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By A. Treverrow, G. A. Brooks, H. K. Worner

"The work by H.K Worner and co-workers at CRA in the 1960s, and early 1970s, established that molten metals could be refined continuously utilising counter current flow of metal and slag. Womer also demonstrated that counter current refining could produce highly refined metal products. These developments coincided with the advent of high intensity metallurgical reactors in both the ferrous and non-ferrous industries (e.g. BOS, Q-BOP and later Sirosmelt) that utilised high levels of gas injection to produce rapid stirring and very fast reaction. These new generation of high intensity metallurgical reactors allowed high tonnage rates through relatively small volume vessels.Whilst, it is well known that the counter current flow of reacting phases offers the potential of efficient mass transfer and high purity products, the application of counter current reactors to molten metal/slag systems has been criticized on the basis that they suffer from either low intensity or, alternately, from poor refining due to excessive dispersion. These criticisms relate to the balance between intensity and the refining capacity of a reactor. That is, whilst high levels of mixing transversely to the direction of flow promotes high mass transfer, longitudinal mixing (dispersion) is detrimental to refining. Of course, mixing in one direction invariably leads to mixing in other directions, thus creating a playoff between high mass transfer and excessive dispersion.This balance between intensity and refining has been the subject of recent studies overseas, and at"" the University of Wollongong, using cold modelling techniques to evaluate the effect of mixing on dispersion in a counter current refining launder. These studies have shown that for a given geometry and mixing regime, dispersion decreases with increasing flow of liquid phases. This means that whilst high mass transfer cannot be achieved in a refining launder without sacrificing the degree of refinement, there is no impediment to achieving high productivity through such a system, in fact, high through puts may favour good refining. Thus, it may be possible to match a high productivity smelting operation with a equally productive counter current refining stage."

Jan 1, 1996

By Shaohua Ju

Siderite ore is abundant around the world, due to its inert properties of low grade, mudding when milling and low magnetic, and it is very hard to be beneficiated. Nowadays, decomposition by roasting becomes the main process for utilization of the siderite ore. The methods of energy input for roasting are normally electrical heating, coal or gas combustion. Because traditional roasting methods owns some disadvantiges, such as low energy utilization, high cost and/or large exhaust pollution, only about 10% of the siderite ores in China were used as iron concentrate. In this work, the possibility of roasting siderite ore with microwave energy is studied by both laboratory and pilot experiments. The result of laboratory experiments showed that the optimized condition is roasting for 20 min with a power density of 3 W/g, and the Fe content of the final sample obtained is about 59.12%. The pilot experiments result showed that the decomposition is thoroughly, and the main phases of the roasted material are magnetite and wustite, and the energy consumption of the roasting process is 695.8 KWh/t.

Jan 1, 2014

By A. J. van der Zeeuw

The use of SME 529 in the extraction of copper from acidic liquors and of copper and nickel from ammoniacal solutions, is illustrated with results of laboratory and bench scale mixer/settler experiments. Special features of SME 529 are its high loading capacity and the ability to keep the complexes dissolved in the organic phase up to quite high concentrations.

Jan 1, 1976

By Jinliang Zhang, Jian Pan, Deqing Zhu

"Limestone and burnt magnesite were added to vary MgO content and basicity (CaO/SiO2 ratio) of pellets for investigating their influences on the properties of specularite pellets. At fixed MgO content, the addition of limestone does not affect on the properties of green balls significantly. The addition of burnt magnesite has obvious influence on the quality of green balls, especially on the thermal shock temperature. Without burnt magnesite, the thermal shock temperatures are about 400°C, and, the thermal shock temperature increases to 600~630°C by adding burnt magnesite. For preheated pellets, when the burnt magnesite is added, the compressive strength will be decreased. For roasted pellets without burnt magnesite, the calcium additives can form binding phase of calcium-ferrite, and suitable liquid phase will improve recrystallization of hematite, but excessive liquid will destroy the structure of pellets, so the compressive strength of pellet increases firstly and then decreases. When adding burnt magnesite, the compressive strength will increase as the basicity increases. When the basicity is more than 0.2, the compressive strength of the pellets various MgO content and basicity is above 2500N/pellet and then MgO-bearing fluxes can be added to prepare pellets with good high temperature properties.IntroductionWith the rapid development of the steel industry in China, oxidized pellets, possessing good mechanical and metallurgical properties, are becoming indispensable burdens for blast furnace ironmaking [1-3]. However, this has resulted in the shortage of domestic iron concentrates, so many Chinese steel plants begin to use imported hematite concentrate to prepare pellets. Compared with magnetite pellets, the hematite pellets require high roasting temperature and narrow roasting temperature range (1300–1350°C) and possess low compressive strength [4,5].1"

Jan 1, 2012

In low carbon TRIP steels, the formation of carbide-free bainitic ferrite is crucial for the stabilization of austenite. Based on experimental investigations modeling the bainite reaction is examined adopting diffusional and displacive mechanisms, as well as the semi-empirical JMAK approach. Transformation tests were carried out to study the isothermal austenite decomposition into bainitic ferrite for a model steel containing 0.6wt%C, 1.5wt%Mm and 1.5wt%Si which replicates the composition of remaining austenite at the start of the bainite reaction in a classical C-Mn-Si TRIP steel. In the diffusional approach, classical nucleation theory is employed and subsequent growth of bainite plates is modeled using the Zener-Hillert theory. In the displacive approach, the autocatalytic nucleation of bairtite plates is assumed to be rate controlling. The predictive capability of all models is evaluated for temperature ranges where different morphologies of bainitic ferrite have been detected, The shortcomings and inherent challenges associated with either of these modeling approaches will be delineated.

Jan 1, 2003

By Yasuhiro Konishi

Hydrolytic stripping is the process in which metal ions are simultaneously stripped from a loaded cation-exchange solvent extractant and precipitated as oxides or hydroxides. Hydrolytic stripping is usually effected by contacting the loaded organic phase with water at elevated temperatures. The possibility of using hydrolytic stripping to prepare ceramic powders with controlled size and morphology is now being evaluated for different systems, using carboxylic acid extractants. As part of this work, mathematical models were developed to describe the kinetics of nucleation and growth of nickel ferrite particles. This paper describes the development of the models, along with estimation of key parameters appearing in the rate equations from experimental data.

Jan 1, 1990

By S. J. Buckler

Many chemical and metallurgical processes use submerged gas injection to increase contact area between gas and liquid phases in order to promote faster overall reaction or refining rates. The total interfacial area produced by gas injection through lances, nozzles or tuyeres is both an important design parameter for new vessels and a measurement for estimating the maximum processing capacity of existing equipment. Estimating total interfacial area from submerged injection into industrial pyrometallurgical vessels from existing knowledge is a problem with two aspects. The first difficulty is the difference in behaviour of cold (aqueous) and hot (molten metal) systems, implying that existing models and correlations of gas-liquid behaviour developed in low temperature systems are not necessarily appropriate for estimation of high temperature behaviour. The second difficulty is the issue of scale-up of correlations from laboratory to industrial sized vessels. The work presented in this paper is part of an ongoing experimental investigation, at the GK Williams CRC for Extractive Metallurgy, to quantify the total gas-liquid interfacial area available in pyrometallurgical vessels using chemical measurement methods. The effects of three operating variables, injected gas flow rate, nozzle diameter and nozzle submergence, on total interfacial area are quantified in a IOOL aqueous system - the first stage of a three stage process in examining the implications for scale-up of high temperature, medium-scale results are discussed. The results of work at high, injected gas flow rates (up to 500/min) show that the submerged Froude number is not sufficient for use as the sole variable in a predictive model of total interfacial area. Further work is being undertaken to identify other dimensionless variables that will better represent the gas-liquid characteristics in submerged injection that influence the formation of total interfacial area. The second and third stages of the experimental investigation involve measuring the total interfacial area in a large-scale (1000L) aqueous sodium sulphite and small-medium scale molten metal baths.

Jan 1, 2002

By W. G. Davenport

This chapter demonstrates how our matrices can be used for controlling a flash furnace. Specifically, it shows how we can determine the adjustments in industrial oxygen, air, oil and flux input rates that will; (a) correctly alter product temperatures and compositions to newly targeted values (b), maintain set-point product temperatures and compositions with varying feed compositions and feed rates. It also discusses corrective actions that might be taken when furnace temperature and matte grade unexpectedly change.

Jan 1, 2001

By Paponetti B. . A.

Gold is usually recovered by cyanidation, thiourea leaching and amalgamation, however the efficiency of these technologies, in the case of refractory ores, is low ever when fuie grinding is practised. For example, .if the gold particles are included in sulphide minerals, the leachant cannot reach them, so they are often lost in the tailings. Hence .it is first necessary to break the sulphide crystals by preliminary treatment such as roasting, nitric .acid oxidation, pressure leaching and bacterial oxidation and then apply a conventional extractive technique for satisfactory gold recovery. This paper describes the effect of biological pre-treatment with Thiobacillus ferrooxidans) on the? extraction ? and? recovery of gold by conventional cyanidate. leaching from; a refractory arsenopyrite ore from Golcuck (Turkey).

Jan 1, 1991

By Z. W. Zhang, Songsong Xu, Jinhui Li, Yun Zou, Yu Zhao

High strength low alloy (HSLA) steels with high strength, high toughness, good corrosion resistance and weldability, can be widely used in shipbuilding, automobile, construction, bridging industry, etc. The microstructure evolution and mechanical properties can be influenced by thermomechanical processing. In this study, themomechanical processing is optimized to control the matrix microstructure and nano-scale precipitates in the matrix simultaneously. It is found that the low-temperature toughness and ductility of the steels are significantly the matrix microstructure during enhancing the strength by introducing the nano-scale precipitates. The effects of alloying elements on the microstructure evolution and nano-scale precipitation are also discussed.

Jan 1, 2016

By Jun Chang, Jin-hui Peng, Jing Chen, Li-bo Zhang

The leaching of indium from refractory zinc oxide flue dust(ZOFD) is attempted to utilize microwave sulfating roasting process, followed by water leaching. The ZOFD and roasted product were characterized by XRD and SEM/EDS analysis. The effects of various roasting parameters, such as roasting temperature/duration, the proportion of sulfuric acid, as well as the leaching parameters such as the leaching duration and liquid/solid ratio, were assessed. The results indicate that nearly 97% of indium could be leached under the following conditions: mass ratio of concentrated sulfuric acid to ZOFD to be 0.5, roasting temperature of 150 ℃ and duration of 1.5 hours; while the optimal leaching conditions hold at temperature of 25 ℃ for 1 hour, with 4:1 of liquid/solid ratio. The indium leaching rate by the microwave roasting increased by 8% as compared with the conventional roasting process under identical conditions.

Jan 1, 2015

By J. W. Lyman

Nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery electrodes have been developed as a substitute for cadmium-containing negative electrodes. Use of Ni-MH electrodes offers enhanced electrochemical properties in many instances as well as reduced environmental toxicity. Rechargeable batteries using Ni-MH electrodes are also strong candidates for electric vehicles. During the production and secondary reclamation of these battery types, recycling procedures will be needed to prevent environmental impact caused by these wastes as well as to recover the value inherent in the scrap. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) is investigating hydrometallurgical technology that separates and recovers purified metallic components from Ni-MH battery scrap of two types, AB, and AB,. An investigation of acid dissolution and metal recovery techniques has determined several processing alternatives that may be used to promote the successful recycling of much of the battery fabrication scrap and eventual secondary scrap. Although recovery techniques have been identified in principal, their applicability to mixed battery waste stream and economic attractiveness remain to be demonstrated.

Jan 1, 1995

By B. C. Blakey

Unlike most hydrometallurgical slurries, those containing significant concentrations of goethite are typically highly viscous and shear-thinning, even at solid volume fractions below 5%. The viscosity may also depend upon time. These characteristics must be taken into consideration in slurry transport and heating. The technical literature is replete with apparent contradictions regarding the viscous behavior of these slurries, which may be due, in part, to variations in viscosity-measuring techniques. We present techniques that yield consistent results suitable for use in process design. A striking degree of time-dependent behavior is demonstrated for a laterite slurry. Reliable methods to design and analyze tubular transport and heating systems for time-independent slurries are summarized. Rules of thumb are then offered to account for the effects of time-dependency.

Jan 1, 2000

By Eva B. Kisvarsanyi

An Early Proterozoic orogenic terrane of metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks underlies Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. Middle Proterozoic epizonal terranes of anorogenic granite and rhyolite, a known metallogenic province partly exposed in southeastern Missouri, overlap the orogenic terrane on the south. These Proterozoic terranes, covered by less than 1,000 meters of Phanerozoic strata, contain a virtually untapped source of mineral wealth and are one of the last frontiers for geologic exploration in the continen-tal United States. Petrographic study of subsurface samples is a powerful tool in the identification of favorable host rocks for a variety of ore deposits.

Jan 1, 1987

By Karl-Heinz Daum

Outokumpu Lurgi Metallurgie GmbH, Oberursel, Germany ? give saleable by-products, ? not interfere with smelter performance, ? treat all gas streams simultaneously, and ? comply with environmental regulations. The latest developments in sulphuric acid plant design are presented.

Jan 1, 2002

By Run Huang, Xuewei Lv, Lei Lei, Guibao Qiu, Chenguang Bai

"The TiO2-rich slag and pig iron can be produced from ilmenite concentrate by the electric furnace process. In this study, ilmenite concentrate was reduced in a vertical furnace equipped with a weighting data acquisition system. The effects of reducing agent (carbon) amount on the iron reduction were studied. The phase transformation, morphology and chemical compositions of reduced samples were investigated by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. It was found that the reductive degree of ilmenite concentrate increased with the increase of reducing time. The phases of reduced samples were mostly iron, rutile, Ti3O5 and Fe2TiO5. The mass loss percentage increased with increasing the carbon amount from 8% to 12%. When the carbon amount exceeded 12%, the mass loss percentage decreased with the increasing of carbon amount.IntroductionIlmenite and rutile are the main raw materials for producing titania pigment and titanium metal. With the development of the titanium industry, huge amounts of titanium resources are needed. As sources of high-grade titania mineral decrease worldwide, more attention should be paid to the processes involving low grade mineral such as ilmenite ore. In ilmenite, MgO and CaO are the gangue parts. Therefore, the ilmenite refining becomes more and more popular. In the previous studies, the methods of ilmenite refining are electric furnace smelting, direct acid leaching, selective chlorination and thermal reduction [1]. Electric furnace smelting method is widely used in the titanium industry, however, which consumes a great deal of energies and has a high CO2 emission. Its essence is to remove iron oxides and obtain a high titania slag. So the thermal reduction of ilmenite concentrate is an important step in titanium industry, which can decrease carbon reagent consumption and save energy.Over the past several decades, many studies have been carried out on the mechanism and kinetics of the reduction of different ilmenite ores, which are as follows: The carbothermal reduction of Panzhihua ilmenite initiated at about 860 oC. In the temperatures ranging from 900 oC to 1400 oC, the reaction rate was changed like a shape of “M”. That was to say that the reaction rate increased with the growth of temperature at first, then decreased, afterward increased again and at last the reaction was arrested [2]. The Mohammad A.R group [3, 4] showed that the carbothermal reduction of primary ilmenite concentrate was faster in hydrogen and initiated at a lower reduced temperature than in argon and helium. The reduction in argon and helium had about the same rate and extent. Titanium oxycarbide started at 1000°C in hydrogen. The conversion of primary ilmenite concentrate to metallic iron and titanium oxycarbide at 1200 °C was completed in 300 minutes. Monoxide as the reductant to reduce ilmenite had been studied intensively by a few research groups [5, 6]. The rate and the degree of reduction depended on the formation of a metallic shell of iron which inhibited the transfer of CO to the reaction zones; titanium had a strong effect on the mechanism and rate of reduction of iron oxides. Wang and Yuan [7] studied the reductive kinetics of the reaction between a natural ilmenite and carbon. At temperature below 1100°C, chemical reaction was the rate controlling step, at 1100 to 1250°C mixed controlling was rate controlling step, above 1250°C diffusion through the product layer controlled the reaction. Zhang [8] investigated the reduction of natural, sintered and preoxidized ilmenite concentrates in hydrogen methane mixtures. Preoxidation and sintering of ilmenite concentrates changed their phase composition and caused a sharp decrease in specific surface area of raw materials and an increase in carburization temperature. Sintering also increased the metallization temperature of iron."

Jan 1, 2011

By S. Street

The Environment process, invented by Prof. H.K.Womer and developed at the University of Wollongong, simultaneously treats ferruginous and organic wastes via bath smelting. Conceived in the late 1980's, the patented process was originally developed using steelworks dust to settle solids from sewage, producing a composite material suitable for smelt reduction. Work began on the process in 1990 with the Australian patent having a priority date of February 1990. Early research focussed on settling of solids from sewage, while pyrometallurgical investigations examined smelting in small induction furnaces. By 1992 smelting trials had been undertaken in pneumatic and electric arc furnaces, the process being successfully demonstrated up to on 8 tonne scale. The success of this particular trial, and other smaller trials, resulted in construction of a 100kg DC arc furnace which was commissioned in 1993. By 1994 the main project focus was on development of the smelting technology. Over 3 years of trials on the DC arc furnace have identified and clarified many of the pyrometallurgical reactions. optimum operating parameters, as well as demonstrating the versatility of the process for treating a wide range of wastes. Currently the Illawarra Technology Corporation (lTC), the commercial arm of the University of Wollongong, is pursuing commercialisation of the process.

Jan 1, 1996

By Robert Mensah-Biney

The loading characteristics of gold-tetrabromide species onto a weak-base resin, PAZ-4, were evaluated using a completely mixed batch reaction system. The time. to attain equilibrium loading was substantial, on the order of several days. However, abnormally high loading capacity values of 15 to 20 meq Au/g dry resin (1000 to 1300 kgAu/tonne) were attainable in 24 hours. The loading of gold-bromo species by P AZ-4 was visualized as consisting of two processes: (i) the rapid adsorption of [AuBr4r species by simple ion exchange mechanisms and (ii) reduction of [AuBr4r to metallic gold by an electron exchange mechanism. Elution of gold from loaded resin was feasible provided the resin had not been loaded to high capacity values. If loading is carried to high levels, complete elution becomes impractical and the gold may be recovered by ashing the loaded resin. For the high loading capacities observed this option would appear to be cost effective.

Jan 1, 1991

By W. D. Keller

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) accompanied by X-ray energy dispersive analysis (XES) is a useful tool in process clay mineralogy. The texture of kaolin, illustrated by SEM, gives a clue to its mode of genesis and probable industrial application. One type of kaolin, originating dominantly by weathering, has an open texture, slakes readily, and is used for filling and coating paper. Another type, in contrast, originates by diagenesis of Al-silicate sediments, and spectacularly resists slaking, thereby enabling it to maintain its bulk density and controlled size and shape of particles after crushing and moistening; this meets an important requirement for the manufacture of refractories. Ratios of elemental Al:Si that may be rapidly determined by SEM and XES yield information on the origin and purity of bauxite and bauxitic clays, and aid in quality control and processing of them. SEM of dissimilar textures of quartz, as in chert and novaculite, are evidence for geothermometry on a stratigraphic scale that is potentially useful in delimiting thermally favorable or unfavorable areas for hydrocarbon exploration, and possibly for unexposed metallic ore deposits.

Jan 1, 1982

By H. Y. Sohn

The ignition and combustion of chalcopyrite particles under suspension-smelting conditions, in which the particle-particle interaction is neglected, has been analyzed by considering the intrinsic kinetics of oxidation and heat and mass transfer between the particle and its surroundings. Reasonable agreement has been obtained between the calculated results and experimental results from a laminar-flow furnace reported in the literature. This computation- al procedure has further been applied to flash-smelting conditions. Under suspension-smelting conditions (Sh = Nu = 2), chalcopyrite particles ignite at around 960 K. The effects of various parameters, such as oxygen concentration, particle size, and gas temperature, have also been evaluated. Comparison between calculated results in this work and experimental observations indicates that SO is the important gaseous product that forms at the surface of the particle.

Jan 1, 1993