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By Grigore Matei

The thermodynamic properties of CU2S-FeS system are important not only in the case of copper smelting but also in the case of general pyro-mctallurgy, However there are not many reported activity data In this study, activities of FeS and CU2S in the CU2S-FeS system were calculated using the Darken's method from the activity data of the CU2S-FeS-Sb2SJ systems measured by the transportation method at 10S0°C. The activities of CU2S and FeS in the CU2S-FeS system showed negative deviation from the ideal behaviour and satisfied the relation of the Gibbs-Duhem equation,

Jan 1, 2003

By Christoph Pichler

A special desulphurization slag accrues during the processing of iron ore to steel, which is needed to generate high quality steel. Sulphur removing is done by different technologies, but the most common one is the generation of a high sulphur containing slag by sulphur affine elements. Currently, this desulphurization slag is partly recycled, however, huge amounts are still dumped. To utilize this desulphurization slag for future purposes, a recycling process must be established. Therefore, first characterization of this material started some years ago at the Chair of Nonferrous Metallurgy, Montanuniversität Leoben. Subsequent trials in lab scale size were performed, also some investigations for different treatment steps were evaluated, starting with a parameter study in a hot stage microscope at various gas-atmospheres. Finally, the developed recycling process concept was verified in pilot scale trials to confirm the new recycling technology. Due to the successful treatment process, also a patent was applied.

By I. Goy D. Gaballah

Decontamination of synthetic K2Cr2O 7 solutions containing 10 to 1000 ppm of hexavalent chromium using chemically treated barks have been studied at a laboratory scale. Metal removal from solutions depends on the pH, the initial concentration and the bark species. The use of a pulp density of 2 % in an agitated flask at the optimum pH for 2 hours leads to a percentage chromium removal of about 95 of the initial metallic ions content. Other trials conducted by column percolation permit the determination of the maximum retention capacity of the treated bark. Depending on the bark species, oak or pine, the rate of saturation is 110 and 215 mg of Cr per gram of bark respectively. The incineration of the metal charged barks gives recyclable, ashes containing 36 and 54 % of chromium metal for the oak and pine barks respectively. Experiments, of Cr6+ removal from industrial effluents containing up to 1800 ppm have been carried out on the semi-pilot plant scale. They have lead to the elimination of about 90 % of hexavalent chromium from this industrial waste solution. Further studies are conducted in order to define the hexavalent chromium binding mechanisms on bark constituents.

Jan 1, 1992

By Georgios N. Anastassakis, Nickolaos Georgiou

"Soil contamination by oil as well as by other organic pollutants poses a major problem to the environment. Various methods have been used to remove organic contaminants from soil, such as: biological, thermal, chemical and physical. Methods based on Mineral Processing principles have also been used (cyclone separation, gravimetric separation, attritioning and washing). This paper studies the possibility to remove a rich-in-contaminant soil fraction by applying flotation. The contaminated soil was artificially prepared by mixing soil with diesel fuel. Sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) and a tertiary amine (TA) were used as collectors. The effect of collector quantity added and conditioning time was studied. The results showed that the removal of a rich-in-contaminant soil is feasible while a clean fraction is also obtained. In several cases, the removal of oil-contaminated soil approaches or reaches 100%. Introduction Human activities are intimately associated with environmental pollution to the air, water and soil, as well. Soil pollution from inorganic and organic compounds is of equal importance with that of air and water, as it results in soil degradation and its concomitant problems with respect to meeting the human needs (house building, agriculture etc). Heavy metals along with their compounds are encountered among the most usual soil inorganic pollutants. The corresponding organic soil-pollutants are oil, oil-derivatives, pesticides, various aromatic (benzene, phenols, cresols, toluene etc) and poly-aromatic (naphthalene, anthracene etc) hydrocarbons, as well as various other organic compounds (pyridine, cyclo-hexane etc). Oil remains the basic energy source sharing 38% of the global needs, being followed by coal and gas with a share of 26 and 21% correspondingly [1]. The entire activities related with oil production, transport and consumption promote pollution in the air, water and soil. Consequently, soil pollution from oil is favoured at refineries, storage sites (due to possible pipe and tank leakage, tank cleaning works, loading and transportation) and, finally, at the oil-selling sites. Oil (or diesel-oil) fuel is a mixture of hydrocarbons, with 10-20 carbon atoms in the chain of each. It is mainly composed of paraffins, naphthenes and various aromatic compounds. In general, oil is composed of 20-30% in aromatic compounds, 5-6% in naphthenes and the rest is paraffins [1]."

Jan 1, 2008

By Mark R. Jolly, Jean-Christophe Gebelin, Aleksander Cendrowicz

"Injection of wax patterns is the first stage of the multi-stage process of investment casting. The quality of the final casting and its dimensional accuracy is highly dependent on this stage of the process. Pattern waxes used in the industry behave in a complex visco-elastic-plastic manner. The modelling of such material behaviour is therefore not simple.In this paper a number of configurations of die will be shown in which the injection of the wax has been carried out for a range of processing conditions. Some of the dies are transparent and the movements of wax front observed can be compared with those predicted by simulation. Surface defects in final components will also be shown and compared with the location predicted by simulation software. Some discussion will be presented on the limitations of the software used and the time-scales achieved for practical use as a design tool within the foundry environment. IntroductionThis paper presents the research activities carried out at the University of Birmingham on the modelling and prediction of the behaviour of industrial investment casting waxes during the injection of wax patterns. These research activities are done in the context of a more global study of the fundamental aspects of the investment casting process, the FOCAST project. Regarding the wax injection process, the aim of the project is to achieve a better understanding of the key factors that will lead to better castings. The filling of the die during the injection has been studied. Some other phenomena such as shrinkage/warpage or creep under residual stresses are also studied, but not presented here. Two commercial investment casting waxes have been characterised in order to model their behaviour and predict mould filling and subsequent defects.This paper will present the models that have been used in our work, the simulation packages used, the experiments carried out to validate the modelling and exhibit the defects due to bad filling, and finally the numerical simulation results."

Jan 1, 2001

By D. M. Hausen

Microscopic point-counting of polished sections, in combination with x-ray diffraction analyses of representative whole rock samples, provides an efficient means to compare the modal mineralogic composition of different rock types. Major gangue minerals, e.g., quartz, feldspars, micas, amphiboles, chlorite, clays, etc., are estimated semiquantitatively by x-ray diffraction techniques, utilizing optimum grind, gridded sample surfaces and a sample spinner during scanning. Opaque to semi-opaque oxide and .sulfide phases are estimated by microscopic "point-count" and "gross-count" scanning. Total mineralogic compositions are calculated and normalized to 100 percent from XRD and microscopic data by computer programming. Comparative mineral analyses for different rock types, as well as quantitative microscopic data for various parameters, including particle and crystal sizes, textures, degree of alteration, paragenesis, etc., provide useful guides in mineral exploration, both in early stages of geologic mapping and later stages of economic evaluation. Several case histories are described.

Jan 1, 1981

By R. P. Rao

In rare earth (RE) based phosphors, high luminous efficiency is possible due to their restricted emission limited to specific narrow bands. In general, these phosphor materials consist of RE ions as activators/sensitizers and/or hosts. Development of various phosphor host matrices such as alkaline earth chlorophosphates, aluminates and silicates activated by Eu(2+) as blue component, borates and phosphates of lanthanides and alkaline earth aluminates doped, with Ce/Bi and Tb as green component and Eu(3+) activated yttrium oxide and vanadate as red component has been described. Luminescent characteristics, color coordinates and suitability of these phosphor materials in high efficiency new generation lamps are presented and discussed.

Jan 1, 1989

By T. B. Braun

Cathode contamination is the principal factor affecting the quality of electrorefined copper. It is commonly accepted that annealability is unfavorably affected by the following elements, in decreasing order of adverse effect: tellurium, selenium, bismuth, antimony, and arsenic. Silver in cathodes has importance as it represents a nonrecoverable loss of silver to the refinery. Mechanisms for the contamination of cathodes by these elements are examined and the effect of operating variables on contamination, including anode composition, electrolyte composition, electrolyte temperature, addition agent practice, and electrolyte discard rate, are discussed.

Jan 1, 1976

By Achilles J. B. Dutra, Carlos M. Juarez

"The use of thiourea as a gold leaching reagent has been extensively studied by many researchers, and it has proved to be promising for some cases as refractory ores. Otherwise, the recovery of gold from these solutions did not receive so much attention. In this paper the electrowinning of gold in acidic thiourea solutions was studied by voltarnmetry and chronopotentiometry. An adsorption step was detected prior to Au(I) reduction and the diffusion coefficients at 25°C for Au-TU complex and FD were found to be 1.00 x 10.5 cm2 S-I and 1.98 x 10-5 cm2 S-I respectively. At -0.350 V (SCE) a passivation probably due to TU adsorption was observed. For higher overpotentials hydrogen evolution was the main reaction.IntroductionThe use of acidic thiourea solutions for the extraction of gold and silver has shown to be a promising alternative to the traditional process of cyanidation, specially for certain refractory ores (1-3) and electronic scrap (4). In some cases, the industrial scale was reached (1,5). The thiourea leaching of precious metals presents advantages over cyanidation, as faster kinetics, lower toxicity and lower sensibility to base metals; however the costs due to high thiourea consumption impairs its use.The majority of the publications on thiourea processing of gold is on leaching. Many are review papers (5-7). Recently, the adsorption and desorption of the gold-thiourea complex on activated carbon and ion exchange resins have been studied (8-11).Little research has been done on the electrowinning of gold from acidic thiourea solutions, most of it has been carried on the seventies and beginning of the eighties in the former USSR (12-17) and concerned the eletrolytic extraction of gold in tridimensional cathode cells.The present paper concerns the cathodic behavior of the gold-thiourea complex in the presence of formamidine disulfide in order to provide information on the electrowinning of gold from solutions obtained directly from leaching or from an elution process."

Jan 1, 1997

By LeoJ. Miller

Exploration for an ore deposit commences with an outline of the regional ore controlling environment and is followed by the application of tools to focus the target area. One of the most essential focusing is the mapping of the mineral assemblages within the area of the ore. Key elements of mineralizing fluids, either epigenetic or syngenetic, enter into mineral assemblages that extend far beyond ore deposits. Portions of these assemblages may consist of new matrix minerals or alteration of previously existing minerals. Today, ore deposits are divided into genetic classes and each class is d8fined by a specific geological environment. Ore deposits within a given class are associated with a mineralogy, that is characteristic of the ore deposit class. So faithful is the mineral assemblage surrounding, or within an ore deposit, that recognition of the assemblage may be sufficient to define the class. Porphyry copper deposits have long been noted for their halos of alter-ation minerals. The outermost ring of chlorite, epidote and calcite extend thousands of feet away from the main ore zone. The mineral associated with porphyry copper deposits have been well documented by our distinguished speaker Paul Kerr, at Santa Rita (1), and Silver Bell' (2), and by excellent papers from S. C. Creasey, 1959 (3), Sales, 1948 (4), T. S. Lovering, 1949 (5), our Co-Chairman John Guilbert, 1970 (6), and many others. Several recent porphyry copper mines have been discovered in recent years by utilizing the mineral assemblage model described by Lowell and Guilbert, 1970 (6). Dave Lowell applied his own model of mineral halos for the discovery of Kalamazoo at San Manuel (7), Arizona, and Casa Grande West, Arizona. The purpose of this paper is to outline the application of mineralogy for discoveries of deposits other than porphyry copper mines and in particular, to ore discoveries in which mineralogy has played a key roll.

Jan 1, 1981

By O. Chemezov, Yu Zaikov, A. Apisarov, A. Isakov

"Silicon deposits containing 99,9 wt.% of main component were obtained by SiO2 electrolysis from chloride-fluoride melts. The operating temperature was varied from 973 up to 1073 K. The conditions for obtaining crystalline fibrous micro- or nanodeposits were determined. The deposits were investigated by ESM methodIntroductionThere are large reserves of natural quartz of high purity in Russia. Processing of this raw material by electrolysis in molten salts produces silicon containing 99.9 weight percent of basic substance.[1]This method is less energy-consuming in comparison to existing methods for producing high purity silicon from gas phase.Another advantage of the electrolytic method for producing silicon from its oxide in molten salts is the possibility of production of high-purity silicon under air atmosphere. It dramatically reduces costs of the electrolytic cell construction, and the operating costs at electrolysis.On our opinion, the main advantage of the electrolytic production from SiO2 in molten salts is a unique opportunity to obtain micro-and nanostructures of silicon deposits. In particular, it is possible to obtain fibrous structures of silicon. The electrolytic method allows smoothly adjusting the thickness and length of silicon micro- and nano-wires by varying the cathode current density and temperature of the process."

Jan 1, 2012

By Lee Fergusson

"The primary features of ViroMine™ Technology are introduced and applications of ViroMine™ Technology to mine site remediation and the treatment of a variety of intractable waste-streams, including a technical discussion of acid neutralizing capacity, metals binding capacity and longterm stability of results. Outcomes from four applications at high-profile international mine sites are presented: 1) the superfund site at the Gilt Edge Mine, South Dakota, USA (four years of data on the treatment of acidity, TDS and metals such as Al, Co, Fe, Mn and Zn); 2) one of Australia’s most polluted sites at King River Delta in Tasmania (treatment of TAA and TPA, and metal and metalloid contaminants such as As, Cr and Hg); 3) The Aljustrel “Aqua Forte” mine site in Portugal (high acidity, metal and metalloid contaminants such as Al, As, Cu and Zn) and 4) the Ulsan Iron Ore Mine at Ulsan, South Korea (treatment of metal and metalloid contaminants such as As, Cd and Ni).IntroductionThe commercialisation of ViroMine™ Technology has resolved some of the most intractable pollution issues associated with historic mining ventures on a global scale and has facilitated the neutralisation of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD), remediation of acidic and metal contaminated impoundments (including tailings dams) and promoted revegetation on tailings deposits and waste rock dumps. ViroMine™ Technology also enables current mining ventures to manage effluent simply and efficiently to meet increasingly stringent environmental standards and is enabling the mining sector to reconceptualise the management of mine spoil. The abilities of ViroMine™ reagents to neutralise the actual and potential acidity of sulphidic mine spoil coupled with the ability to bind metal and metalloid contaminants into non-bio-available forms are the key features delivering environmental and economic benefits to the mining sector and the broader community. Results from four projects utilising ViroMine™ Technology are presented to highlight the suitability of ViroMine™ Technology to treat all forms sulphidic mining wastes. 37"

Jan 1, 2008

By Berndt Moeller

Mercury-cell chlor-alkali production plants generate mercury contaminated wastewater streams from which mercury must be precipitated and filtered, resulting in a sludge containing 2% mercury (designated KI06) that cannot be landfilled in the United States without treatment. REMERC is a chemical treatment process used to recover 99% of the mercury from wastewater sludge generated at these plants. The process uses leaching to oxidize mercury compounds to mercuric chloride, washing and filtration to separate mercuric chloride from the treated sludge, and cementation to reduce the mercuric chloride to metallic mercury. Mercury not recovered in cementation is recycled to the wastewater process for precipitation and filtration. Treated sludge contains less than 260 ppm total mercury and 0.2 ppm TCLP, meeting the USEPA low mercury subcategory specifications that allow landfill disposal. REMERC uses readily available chemicals, is straightforward to control and inexpensive to operate, has no mercury emissions to air, and recovers metallic mercury. REMERC enabled significant cost savings including lower solids disposal costs, recovery and reuse of metallic mercury in the chlor-alkali process, and ability to treat non-wastewater sludge. No new EPA permits were required. REMERC was shown to be a viable process for recovery of metallic mercury from K106 designated sludge.

Jan 1, 2003

By Nils Eivind Kamfjord, Halvard Tveit, Ingeborg Solheim

"Because of its negative environmental effect the attention towards NO emissions increases. This again leads to new demands from the authorities for better surveillance and control of emissions. Earlier and recent industrial measurements towards FeSi- and Si-metal furnaces reveal quite high NO-emission. The NO is believed to be produced in the combustion zone above the furnace surface, mainly as thermal NO.In order to expand the knowledge on NO-formation in silicon metal production, a pilot scale experiment in a 440 kVA silicon furnace has been carried out. The experimental set-up was designed with a view to be able to copy and manipulate the formation mechanisms for NO by controlling the flow of false air into the off-gas system.The resulting NO-values corresponding to the different air inlet to the furnace top, show significantly differences between the different air inlet geometries.IntroductionNOx is the common notion for the two gases nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Since combustion of fuels, such as gasoline, diesel, bio diesel, propane, coal, and ethanol, forms NOx the dominating contributors to NOx emissions are the on-/offshore transportation industry and power generation based on fossil fuels [1]."

Jan 1, 2012

By Fumiatsu Sato

In recent years, an increasing number of urban soil contamination cases have been found during redevelopment of former factory sites. Hydroclassification technique, separating heavily contaminated fine soil particles from contaminated sites, is one of the economical remediation techniques for contaminated soil by heavy metals, but the separated fine soil particles are generally landfilled because of the difficulty in removing strongly adsorbed heavy metals on them. In the previous study, the authors have investigated the mechanism and the optimum condition of chlorination-volatilization technique to eliminate heavy metals from inorganic waste and found it was needed to heat up around 1273K. In this paper, a new remediation technique for lead contaminated fine soil particles is proposed. This technique is composed of chlorination and subsequent warm water extraction. In the chlorination step, water-insoluble lead complex is chlorinated to be water-soluble lead chloride without volatilization, by heating the soils with MgCl2-CaCl2-KCl salt mixture at relatively low temperature. By subsequent warm water extraction, lead chloride is leached out. Effects of chlorination conditions, such as time, temperature, composition of the salt and added salt ratio, on lead behavior were investigated. It was proved that lead concentration could be reduced below Japanese environmental standard.

Jan 1, 2006

By Chao Du, Xiaohui Ning, Hongmin Zhu, Qiuyu Wang, Shuqiang Jiao

"TiCxOl-x solid solutions were synthesized by sintering a mixture of titanium carbide and titanium monoxide at 1600 °C. The corresponding structures and morphologies of the TiCxOl-x solid solutions were characterized by XRD and SEM. A series of tests has been performed on the electrochemical dissolution behavior of TiCxOl-x solid solutions in NaCl-KCl molten salt. The influences of synthesis time and electrokinetic parameters on the anodic dissolution behavior were also investigated. The results showed that TiCxOl-x solid solutions can dissolve as Tin+ into alkali chloride melt. Titanium ion species dissolved from TiCxOl-x solid solutions changes between Ti2+ and Ti3+ depending on the applied potential. The tail gas on the anode was monitored by a mass spectrometer. It was found the synthesis time significantly affects the components of the anodic gas.IntroductionTitanium and titanium alloys have been desired greatly because of their many uses. The critical factor that restricts the range of uses for Ti is its high cost of extraction. The primary titanium metal, sponge titanium, is still produced industrially worldwide by a process invented by Dr. Kroll in the 1940s[1] •Since the early 1970s, the research focus of the titanium industry has been directed towards developing a continuous process to produce high purity titanium at low cost. [2-10] Of the many alternative methods that have previously been investigated, the electrolytic process has been considered a promising method for titanium metallurgy [4-10]. Recently, several electrolysis and related methods such as the PFC-Cambridge process[11-15], calciothermic reduction[16-18], USTB [19,20] and MER[21] process were extensively investigated.The USTB process is a new approach where the pure titanium can be directly obtained by the electrolysis with an anode of titanium oxycarbide in molten salts[19, 20]. The titanium oxycarbide was produced by carbothermal reduction of titanium dioxide under vacuum at a temperature"

Jan 1, 2011

By M. J. Adam

The U.S. Bureau of Mines is investigating the partitioning of selected complex minerals into simple phases using sulfidation reactions. Successful partitioning of complex mineralogy to simple phases may afford an opportunity to improve selective extraction of mineral constituents of economic value. The research has shown that complex minerals, such as chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and pentlandite [(Fe,Ni)9Se]' may be partitioned to the simpler phases covellite (CuS) plus pyrite (FeS2) and vaesite (NiS2) plus pyrite (FeS2), respectively. Demonstrations of these reactions were verified through long-react ion-time (24 h or more) experiments, but basic rate investigations and modeling were not included in the previous research. This report describes research aimed at determining the rate at which the complex mineral CuFeS2 converts to the simple sulfides CuS plus FeS2. Small samples of CuFeS2 were blended with elemental S prior to thermal treating under an He atmosphere for time periods up to 4 h. Products from each treatment period were characterized using metallography, chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results of the investigation revealed a rapid conversion of CuFeS2 to CuS plus FeS2 early in thermal treatment periods. As the reaction occurred, a CuS rimming of particles was observed which separated the reacting species (CuFeS2 and S) and caused a considerable decrease in transformation rate.

Jan 1, 1991

By R. G. Hilton

This paper deals with application of Super Detox? stabilization technology to the treatment of electric arc furnace dust (US-EPA listed hazardous waste KO61 ). The process has been used on approximately 170,000 tons of electric arc furnace dust. In addition to the nearly four years of commercial experience at Sterling, Illinois, the process is now being permitted for application at two other locations. The process was originally developed by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation and then further improved by Conversion Systems, Inc. (Bethlehem Steel's Licensee). The treatment process offers many unique bases for its selection, including: A) Low cost compared to the treatment alternatives; B) Lowest available TCLP leachate levels for any process treating K061. Many other processes leave some residue that represents a disposal requirement, although often not addressed; C) Produces minimized final waste disposed, including the fact that the total volume of dust generated and less than the volume occupied by the residue slag from HTMR; and, D) Opportunities for the beneficial utilization of part or all of the waste stream through the development of chemical and physical characteristics. Each of these aspects will be specifically discussed in the paper, including that status of the operations now under permit.

Jan 1, 1994

By B. Wasmund, K. Adham, K. O'Keefe, C. Lee

"Metal chlorides (e.g. iron and nickel) can be pyrohydrolysed at elevated temperatures to yield an HCl rich off-gas and a metal oxide product. Typically, the high energy requirement for pyrohydrolysis is provided by the combustion of a hydrocarbon fuel with air. Here, it is demonstrated that the use of oxygen-enriched combustion can result in lower fuel requirements and higher HCl concentrations. In addition, the oxygen enrichment can result in a smaller volume of off-gas and thus, smaller and less expensive process equipment. This new concept can be applied to both the spray roaster (SR) and the fluidized bed reactor (FBR). Similar to the aircombustion case, the oxygen-enriched process can use a direct contact venturi scrubber, to recover energy from the roaster off gas, but at a higher efficiency. The new process also uses an absorption tower for capturing HCl from the roaster off-gas, but generates a stronger HCl solution than is possible with pyrohydrolysis in air.BackgroundIn recent years, the metallurgical industry has become increasingly involved with developing methods for extracting metals, upgrading products or cleaning metallic products by using hydrochloric acid. These applications of chloride metallurgy often result in metal chloride solutions, which should be processed to regenerate HCl for reuse, and to recover the metal value as a product or by-product oxide [2, 3, 4].The pyrohydrolysis of metal chloride solutions has been done in two types of air roasters: spray and fluidized bed. The existing roasters burn a hydrocarbon fuel in air, to provide the required energy for evaporating the feed solution and to provide an elevated temperature for the chloride pyrohydrolysis to occur, according to the following reactions:"

Jan 1, 2011

By Björn Saxen

Outotec atmospheric Direct Leaching has so far been implemented for zinc production capacities of around 100,000 t/a. Lately, there has been growing interest for small scale direct leaching plants, producing circa 30,000 t/a of Zn. Such small leaching plants can provide extra front-end capacity in existing roaster-based plants and enable treatment of feed materials not suitable for roasting. In small scale plants the proven OKTOP® 9000 Direct Leaching reactors are not readily applicable, due the large size. For smaller installations a modular approach is proposed providing multiple advantages, such as reducing the construction time and amount of the site work required causing less disturbance to regular plant operation with reduced cost. In this paper, we present advantages that can be achieved by using modular OKTOP®C reactors and discuss also process design when connecting a small scale direct leaching process to an existing zinc plant. Also benefits of direct leaching expansion are presented.