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By Mansoor Barati, Yindong Yang, Yonggang Wei, Bo Li, Alexander McLean

Reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation is an important method for treating laterite nickel ores. In this work, garnierite type laterite ore from Yunnan province in China was reduced by methane under different conditions followed by magnetic separation to obtain the ferronickel concentrate. The phase and microstructure transformations of garnierite in the reduction process were investigated using XRD and SEM-EDS. The experimental results showed that reduction temperature from 873 to 1173 K had only a small effect on content and recovery of nickel and iron. The content and recovery of nickel and iron in the concentrates increased slightly with prolonging reduction time. In addition, the nickel and iron content decreased with increasing methane concentration, but the recovery of nickel and iron increases. A decrease in the iron content and recovery were observed when the dosage of sodium sulfate varied from 5 to 20% at a temperature of 1073 K and reducing time of 90 min, while the nickel content and recovery gradually increased.

Mar 1, 2018

By C. G. Bastos Andrade, F. R. Valenzuela Diaz, S. M. Toffoli

The modification of structural clays by chemical processes is a common method. It usually uses strong inorganic acid attacks, aiming at improving the clay’s properties and applications. Among the applications are its use in clay-polymer nanocomposites, cosmetics, medicines, and bleaching clays. Tests using acid attack to modified Brazilian bentonites were successfully performed and, resulted in significant improvement in the clay properties. This paper discusses the use of a Brazilian bentonite modified by acid attack as bleaching clay. The treated bentonite samples were characterized by XRF, specific surface area (BET) and SEM/EDS. The treated clay exhibited improved bleaching capacity for Brazilian nut oil and other Amazonian oils.

Mar 1, 2018

By Chengyi Ding, Xuewei Lv, Senwei Xuan, Chenguang Bai, Kai Tang, Gang Li

Sinter is an important iron-bearing material charged into blast furnace. Calcium ferrite (CF) is one of the most significant liquid phases in fluxed sinter. The isothermal reduction kinetics of CF and CF8M (n(CaO):n(Fe2O3) = 1, wt%(MgO) = 8) with 30% CO and 70% N2 gas mixtures at 1123, 1173, and 1223 K were investigated through thermogravimetric analysis in this study. Rate analysis illuminates that the reduction processes of CF and CF8M are mainly expressed as a typical two-stage reaction. Sharp analysis indicates that CF and CF8M reduction is expressed by the Avrami–Erofeev equation presenting a 2D shrinking layer reaction. The apparent activation energy values of CF and CF8M reduction are 46.9 and 31.8 kJ mol−1 individually based on model-free method.

Mar 1, 2018

By Yunqing Tian, Wenbin Huang, Weidong Zhang, Xiaopeng Wang, Gele Qing, Xiangjuan Duan

Pellet production requires iron ore concentrates have fine particle size, high specific surface area and good balling performance, so iron ore concentrates appropriate for pelletizing is limited compared to sintering. In order to extend the iron ore resources for pelletizing, the iron ore fines for sinter are studied in this paper.The effect of grinded iron ores o npelletizing, roasting and pellet quality were studied in this paper. The bond grinding index of iron ore fine is between 12.5 and 16.98 kwh/t. The grinded iron ore fine has good balling performance, the drop number and compressive strength of green pellet were improved with increase of grinded iron ore fine ratio. The compressive strength of roasted pellets were decreased with increase of grinded iron ore fine ratio, however it can be reached 2500 N.P −1 while proportioned with more than 80% of magnetite iron ore concentrate.

Mar 1, 2018

By Bowen Li, Canhua Li, Mingsheng He

Steelmaking slag is a by-product in considerable volume and a valuable material for various applications. In general, steelmaking slag is an alkaline compound of CaO, Fe2O3, and SiO2. However, its characteristics varies depending on the feedstocks, steelmaking process and cooling method of the slag. To utilize this by-product effectively, this study investigated the characteristics of steelmaking slags taken from Wuhan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. The results showed that the slags mainly consist of the oxides of calcium, iron, and silicon, with low contents of magnesia, alumina, and manganese oxide with a feature of high alkalinity and lime saturation factor. The major mineral phases include belite, calcium ferrite, calcium hydroxide, wustite, quartz, and small amount of elite. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated the weight loss from ambient temperature to 800 °C is 8% in total. Melting test showed the glass transition temperature is between 1300 and 1350 °C, flow temperature is about 1400 °C. The slag samples investigated in this study can be considered as a typical glass-ceramic composite.

Mar 1, 2018

By Kristine Bruce Wanderley, Denise Crocce Romano Espinosa, Jorge Alberto Soares Tenorio

Magnesium is present in nickels leach liquor and it is often disposed in waste barriers. However, new technologies with the aim of recuperating magnesium and other metals in the liquor have proven that it is possible to reduce the amount of metal lost during nickel ore processing. In this context, high temperature crystallization removes magnesium, with a concentration of 8 g/L, as MgSO4 H2O from the leach liquor. Kinetic studies of this process are needed to evaluate the thermodynamics of the growth of crystals. Thus, this work aims to study the crystallization kinetics of MgSO4 H2O. Temperatures of 230, 210 and 200 °C were investigated in a batch crystallization system in solutions with pH2. Aliquots were taken at each hour up to 5 h of time residence and analysed by ion chromatography for magnesium concentration. The reaction mechanism as well as rate constant and activation energy for each reaction temperature were obtained

Mar 1, 2018

By Thomas Boundy, PATRICK TAYLOR

Indium recovery from liquid crystal display (LCD) waste has been the subject of over 50 peer reviewed publications over the last decade; however, the first commercial recycling facilities are just beginning to be built. The low value of indium in the LCD screen material has posed a major challenge to would-be recyclers. Uncommon material combinations and geometries have further challenged development. A review of published literature regarding extraction of indium from LCDs will be presented and themes of advantageous processes will be highlighted. Barriers to rapid expansion of any recycling technology in the form of manufacturin gpractices, environmental regulations, and geographic constraints will be discussed.

Mar 1, 2018

By Chengyi Ding, Xuewei Lv, Senwei Xuan, Chenguang Bai, Kai Tang, Gang Li, Yang Xu

Perovskite easily forms during sintering of vanadium titanium magnetite (VTM) and is unfavorable for the following blast furnace. Steelmaking can concomitantly produce a great quantity of oxidized scale composed mainly of FeO and Fe3O4. Calcium ferrite (CaOFe2O3, CF) can be formed by oxidized scale with lime in air atmosphere and then added to the VTM during sintering. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated that perovskite is not generated at low temperature but only when the temperature increases to 1473 K in the CF–TiO2 system. Therefore, VTM sintering can be performed with a low-temperature process with doping of CF. Perovskite formation is mainly divided into two steps. First, CF melts and produces CaO. TiO2 and CaO then combine to produce perovskite. This paper also discussed the reaction mechanism of CaO–Fe2O3–TiO2 ternary system to compare the generation routes of perovskite.

Mar 1, 2018

By Deng Ma

In order to obtain the solubility of carbon in vanadium-bearing hot metal, graphite powder is used for the carburization experiments. The other kinds of carburizers, namely low nitrogen carburizer, anthracite and coke are used for carburization of vanadium-bearing hot metal weighing 500 g at temperature of 1450, 1500 and 1550 °C respectively. Carbon increments of low nitrogen carburizer, anthracite and coke fall in descending order. It was found by comprehensive analysis that anthracite is the most cost-effective carburizer among three carburizers. Magnitude of apparent rate constant of carburization reactions is 10−4s−1. It is found that the carburization rate increase with temperature.

Mar 1, 2018

By Juliana Augusto Molari, Deborah Dibbern Brunelli, Leonardo G. de Andrade e Silva, Patricia N. S. Poveda

There are several additives aimed on improving the processing characteristics as well as mechanical properties of the plastic materials. Being polypropylene is one of the main polymers used in the plastic processing industry due to its easy processability and application versatility, was chosen as the base resin for this study. Additives can aid the processing of polypropylene, either by promoting a better slip between the chains (lubricants), or by contributing to nucleation and crystallinity (nucleating). In this study, the raw materials copolymer polypropylene, lubricant (internal and external action), organic nucleating agent (metallic salt) and inorganic nucleating agent (metallic oxide) were considered. Mechanical tensile tests, Charpy impact and spiral flow to verify melt index were performed to characterize the samples with additives and standard (copolymer polypropylene). The interference of these additives with polymeric matrix was observed.

Mar 1, 2018

By Shengli Wu, Jiacong Zhang, Kai Gu, Bingjie Wen, Heng Zhou

In practical production process, the average of silicon content in hot metal (HM) of COREX process (the average is 1.58%) is obviously higher than that in blast furnace (the value is below 0.6%), which leads to an increase in the cost of steelmaking. In this work, the factors affecting and impact mechanism of silicon content in HM were investigated by statistical analysis using actual operating data. The analysis indicates that the fuel rate, binary basicity of slag and the temperature of HM are positively correlated with the silicon content, while the sulfur content of HM and binary basicity of burden are negatively correlated with the silicon content. On this basis, a back propagation neural network was developed to predict and control the silicon content in HM. All the findings of this work are useful for guiding and optimizing the COREX operation.

Mar 1, 2018

By Wangzhi Zhou, Jian Xu, Jing Zhang, Xuecheng Gong, Mingsheng He, Guohua Xie

Graphite, which has a unique stack structure that enables a small friction coefficient, is used as one kind of the best hearth rolls to support and convey silicon steel strip in continuous annealing furnace. However, the buildup formation in/on the surface of carbon sleeve has always been a worldwide difficulty in the silicon steel industry. Based on the analysis of the microstructure, topography and composition of the buildups, combined with simulation experiments, the mechanism of forming buildups is discussed. The results show that buildups experience the process from nucleating to growing-up, and buildups are formed by nano liquid phase sintering (NLPS). Meanwhile, some countermeasures to reduce or prevent the formation of the buildups are proposed.

Mar 1, 2018

By Huimin Lu, Neale R. Neelameggham, Guangzhi Wu

In China’s Inner Mongolia Tuquan County, 1.4 billion tons of reserves of serpentine deposits were found. Because serpentine belongs to magnesium silicate, there is no good reducing agent to reduce magnesium. In the local there is also a large reserves of high-aluminum bituminous coal for thermal power, power plants each year produce a large number of high-aluminum fly ash. The aluminum-silicon alloys obtained from this high-aluminum fly ash as the raw material by carbothermal reduction method can reduce the magnesium from the serpentine. In this paper, first, the feasibility of producing aluminum-silicon alloys by carbothermal reduction of high-alumina fly ash was studied, the hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloys were obtained; and then the investigation on aluminum-silicon alloy as a reducing agent to reduce of metal magnesium from serpentine was carried out. According to the previous investigation, the optimized technical process for the extraction of metal magnesium from serpentine was proposed.

Mar 1, 2018

By Wagner Aldeia, Duclerc Fernandes Parra, Danae Lopes Francisco, Ademar B. Lugão, Lucilene Betega de Paiva

The inorganic nanotube halloysite (HNT) is a promising type of natural occurring filler for polymers. Its characteristics, such as high aspect ratio (10–50), small size, and high strength (elasticmodulus—140GPa) suggest that HNT shave a potential use in high-performance polymer nanocomposites. Compared to other nanoclays and nanosilica the relatively low content of hydroxyl groups on their surfaces makes HNTs relatively hydrophobic, although, sometimes, this is not sufficient for guaranty a good interfacial adhesion in composite systems. Further hydrophobic treatment is required to improve HNTs compatibility with polymer matrixes, maximizing interfacial interactions. In the present study, different percentages of EPB (2,2-(1,2-ethene diyldi-4,1-phenylene) bisbenzoxazole) was used to perform anon-covalent functionalization of halloysite, based on electron transfer interactions. The functionalization is characterized by specific surface area (BET), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and water/toluene extraction experiment.

Mar 1, 2018

By Shangshu Li, Xin Li, Xionggang Lu, Xingli Zou, Kai Zheng, Yinshuai Wang

Ti5Si3/TiC composite has been successfully prepared from the titanium-rich slag/SiO2/C mixtures precursors by an electrochemical process. The electrochemical production process was carried out in molten CaCl2 salt at 1000 °C and 3.8 V. A pressed cylindrical pellet of titanium-rich slag/SiO2/C mixtures served as a cathode, and a solid oxide oxygen-ion-conducting membrane (SOM) tube filled with carbon-saturated liquid tin acted as an anode. The phase transformation of the cathode pellets during electrolysis process was investigated, the microstructure of the obtained products was characterized. It is found that the reaction pathways can be divided into three main stages during the electro-reduction process. The first stage is the generation of calcium compound, the second stage is the electrochemical reduction of the compound, and the third stage is the formation of Ti5Si3/TiC composite. The prepared Ti5Si3/TiC composite exhibits homogenous and nodular particle morphology.

Mar 1, 2018

By Chang Wei, Zhigan Deng, Minting Li, Cunxiong Li, Gang Fan, Xingbin Li

Iron precipitation occupies a vital position in the metallurgy industry, especially for treating iron-bearing sphalerite in hydrometallurgical processes. This paper emphasizes techniques for removing iron from high-iron sphalerite via hematite precipitation, and describes the results of research performed to examine ferrous oxydrolysis and precipitation. The behavior and mechanism of conversion between the iron phase and hematite residue at elevated temperature under pressure is ascertained by investigating the dissolving characteristic and thermodynamics stable area of hematite at sulfate system. The results show hematite precipitation went through the process of crystallization, dissolve, oxidation and precipitation of ferrous sulfate, and the overall iron precipitation was determined to be controlled by the rate of ferric sulphate hydrolysis rather than the oxidation of ferrous sulphate or the re-dissolution of ferrous sulphate crystals, or the transformation of basic ferric sulphate.

Mar 1, 2018

By Beatryz Mendes, Leonardo Pedroti, Afonso Azevedo, José Maria Carvalho

The dregs is a waste from the cellulose production, and its reuse is an effective way to reduce environmental impacts. Researches have already been done to incorporate it into building materials. The present work aimed at incorporating dregs in the production of mortar to replace hydrated lime. The methodology adopted was the Simplex network with ten sampling points, varying the amount of cement, sand, and dregs. Each mix was submitted to flexural strength, compressive strength, apparent mass density and water absorption by capillarity tests. The results were analyzed by the software Minitab, obtaining the influence of each component in the mixture. The best results were observed in mixes with a higher proportion of cement and less of residue when it was analyzed the flexural and compressive strengths. Larger rates of apparent mass density and water absorption were noticed with a greater amount of dregs. The experimental design also allowed the obtainment of mixture ratios from predetermined values of the tested properties and indicated that the addition of dregs in mortar could be an alternative to civil construction.

Mar 1, 2018

By S. N. Monteiro, E. B. Zanelato, J. Alexandre, M. T. Marvila, A. R. G. Azevedo, G. C. Xavier

One of the parameters used in the study of mortars is the adhesion resistance, which indicate show much the mortar adhered to the substrate. The usual study is done at 28 days, to worldwide standardization. Few researchers study the adhesion of mortars to ages other than 28 days. In this scenario, the adhesion strength tests of conventional mortar with a 1:1:6 mass scale (cement, and sand) at 7, 14, 28, 56, 91, 182 and 364 days were performed in order to understand the behavior of this material. The usual characterization tests of the mortars were carried out to correlate the values obtained with the adhesion results. The obtained results demonstrate that the mortar continues to gain resistance with the passage of time. For the trait studied the gain was considerable, indicating that over time the cement continues to hydrate, reacting and contributing to the strength of the material.

Mar 1, 2018

By Bart Blanpain, Muxing Guo, Bin Yang, Fei Wang

An experimental investigation of the precipitation behavior of the Dy2O3 containing slag during cooling was carried out in this work. The slag with composition 45 wt% SiO2—49 wt% CaO—6 wt% Dy2O3 was equilibrated at 1673, 1773 and 1873 K for 24 h in an argon atmosphere, and then quenched in water to determine the phase relations. The composition and microstructure of the equilibrated phases of the systems were determined by EPMA/WDS. The precipitation behavior of the REEs containing phases during cooling was studied by using an in-situ confocal scanning laser microscope (CLSM) observation technique combined with an infrared imaging furnace heating (IIF). Data resulting from this work aims to support further investigation on separation of rare earths from metallurgical slags.

Mar 1, 2018

By Peiye Yan, Huiqing Tang

To reduce coke consumption in blast furnace ironmaking, this study proposed a new method of applying iron-coke briquette prepared using hematite powder and pulverized coal to protect coke in BF iron making. Results showed that, with a ratio of hematite to coal of 2.0, the iron-coke briquette could obtain a satisfying compressive strength of more than 1500 N both before gasification and after being gasified by CO2 for 1 h. The activation energy of the iron-coke briquette was 93–135 kJ/mol, which is lower than the coke and therefore could protect the coke in BF. The agglomeration and stratification of iron particles occur in the course of iron-coke briquette gasi fication and is bene ficial to the improvement of the iron-coke briquette strength.

Mar 1, 2018