 1, 1996

By M. R. Dahm

The demand for low sulfur steel by steel manufacturers and their customers has been steadily increasing for 25 years. Historically sulfur has been controlled by various means and with various additives but lime-magnesium external desulfurization of hot metal has become established as the dominant method in North America today. Magnesium powder produced from primary magnesium ingot has been the major source or raw material. However, periodic increases in the price of this commodity have encouraged producers to look to secondary magnesium for an alternate source of magnesium. Secondary magnesium from post-consumer scrap can be cleaned, sized, and prepared to produce a high quality magnesium reagent for use in hot metal desulfurization at a lower cost than material processed from primary ingot.

Jan 1, 2000

By Paul Pajunen, Michael Sheedy

"Acid separation using short bed ion exchange is a now well established technology in copper refinery tankhouses. Refinery bleed streams from liberator cells are treated by short bed systems to produce an acid-free byproduct stream that contains the bleed metals and valuable nickel salts. Removing the acid eliminates the need for a black acid evaporator and reduces the amount of sodium carbonate required in nickel selective precipitation processes. The recovered sulfuric acid can be recycled to the tankhouse. This same technology is routinely used to treat other acids such as hydrochloric, nitric, and hydrofluoric. In the case of hydrochloric acid, the process can selectively separate chloro-anionic complexes such as Zn, Pb, and Cu, which are then eluted with water. The acid recovery technology can also be closely coupled with ion exchange processes in order to minimize regenerant acid consumption. In many hydrometallurgical applications resin regeneration often requires an acid dosage multiple times the stoichiometric minimum. Coupling an acid recovery bed with the IX column allows recovery and recycle of the free acid in the spent regenerant, thus reducing the overall acid consumption to just slightly more than stoichiometric.Short Bed Ion ExchangeThe short bed ion exchange process has been extensively used in the metal finishing industries since the early 1970s [1,2]. Short bed systems have also been sold to primary metals producers for the separation of sulfuric acid from copper refinery bleed streams [3] and for the recovery of nickel and cobalt from plant effluent streams. This unique technology optimizes the ion exchange process and offers a number of significant advantages over conventional ion exchange. The principal features and benefits of this technology are presented below."

Jan 1, 2012

By A. V. Tarasov

An environmentally clean and virtually waste-less technology for treatment of domestic solid waste and other toxic chloride-containing materials has been developed and proven on a full scale by the Gintsvetmet Institute in cooperation with some other Russian organizations. The proposed process resolves the acute and globally significant problem of dioxin formation. The purpose of the proposed technology is to ensure such destruction of the structural lattice of toxic compounds that would guarantee irreversible transformation of the resultant substances to prevent formation of dioxins. The preconditions that are required to achieve this purpose are: temperature of >125O0C; an oxidant excess coefficient of >I .05; a certain retention time of the products under these conditions (ADZ s); and thermal instantaneousness of the process involving a transition with no intermediate phase. These conditions were achieved with the experimental development of the Vanyukov furnace design commonly used for sparged smelting processes at non-ferrous metallurgical plants in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Jan 1, 2002

By Joseph C. Milbourne

The selection of a suitable nitrate removal process depends on a variety of site-specific chemical and environmental issues. The dominant technologies for nitrate removal include biological denitrification and continuous countercurrent ion exchange. The decision to apply either of these technologies, or both together, depends on the nature of the waste water to be treated. Factors that affect the selection of the biological system include the feed composition and feed temperature. Ion exchange nitrate removal systems are less sensitive to the feed composition but require disposal or destruction of the concentrated pregnant eluate. The paper discusses Tetra's continuous countercurrent ion exchange technology (CCIXTM) and fixed film biological reactor, Denite°. The treatment of the ion exchange pregnant eluant is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1994

By A. H. -J. Siegmund

Since the last survey of lead smelters in 1987, the lead industry has experienced many changes. Technological innovations, in combination with a dramatic shift in the market structure as well as more stringent government regulations, caused major upheavals in many different areas. Therefore, a new survey was performed to review the progress in the technology of lead recovery over the least decade. The newly conducted survey reflects all current phases of the world's primary lead production, from charge preparation to refined metal shipment. It was prepared by sending questionnaires to individual companies, and the detailed statistical data of this survey are presented. In considering the data developed from the survey, it should be recognized that the primary lead industry is at a crossroad where novel technologies will gradually substitute the sinter machine - blast furnace operation in the new millennium.

Jan 1, 2000

By Nelson Collao I.

Loss of the organic phase from solvent extraction circuits is a major cost factor for SXEW operations. Recognized sources of loss include evaporation, entrainment, and biological degradation. The mechanisms for both entrainment and evaporative losses are well recognized. Biological degradation of the organic has not been as extensively evaluated as the other mechanisms but is a major source of loss. This paper discusses the impact of biological degradation on an operating plant, potential mechanisms for degradation, conditions under which biodegradation of plant organic can occur and plant conditions that may assist in promoting biodegradation.

Jan 1, 2003

Korea has about 68 hundreds million tons of limestone's reserves. Still, high-Ca2+ limestone containing more than 52% calcium oxide makes up for about 12% only; hence the need for securing and effectively developing limestone. The best solution is to manufacture precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC). The synthesis of PCC using high-Ca2+ limestone has several advantages including the efficient development of resources and easing the import dependence on PCC. The first step is the selection of suitable limestone for the synthesis of PCC. In this study, formation age was decided as the primary key point, with its effect on calcination, hydration, and synthesis of aragonite investigated. Results showed that the yield of aragonite increased when newer limestone was used. On the other hand, neither the activity and bulk density of quicklime nor the particle size of aragonite was affected by the formation age, although special values were registered following each formation age. Moreover, the bulk density of quicklime and particle size of aragonite tended to increase with decreasing activity. This result is different from that of the other experiment. Therefore, a suitable method for measuring the activity of quicklime for use in the manufacture of PCC must be established.

Jan 1, 2006

By Thomas Brynjulfsen, Merete Tangstad

"Manganese ore fines, generated during mining and transportation, can not be added to the submerged arc furnace directly as they will prevent even gas flow through the burden. Low gas permeability in the burden will lower the degree of pre-reduction of ore and subsequently increase the carbon and energy consumption of the process. In order to utilize manganese ore fines in the furnace they are agglomerated into sinter, pellet or briquettes. The agglomeration process will however change the reduction properties of the ore. In this work the melting and reduction properties of sinter has been investigated.The melting temperature and melting mechanisms has been studied. The mineralogy of the raw ores and agglomerated has been found using XRD, and the composition established using EPMA(WDS). The effect of adding fluxes such as dolomite and quartz has also been investigated.IntroductionManganese metal is produced in a submerged electric arc furnace or in blast furnaces. The reduction of manganese oxide in blast furnace has in the recent years become more unusual due to the high consumption of reducing carbon material[5]. Manganese metal for alloying in steel usually contains silicon and iron, and are therefore called ferro manganese and silicomanganese.During mining, transportation and handling the manganese ore is broken up into different size fractions. The larger lump are used directly in the electric arc furnace, but the finer materials can not be added without treatment. The fine ore can disrupt the flow of CO and CO2 gas through the burden, subsequently reducing the degree of pre-reduction. The fine fractions must therefore be agglomerated into larger lumps, in order to promote gas flow. This can be achieved through a number of different processes. The agglomerate used in this work has been sintered, which means that is has been partly molten and reduced, in order to create bigger lumps."

Jan 1, 2012

By D. Kennis

"Union Miniere Precious Metal's (UMPM's) Hoboken Business Unit has a long tradition in complex Pb-Cu metallurgy, focussing on the recovery of precious metals from various types of secondary and recyclable materials. Although the old flow sheet, based on a traditional sinter plant, blast furnace, and lead refinery process was a very complete flow-sheet with the capability of dealing with almost every impurity, the weaknesses became clear:1. old and costly technology,2. too many unit operations,3. too much internal recycling, and4. dependency on concentrates for the sintering process.To maintain the competitiveness of the Hoboken Business Unit, the project ""Smelter 2000"" was born. This project represents a breakthrough in metallurgical processes and technology. A modem smelting technology was chosen together with the development of a new process. A lead-copper process combining lead slag and blister copper production, carried out in an ISASMEL T vessel, was the key to simplifying the Hoboken flowsheet. ISASMEL T smelting technology was chosen for its flexibility towards feed characteristics and process parameters.The new smelter was commissioned at the end of 1997. Although there were a lot of problems due to the high degree of technical innovations in the process, the new smelter came to design capacity within 1 year after start-up. During this period, however, UMPM had, a very difficult time because of the extreme clear-cut nature of going from the old to the new flowsheet.After two and a half years of operation, the new flowsheet has proven to fit with the strategy of UMPM, focussing on treating secondary Pb-Cu materials and a broad range of recyclable feeds such as electronic scrap (E-scrap) and catalysts. Together with the new Precious Metals Plant, efficient logistics, recognised world class sampling practices and a customer-focussed commercial organisation, UMPM Hoboken can definitely be considered reborn."

Jan 1, 2000

By Kaixi Jiang, Lei Zhang, Sanping Liu, Yufang Wang, Xiaoping Zou

"Molybdenite concentrates are usually treated by roasting, but low concentration SO2 pollution is a problem. Extraction of molybdenum and rhenium from molybdenite concentrates with a pressure oxidative leaching (POX) and solvent extraction (SX) process was studied. A series of POX-SX laboratory and pilot tests were carried out on the molybdenite concentrate. In the POX stage, more than 95% rhenium and 15-20% molybdenum were leached into solution. Solvent extraction recovered the rhenium and molybdenum from the POX solution. The extraction rates of Re and Mo were above 98%. The loaded organic reagent is stripped with ammonia. The stripping ratio of Mo is more than 98%. Compared to the roasting process, the total recovery of Mo increased from 93% to 97%, and Re from 60% to 90%. In the coming five years, POX-SX technology will be competitive in China.IntroductionMolybdenite is the main resource for the production of molybdenum, and about 99% of the total molybdenum was extracted from molybdenite. Rhenium is one of the important new materials in national defense, space flights, nuclear energy and electronics, because of its high melting point, high strength, plastic properties and significant creep resistance. There are no single rhenium ores in the world; rhenium mainly co-exists with molybdenum. Consequently, molybdenite is also the main resource for the extraction of rhenium."

Jan 1, 2012

By Zbigniew Smieszek, Ryszard Chamer, Ryszard Prajsnar, Zygmunt Kurek

"Lead-containing wastes processed at the IMN’s Division in Legnica originate mainly from dry and wet dedusting installations of the technological lines for copper production. These are lead dusts and lead-zinc dusts characterised by the specific properties resulting from the chemical composition of the Polish copper concentrates. Besides lead, they contain many accompanying metals and impurities such as zinc, copper, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, sodium, and also bituminous substances. Processing of lead-containing dusts is conducted in the installations of rotary-rocking furnaces heated with gas-oxygen burners fitted with auxiliary systems for cleaning process gases and refining re-circulating dusts. The processing technology utilizes innovative process and technical solutions enabling disposal of lead-containing wastes from copper metallurgy and from non-ferrous metals industry according to the BAT recommendations and to the guidelines specified in integrated permission. In this paper, the main technological aspects of processing lead-containing dusts at the IMN’s Division in Legnica have been presented.IntroductionCrude lead is obtained in Polish lead metallurgy from various primary and secondary materials, such as Zn-Pb concentrates, lead-bearing dusts of copper metallurgy and battery scrap. In zinc smelter Miasteczko Slaskie S.A. crude lead is produced from sulfide and oxide Pb-Zn concentrates in ISP process. Orzel Bialy S.A. and Baterpol Ltd. produce crude lead in short rotary furnaces in the process of smelting products of mechanical battery scrap separation– desulfurised or not desulfurised paste and metallic fraction. KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. and IMN Divison in Legnica produce crude lead in rotary furnaces in the process of smelting of polymetallic dusts and slimes from copper production processes."

Jan 1, 2008

By M. A. Gerdel

In carboxylate collector flotation of bastnasite from other semisoluble salt type minerals such as barite various modifiers must be added in order to achieve selective flotation. One such modifier is a lignin sulfonate. It may function in part by acting as a sequestrant for metal ions present, preventing autoactivation in the system by metal ions derived from the minerals themselves. It also functions as a depressant for both bastnasite and barite, chemisorbing on both. However, it is shown that the lignin sulfonate functions as a much stronger depressant for barite than for bastnasite. It is suggested that the; strong depressing action on barite is related to a good fit of the sulfonate into the barite structure.

Jan 1, 1989

By Pradeep kumar Jha, Manas Mohan Mahapatra, Sabin Kumar Mishra, Satish Kumar Ajmani, Satish C. Sharma

"Due to mechanical/ electrical failure in the C.C. line or inadequate availability of molten steel from coming ladle, sometimes one/two outlets of a multi-strand tundish in continuous casting unit is closed. Closing any of the outlets affects the flow distribution inside the tundish which in turn governs the quality of steel coming out. Hence it is important to study which of the outlets should be closed to have proper results in terms of flow behavior and inclusion removal inside the tundish. Present study aims at finding the effect of closing one or two outlets on flow behavior and inclusion removal in a multi strand tundish. It was found that closing the near outlet (outlet near to the inlet) increases the inclusion removal tendency than closing the other two outlets in a six-strand billet caster tundish (only three outlets are considered because of symmetry).IntroductionContinuous casting process transforms molten metal into solid on a continuous basis. This process is the most efficient way to solidify large volumes of metal into simple shapes for subsequent processing [1]. Molten metal is tapped into the ladle from furnaces. From the ladle, the hot metal is transferred via a refractory shroud (pipe) to a holding bath called a tundish. The tundish allows a reservoir of metal to feed the casting machine while ladles are switched, thus acting as a buffer of hot metal as well as smoothing out flow, regulating metal feed to the moulds and cleaning the metal [2]."

Jan 1, 2012

By Xiaorong Liu

Interfacial emulsion generated in copper solvent extraction is an inhomogeneous O/W emulsion that consists of organic phase, aqueous phase and solid particles. In order to determine what kind of components in organic phase promotes the emulsion, the organic phase separated from the interfacial crud provided by Dexing Copper Mine in Jiangxi, China was analyzed for its components by combined gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. It was found that many kinds of emphiphiles containing such hydrophilic groups as carbonyl, carboxyl, or acylamine existed in organic phase, most of which were originated from the reagent degradation. Conclusively, Lix984N would degrade gradually during a long-term contact with the acidic aqueous feed and strip reagents. Lix84 and nonylphenol, as effective components of Lix984N, degraded almost completely after long-term recycling. As a result, the effective components of Lix984N were far lower in concentration than the dense-aromatic impurities derived from the diluent and the degradation products in total. The degradation of Lix984N would deteriorate solvent extraction, disengagement performance and result in more serious interfacial emulsion.

Jan 1, 2006

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 Philip Nash, Jie Zhou, Joshua Blackketter

"Large ingots tend to have internal defects such as shrinkage cavities and porosities, which have to be closed during the cogging stage to ensure sound internal quality of forged parts. In this work, finite element methods were used to simulate open die forging passes, with varying parameters that affect the void closure behavior profoundly. Numerical models ware constructed in ABAQUS, DEFORM and FORGE using data taken from footage of the forging process and material mechanical data obtained from the Gleeble compression tests. Forging variables such as pass rotation, reduction per pass, and feed ratio were studied with intense attention paid on the special properties of H13 steel, so that this study can be applied to solve real world problem.IntroductionCenterline defect closure is a frequently studied but still challenging topic in open die forging industry. In practice, open die forging is employed as an effective hot forming process to make desired shape of metal products as well as to ensure center consolidation of internal defects which result from the casting process. Nowadays, remarkable large forgings have been more and more required to meet industries demand. However, the increase in ingot size has tended to result in considerable macrosegregations and shrinkage cavities or voids, which need to be worked thoroughly during the forging process; but the size of the products and limitations of manufacturing capacity, such as the press load, make it difficult to achieve adequate local deformation to close those defects. Therefore, choosing optimal forging parameters under given work condition to ensure good internal quality of forged products is critically important."

Jan 1, 2012

By D. Ducharme, J. Lenz

Operation of the Kidd electrolytic zinc plant commenced in 1972 with a cellhouse capacity of 105,000 tonnes of zinc cathode. The original cellhouse layout consisted of 42 parallel rows for a total of 588 cells. As leaching capacity increased, the cellhouse was expanded to 630 cells. Zinc cathode was manually stripped from plant start-up until the development of a mobile automated stripping system in 1994. Machine development continued until a second unit was placed in production in 1996, from which point, 60 % of the cellhouse was being stripped with the automated system. The final phase of the project was implemented in 1999 with the commissioning of two more automated strippers. This paper describes the implementation of the automated stripping system and its impact on cellhouse productivity.

Jan 1, 2000

By A. Rojo, N. J. Ramirez, J. E. Salgado

"This work aims to characterize the plastics used in a handgrip located in the car interior body in order to improve its design process and be able to predict its behavior when the part is subjected to impact test involving human casualties.Through stress analyses at high speeds and a video camera set up (front and side view), the reduction of area of specimen was obtained from image analysis, allowing to get the stress-strain real curve of the material.Continuing the characterization process a set of impact test was developed, where standard lzod configurations were used in unnotched specimens. From these tests were gotten displacement curves and absorption energy estimations.The proposed testing procedure allowed the acquisition of force and displacement data through time at various strain rates which are indispensable for the characterization of dynamic events. Using a specimen with a special configuration has shown a more detailed dynamic behavior resulting into more accurate numerical analyses within the design process.IntroductionIn the design process, one of the many analyses which take place is the impact test of the designed part. Nowadays there are many software capable to do these kind of analysis and each industry use the one they think it is convenient for them, but also the selected software has mathematic models that help to find the solution and the simulation of the case of analysis. These are not the only considerations that a company has to take into account, other one is the type of information and data necessary to feed the software. For this study we are going to focus on the acquisition of these data.The mail reason of this work is that generally the supplier gives the card of the material with all the characteristics and information requested by the buyer, but all of that information is acquired by standard methods, but it is inconvenient when the materials are polymers."

Jan 1, 2011

By Tian Li

Molecular crystal growth during gibbsite precipitation from caustic aluminate solutions under different flow regimes was investigated in three different laboratory precipitators. The gibbsite precipitation experiments were conducted at the same temperature, initial liquor composition and seed type. The Taylor-Couette precipitator and the stirred tank precipitator were operated, respectively, under the laminar and turbulent flow regimes, while the bottle roller precipitator was operated in a complex flow regime, where fluid flows are generated by the end-over-end rotation of the bottles. Comparison of the growth rate estimates from the different flow regimes showed good agreement, which suggests that the hydrodynamic regime has little or no effect on gibbsite crystal growth under the operating conditions employed in this work. The growth rate estimates from the current precipitation study showed a second order dependency on supersaturation and is consistent with a screw dislocation growth mechanism. The findings of the current work are in agreement with previous gibbsite crystal growth studies published in the literature.

Jan 1, 2003