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By I. Peerawattuk

Growing demand for Li-based battery technologies is leading to an unprecedented growth in the lithium industry. Although innovation in battery technologies has pushed lithium into the spotlight, lithium was not always known for its application in batteries. The primary use of lithium—prior to the introduction of commercial lithium-ion batteries in the early 2000s—was in the ceramics, glass, grease, and the medical industry. Before being converted into usable forms, lithium products must be upgraded from the raw material. Processes for recovering lithium may involve: thermal treatment, water leaching, solar evaporation, ion exchange, carbonation, and electrodialysis. Presented, is a historical review of lithium applications and the different techniques of converting lithium-rich minerals and brines into usable products with additional discussion on future lithium extraction processes.

By Xiao-dong Xiang, Hong-bo Jin, Ming-sheng He, Huo-guo Pang, Can-hua Li

The specification of the steel slag aggregate will be mutated if the ag- gregate is prepared by a single type crusher. The specification stability of the steel slag improved significantly when the jaw crusher and the cone-crusher are com- binedinthecrushingprocess.Thecombinationofthecrusherandscreenisapplied to produce steel slag aggregate while the roller washing process for removing the dustfromthesurfaceofaggregate.Apilotproductionlinehasbeenestablishedby this technology. The specification stability and the road performance indicators of thesteelslagaggregateshavebeengreatlyimprovedbythispilotproductionlineas compared with the traditional production line. The particulate of the steel slag aggregate is decreased by 81% compared to the traditional line. (cid:1) (cid:1)

Mar 1, 2018

By C. B. Catanach

The development and in place leaching of a chalcocite ore body at Mountain City, Nevada is described. Block caving was used to induce permeability while ore removed during development was leached in heaps on the surface. Copper was recovered by precipitation on iron. Excess ground water which seeped into the mine was pumped into a deep disposal well. A parallel system was used to purify water by lime neutralization. Copper extraction was at an annualized rate of 11% during the first six full months of underground leaching and totalled approximately 30% during six months of heap leaching. Leach solution flow and distribution had a major effect on extraction rate. Enrichment of leach solutions with ferric sulfate did not produce conclusive results until analyzed with the aid of a leaching model.

Jan 1, 1976

By J. Lui

The 15m high Inco flash furnace uptake was designed as a reaction chamber with the objective of destroying the H2S contained in the furnace off-gas by combustion with oxygen at about 1300?C. Until recently, the oxygen required for this purpose was injected through afterburners located at the bottom of the uptake. An undesirable side effect of this practice was the formation of build up accretions on the inside walls of the uptake. This buildup had a negative impact on both the furnace on line time and the control of the flash smelting process. In late 200 I, the afterburners were relocated to the roof of the uptake. As a result, about 80% of the uptake accretion buildup disappeared with obvious beneficial effects for the operation of the furnace. This paper discusses key flash smelting aspects that affect the operation of the flash furnace uptake such as the dusting rate, the formation of H2S in the freeboard of the furnace, and the impact of using coke to supply some of the heat required by the process. The mechanism of buildup formation and its dependence on uptake afterburners location are also examined. Prof. Yazawa's sulfide smelting thermodynamic relationships proved instrumental in understanding the conditions that influence the formation and the elimination ofH2S and uptake buildup.

Jan 1, 2003

By A. E. Isaacson

The U.S. Bureau of Mines is studying the effect of supercritical water, at 400' C and 3,500 psi, and subcritical water, at lower temperatures and pressures, on mixtures of minerals and metals to determine the possible applications of water at high temperature and pressure for processing these materials. This research was conducted using a flow-through bench-scale system. Copper-bearing minerals studied were chalcocite, chalcopyrite, covellite, and cuprite. In general, mixtures of copper minerals and pyrite reacted to form bornite. Intermediate phases formed were chalcopyrite and digenite. Similar reactions occurred between pyrite and metallic copper. A mixture of chalcopyrite and pyrite was inert in supercritical water'. The reaction between cuprite and metallic zinc yielded metallic copper. The cuprite was reduced by hydrogen generated by the reaction between metallic zinc and water. None of the reactions occurred exclusively in supercritical water, but also occurred in water at high temperature and pressure below the critical point. 'Experimental results did show that a dual-reaction process, consisting of solid-state diffusion and fluid transport, was occurring.

Jan 1, 1989

By Adam Powell, Salvador Barriga, Matthew Earlam

"The inert anode is a key enabling technology for dramatic energy and emissions reduction in extractive metallurgy. In molten salts, the materials challenge is nearly insurmountable: the anode must conduct electrons at high temperature in a pure oxygen and molten salt environment. A solid electrolyte, e.g. zirconia, between the salt and anode removes the molten salt stability constraint, and can act as a container for a liquid metal anode. This can be liquid silver for oxygen-generating inert anodes, or several metals for natural gas-fueled anodes; it is possible to switch between these modes. The solid electrolyte brings several other benefits: it eliminates molten salt contamination of the anode gas, creates a reducing environment enabling low-cost steel vessels, increases current efficiency, and eliminates carbon contamination of the product. New developments presented here, including current collector and low-cost anode designs, amplify these benefits for producing aluminum, magnesium, rare-earths, and other metals.IntroductionReactive metals such as magnesium, aluminum and rare-earths play increasing roles in efficient transportation and clean energy. In response to new fuel economy standards, automotive OEMs are planning large increases in use of aluminum and magnesium to reduce vehicle weight. Rareearth permanent magnet motors and generators exhibit better power-to-weight and efficiency than induction motors and other designs, making this today's primary motor technology for hybrid and electric vehicles, and for wind turbines. Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries with lanthanum are dominant in hybrids. In 2011, transportation comprised 28.6 out of 103.1 EJ of US energy consumption [1] and 1,845 out of 5,471 million metric tonnes (MMT = 109 kg) CO2e of US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [1], creating big targets for economy-wide reductions.Unfortunately processes for making reactive metals for these applications are very inefficient and heavily-polluting. In primary aluminum production, Hall-Heroult cell electricity use [2] is more than double the reaction enthalpy due to heat losses through frozen cryolite side-walls and anode gases, graphite anode plants add significant energy use and GHG emissions [2] (see Table 1). Magnesium is even worse: silicothermic reduction by the Pidgeon process in China produces about 85% of the world's magnesium using coal or coke gas [3]. Chloride electrolysis begins with high-purity MgO and requires carbochlorination or hydrochlorination and costly chloride dehydration [4]—rendered unnecessary for aluminum by the Hall-Heroult cell. Production of neodymium and lanthanum with graphite anodes leads to inconsistent carbon content: small cells make 1 kg batches for analysis, sorting and sale by carbon content, with very high labor and analysis costs. And vertical electrodes give no incentive to reduce anode effect: some reports indicate that China's rare-earth metal industry emits more CF4 and C2F6—with global warming potential (GWP) 6500 and 9200 times CO2 respectively—than China's aluminum industry [5]."

Jan 1, 2014

By Jared Ball, Benjamin Hogg

There are over 100 process parameters that can be monitored during a single Peirce-Smith (PS) converter batch operation. To support a consistent operation it is important to select the correct Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to monitor. They should be strategically chosen to drive the desired behaviour with enough flexibility to endure process variations. At the Xstrata Copper Smelter in Mount Isa most of the PS converter operators have very little experience and are often lacking in the appropriate education or training to properly understand the process. For this reason 10 simple KPI’s were chosen that could be easily comprehended and monitored by all smelter personnel. KPI compliance has been supported by relevant project work in the converter area. Charge sequence trials have been performed in an effort to reduce splash and optimise activity time. The online measurement of full and empty ladle weights has enabled an immediate indication of skull size, skim/slag carryover, and metal loss.

Jan 1, 2009

By Vianey Garcia-Osorio

One of the problems in the carbothermic aluminum process is the substantial loss of aluminum compounds as vapors due to the high temperatures in the process. In order to solve this problem a Vapor Recovery Unit (VRU) is proposed. In this unit operation the aluminum vapor undergoes a series of heterogeneous non-catalytic reactions forming solid, liquid and gas products. In this work a model for the simulation of this unit was developed which includes heat and material balances as well as heterogeneous non-catalytic reactions. The model leads to a system of differential equations; its solution was implemented in Matlab giving as a result a stage-by- stage solid-fluid reaction model.

Jan 1, 2001

By A. Hasko

Phytoremediation is a new low cost alternative technique for remediation of contaminated soils from heavy metals that are emitted by ferrous and nonferrous mining and extracting processes. It is based on the possibility to use several plants that accumulate high level of metals in order to remove metallic pollutants from soils and render them harmless. Phytoextraction is an adjacent new technique that uses these hyper-accumulator plants in order to extract the metals from them using even the conventional smelting or refming processes. In our previous work, an extensive investigation of about 150 plants have been carried and several species were identified that could be used for nickel phytoremediation and phytoextraction because of their high accumulation of nickel. It has been found that five taxa from Alyssum genus specie had the highest ability to accumulate nickel with concentrations more than 10000 ug/g (dry weight) or 1%. The taxa showing the highest accumulation of this metal is Alyssum murale var. chlorocarpum with 28 600 ug/g or 2.86%, a good candidate for Phytoextraction. In this work, in order to optimize the phytoremediation and phytoextraction processes further Absorption Spectrometry measurements and biological studies were carried out to determine the parts of the plants that accumulate the highest amount of nickel and the best biological cycle during which they accumulate the highest amount. The results show that the greatest accumulation of nickel occurred in the leaf material (2.86%) and the least in the roots (0.43%). The investigation of the biological cycle of the genus Alyssum showed that: (1) the seeds germinated between 50 C to 30 0 C and more in 25 0 C; (2) 62.9 % of seeds germinated at A.m. var. chlorocarpum; (3) the emergence is almost continue from March to April; (4) the anthesis occurs from May to July; (5) the ripening of the fruit takes place 30 days after flowering; (6) the dissemination of fruits occurs from September to October. Due to these special characteristics it is reaffirmed that Alyssum murale var. chlorocarpum, as a nickel hyperaccumulator, is the most promising plant to be used for feasible phytoremedation and phytoextraction purposes. Keywords: Key words: Phytoextraction, PhytoRemediation, Nickel accumulators, Alyssum sp., Biological cycle

Jan 1, 2003

By Gabriel Riveros

The stags from the Teniente Converter (TC) have high copper and magnetite contents. The reduction and copper impoverishment of these slags in an electric furnace was simulated in the laboratory, as part of a conceptual study for the Ventanas smelter of ENAMI. The effect of power input, electrode immersion, temperature of the slag, coke and solid revert additions on the rate of magnetite reduction and copper recovery was investigated. It was found that the addition of solid reverts, containing copper matte, enhanced the recovery of copper. Magnetite stratification and a corresponding gradient of the copper content occurred in the slag. Microscopic examination of slag samples showed the presence of copper in the form of matte and metallic copper inclusions. The results of the experimental work combined with an analysis of the phenomena that take place in an electric furnace led to a better understanding of the slag cleaning mechanism. The successful start-up of the slag cleaning electric furnace at the Ventanas smelter resulted in good copper recovery and confirmed the beneficial effect of solid reverts addition. Electrode consumption is lower than anticipated. No bottom build-up problems have been experienced. Keywords: copper, slag, magnetite.

Jan 1, 2001

By Takeshi Nagano

"Prior to discussing future trends of non-ferrous metals smelting and refining, the past developments are looked back. Social and economic environments in Japan over the past two decades are reviewed. Technological developments to comply with these environments are explained, taking for examples the cases of the Mitsubishi continuous smelting and converting process and Onahama's jumbo tank system for copper tankhouse. After considering the factors which will influence the improvements in non-ferrous processing, future trends are forecasted generally for copper, zinc, lead, aluminum and rare earth metals. Recent development works in Japan for the future are also introduced. In the discussed area, it appears that the emergence of new innovative processes would be difficult. The progress will be made rather toward the sophistication of the existing technologies, utilizing the advancement of the related technologies such as computers, electronics, etc. IntroductionThis paper discusses the future trends of non-ferrous metals smelting and refining on the occasion of the international symposium, ""The Metallurgical Processes for the Year 2000 and Beyond"".It is considered that the improvement of technology is greatly influenced by the social and economic environments which surround it. From this standpoint, review was made of Japanese case over the past two decades. Various new technologies were developed also in the non-ferrous metal world to comply with the requirements under the above environments. The examples are described in the cases of the Mitsubishi continuous smelting and converting process and Onahama's jumbo tank system for copper electro-refining.After foreseeing the major factors which will affect the technological developments in the future, the trends are forecasted for copper, zinc, lead, aluminum and rare earth metals generally. Some development works in Japan, which will give suggestions for future trends, are also introduced in some detail."

Jan 1, 1988

By Supachai Surapunt

The distribution behavior of V A minor elements (As, Sb and Bi) in the smelting stage of the Mitsubishi process were evaluated thermodynamically based on thermodynamic data and operating data. The fractional distributions between the gas, slag and matte phases considered as the degree of vapor saturation of 1.0 are as follows: 53.8, 27.2 and 19% for As, 23.6, 56.6 and 19.8% for Sb, and 91.3, 1.1 and 7.6% for Bi, respectively. Arsenic is mostly distributed to the gas and slag phases. It is effectively eliminated by volatilizing and slagging. Antimony is mainly in the slag phase, which is suitably removed by slagging. Bismuth is easily vaporized to gas phase. The degree of vapor saturation has a large effeet on the distribution behaviors of the three elements between the three phases. The amount of a minor element in the charge has an effect on the distribution of As but no effect on the distributions of Sb and Bi. Increasing matte grade and temperature results in the change of distributions for As and Sb, significantly. The change in the distribution ratio between slag and matte phases also considerably affects the distributions of As and Sb. The distribution behavior of Bi is not significantly changed by the change in matte grade, temperature and distribution ratio.

Jan 1, 2003

By Satu Jyrkönen

A single-particle laminar-flow technique was used to study reactions of sulfidic nickel particles. The studied materials were three natural nickel concentrates and four synthesised nickel mattes. The variables of the experiments were the gas preheating temperature (500 - 1300°C), the composition of the reaction gas (N2 + 0 - 75 vol-% 02) and the ,particle size of the feed. Chemical analysis of the particles was used to determine the oxidation degree of the materials, and optical and scanning electron microscopy were used to detect alteration in their morphology, internal composition and structure. General reactivity of the materials was monitored by the extent of sulfur removal. The reaction mechanism of the studied materials was found to depend primarily on the materials composition as well as oxygen content of the reaction gas.

Jan 1, 1998

By A. Kar, J. Mazumder

"Laser ablation is a process that can be used to synthesize novel nanoscale particles as well as to deposit thin films of various materials. Usually, nanoscale particles and thin films are formed at relatively high and low pressures, respectively, inside the ablation chamber. This paper presents a mathematical model to predict the particle size distribution in the plasma generated during laser ablation. The model is developed by considering the effects of the laser-matter and laser-plasma interactions, the Stefan condition, and the discontinuity across the Knudsen layer. The nanoscale particles are found to be located at the central region of the plasma near the target. The particles have very high velocity and temperature. A good qualitative agreement is observed between the results of this model and experimental data. IntroductionRapid solidification produces novel microstructures whose atomic arrangements and/or chemical compositions are different from those of conventional materials. The conventional materials are either crystalline or amorphous. The crystalline materials have both short- and long-range orders, whereas the amorphous materials have only the shortrange order. The nanocrystalline materials have neither short- nor long-range orders, and for this reason, they exhibit novel properties which are important for synthesizing new materials. The atoms of a nanocrystal can be classified as ""crystal atoms"" and ""boundary atoms"", where the ""crystal atoms"" have the nearest-neighbor configurations similar to the lattice configuration, whereas the nearest-neighbor configurations of the ""boundary atoms"" differ from the lattice configurations 1. Various aspects of the nanoscale materials have been discussed in Refs. [1-7]."

Jan 1, 1994

By Evgueni Jak

Pyrometallurgy is an important sector of modern industrial society actively participating in solving current environmental, economic, materials scarcity and other challenges. Recent advances in analytical methods, experimental techniques, thermodynamic, phase equilibria and process modelling tools provide new opportunities to increase the productivity of pyrometallurgical reactors, the treatment of complex feeds and metal recoveries. Fundamental theoretical models can now be used to make a significant next step towards the development and implementation of computerised models describing real industrial processes—Virtual Reactors, and computer-aided smart-decision-making systems that may be called Pyro-GPS by analogy to GPS; these developments can facilitate knowledge-based improvement and optimisation strategies. The implementation of these improvements require ongoing collaboration between researchers, industry and government.

By J. A. Sekhar

Solidification processing/casting is increasingly being adopted as the preferred manufacturing technique for the fabrication of net shaped complex geometry components. Modeling of solidification processes is important both for design purposes as well as for understanding the physics of morphological evolution of the solidification microstructure. A fundamental aspect of such modeling involves the precise understanding? of heat transfer through the two phase solid/liquid region. A scheme to do this will be presented where the nonlinearity of the fraction liquid with change in temperature can be incorporated into the numerical calculations. The importance of properly accounting for the non-linear mushy zone will be discussed. Typical processes like squeeze casting and electromagnetic stirring will be discussed to illustrate how precise modeling of the solid/liquid region can aid in the calculation of accurate heat transfer coefficients for these processes.

Jan 1, 1990

By Sue Xue, Carl C. Nesbitt

A project was completed which investigated the efficacy of recycling lead or lead monoxide from various fire assay wastes including crucibles, cupels and slag. The scope of the project was to determine optimal hydrometallurgical parameters so that direct separation and recovery of lead salts was economically feasible. A process was developed from the study which could use either acetic acid or nitric acid as a leachant, followed by several precipitation processes which could directly recover litharge (PbO) or other lead salts, such as lead carbonate or lead sulfate. The economics of the process is discussed. Analytical equipment such as the atomic absorption spectrophotometer and x-ray diffractometer supplied much of the information required for the study. However some novel analytical approaches using these instruments had to be developed to help in the determination of leaching kinetics and process quality control which are discussed.

Jan 1, 1999

By Ajit Kumar Jaiswal

"Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) being a power-intensive equipment, EAF based industries are highly dependent on scarce electric energy. This is the reason Government of India is highly concerned about this and laid emphasis on the conservation of electric energy.This paper highlights factors contributing to reduction in specific electric energy consumption in EAF and suggests measures not only for power saving, but also for productivity improvement. To name a few, these are proper sealing of furnace, introduction of oxy-fuel burners, foamy slag practice, increased usage of hot metal/DRI, post-combustion of CO gas for preheating of scrap, improved selection & design criteria of electrics, power demand management, and process automation. Few cases also have been cited, where the above measures have helped in reaping significant benefits.IntroductionFor a long time, Government of India had focused on increase in energy supply, in particular, through electricity generation. Now the emphasis of Government of India has shifted from electricity generation to its conservation for following two reasons:??Power plants have become very cost-intensive??By saving energy, more of it can be delivered at lower cost to the consumersPower generating units, transmission & distribution agencies as well as consumers all have roles to play in the area of energy conservation. By energy conservation, we mean curtailing energy requirement by reducing energy wastages and taking up measures to improve energy efficiency of electric equipment/appliances. In almost all cases, this would be economically beneficial.India’s cost-effective energy conservation potential has been estimated by the Planning Commission at 23 per cent of total commercial energy generated ?1?. A national movement for energy conservation can significantly reduce the need for fresh investment in energy supply systems in coming years. It is imperative that we make all-out effort to realize this potential. Whether a household or a factory, a small shop or a large commercial building, a farmer or an office worker, every user can and must make this effort for his own benefit and for the nation’s benefit as well."

Jan 1, 2009

By Yoshiaki Suzuki

Since 1973, Saganoseki Smelter & Refinery had operated two flash smelting furnaces together to produce 330,000 mtpy of copper. However, in 1990's, economical situation required the smelter more increased productivity to remain competitive. The program, to integrate two flash furnaces into one was carried out maintaining the same production. Modifications were done on the pneumatic concentrate drying system, concentrate feeding system, concentrate burner and furnace cooling system, etc. to double the, furnace throughput. A new large cryogenic oxygen plant was constructed replacing two old plants. Single flash smelting furnace operation has started in March 1996. This paper describes about details of modifications and operational results.

Jan 1, 1998

By Tina Maniatis

Applied Biosciences has developed a biological technology for removal of arsenic, nitrate, selenium, and other metals from mining and industrial waste waters.The ABMet® technology was implemented at a closed gold mine site in Canada for removing arsenic from tailings pond water. The system included six bioreactors that began treating water in the spring of 2004. Design criteria incorporated a maximum flow of 567 L/min (150 gallons per minute) and water temperatures ranging from 10°C to 15°C. Influent arsenic concentrations range from 0.5 mg/L to 1.5 mg/L. The ABMet® technology consistently removes arsenic to below detection limits (0.02 mg/L). Data from the full scale system will be presented, as well as regulatory requirements and site specific challenges. Keywords: Arsenic, Sulfate Reduction, Metal Sulfide Precipitate, Biological Water Treatment

Jan 1, 2005