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By Christophe Thiébaut

Keywords: Pyrochemistry, Salts Treatment, Distillation The pyrochemical purification of metal generates spent salts. When this metal is an actinide such as plutonium, the slags cannot be discarded and are thus disposed in nuclear facility. In order to handle with these slags, the decision has been taken to reduce stored quantities. The development of a pyrochemical treatment is in progress in the CEA Valduc centre. The feed salt, typically composed of various Pu and Am species contained into monovalent or divalent chloride matrix, is first oxidized to convert the actinides into oxides. Then the chlorides are separated from the actinide oxides by vacuum distillation. Temperatures higher than 750°C for monochloride salts mixture NaCl/KCl and higher than 1100°C for divalent CaCl2 base salts, are required to produce an industrial flow of vaporization. Inactive qualification of the process for NaCl/KCl base salt has been carried out with lanthanide surrogates. Then, a pilot equipment, called distillator has been designed and built for production-scale distillation of NaCl/KCl and CaCl2 oxidized plutonium salts. Industrial flows of vaporization have been obtained with this pilot equipment : about 4 g/cm²/h for NaCl/KCl at 800?900°C and 1 Pa, and more than 1,5 g/cm²/h for CaCl2 base salts between 1000?1200°C at 0.1 Pa. The last step, now in progress, is the integration of the distillator into a glove box.

Jan 1, 2005

By Ryo Sasai, Takeshi Itakura, Haruki Imaizumi, Hideaki Itoh

"Emission of industrial wastewater containing harmful oxoanions is one of the serious problems on account of its toxicity and the environmental pollution, especially caused by boric, phosphinic, arsenic and antimonic species. In this study, we developed a novel treatment technique of such polluted-water by hydrothermal mineralization. The treatment is “Geomimetic” method for precipitating oxoanions in aqueous media as natural ore resources by using hydrothermal treatment with calcium salts mineralizer. The treatment made it possible not only to detoxify the polluted-water, but also to recover the calcium minerals such as Ca2B2O5·H2O, Ca5(AsO4)3(OH), etc. Concentration of each ion in treated-water was lower than that of effluent standard in Japan. Moreover, the residual concentration of each ion was independent of the initial concentration, but it depends only on the solubility of the formed mineral under hydrothermal condition. Therefore, the hydrothermal treatment could be recommended as one of the treatment techniques of polluted-water.IntroductionVarious oxoanions such as boron and arsenic oxo-anions have high toxicity against human health and the environment. They are important resources, however, for plating or advanced material manufacturing industries[1-3], from which the wastewater containing these oxoanions is generated every day. An appropriate treatment is often required for industrial wastewaters to attain national effluent standards of Japan (NESJ, B: 10 mg/dm3, As: 0.1 mg/dm3). On the other hand, there is no production of arsenic and boric resources in Japan, and they are expected to be recycled. Therefore, the establishment of a system for the removal and recycling of arsenic and boron from wastewaters is of global significance.Several methods to remove them from aqueous media have been already reported by using adsorption[4], electro-coagulation[5], membrane separation[6-8] and biological techniques[9]. However, these methods have the following problems because of their stability in water. (1) Removal yield is low, especially for tri-valent arsenite ion (AsIIIO3 3-) and borate ion. (2) The applicable concentration range is narrow. In addition, the used adsorbents or collected residues after treatments are sill hazardous wastes, so that they must be treated by a proper method. But, it is very difficult to convert them to recyclable resources at most industrial plants. These problems are caused by the difficulty to recover these oxoanions as stable solid precipitates with low solubility in water. The establishment of recycling system of these hazardous compounds will be one of the world-important issues, especially, in Japan, which is poor in natural resources. On the other hand, compounds that contain high arsenic concentrations and are insoluble in water, are often found in natural minerals, for example, as haidinglite (Ca(AsO3OH)·(H2O) or Johnbaumite (Ca5(AsO4)3(OH)). This fact suggests that nature has an ability to produce insoluble As-bearing minerals. Similar phenomena can be found in case of boron, antimony, etc."

Jan 1, 2008

By S. L. I. Chan, M. Z. Quadir, D. C. Austin, P. J. Hazell, A. Chen, A. A. H. Ameri, D. East, J. P. Escobedo, M. A. Bevan, A. D. Brown

The microstructure and mechanical response of additive manufactured Ti64 under compression and tension has been investigated. Quasi-static and dynamic experiments were conducted on electron beam powder bed Arcam A1 (EBM) and blown powder laser Optomec LENS MR-7 (LMD) additive manufactured specimens. Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) was conducted on both of the additive manufactured specimens and results were compared with as-received specimens. Digital image correlation (DIC) was utilized to observe the in situ development of deformation fields during tensile loading. Optical microscopy was conducted on pristine and deformed specimens to examine the microstructure of the specimens. HIP treatment reduced the porosity by *90% with a concomitant increase in hardness by 40%. The results from tensile experiments show that additive manufactured Ti64 display a higher values for the yield stress, hardness, and ultimate tensile strength than conventionally manufactured Ti64. Under quasi-static compression, it was observed that EBM specimens exhibit a higher yield strength and ultimate tensile strength than LMD specimens.

Mar 1, 2017

By Ilija Ilic

Recovery of tin from tinplate and production of good-quality detinned-plate for further processing in ironworks has been the subject of interest for many years. Tinplates are mostly used for production of tin containers for food industry and consumer goods. The research carried out so far included determination of the parameters of dissolution of tin from tinplates by alkaline solution of NaOH and electrochemical recovery of tin from the alkaline solutions. During leaching, NaNO3 and methanitrobenzoic acid (MNBA) as oxidants were studied. By leaching the waste tinplate which contains 0.31 % of tin with a solution of 1.12 mol/dm3 NaOH, 0.26 mol/dm3 Na2CO3 and 0.09 mol/dm3 MNBA at temperature of 70°C for 60 mm, a degree of tin leaching of 97 % was attained. MNBA facilitates oxidation of Sn2+ into Sn4+ suitable for obtaining compact, and not spongy, Sn cathode deposit, as it was the ease earlier. Recovery of tin by electrolysis from solutions obtained by leaching was studied to determine the effect of electrolyte composition on the quality of cathode deposit and the degree of electric current efficiency. Experimental results obtained at a laboratory level were checked on an enlarged laboratory set up where continuos leaching of tin from waste tinplate and its electrolytic recovery from the solution obtained were carried out. The experimental set-up -operated under semi-industrial conditions, and about 500 kg of waste tinplate was processed yielding about 1.160 kg of tin (99 % Sn).

Jan 1, 2000

By Gunnar Eriksson

Computer simulation has become an everyday practice in thennodynamic and materials research. Advanced thennochemical algorithms take into account heat transfer effects and salient reaction kinetics when applied for process models. In particular, the combination of mass transfer or overall reaction rates with multi-component Gibbs energy minimisation provides an effective tool for simulation of industrial thennochemical processes and processing of materials. In this work the combination of rate factors with the Gibbs energy technique was studied by using the novel program ChemSheet, which operates through Microsoft's Excel® spreadsheets. Such processes as, for example, CVD of pure silicon production, titania pigment manufacturing, vapour pressure of Mercury in amalgams (in Hg-Iamp manufacturing) and melting behaviour of low-temperature alloys have been modelled. Provided that the thennochemical data is available simulations can be performed with any thennodynamic system. The calculation can be performed as an affinity study without a particular reactor model or with a specific reactor scheme.

Jan 1, 2001

By Etsuro Shibata

The saturated solubility of chromium oxide and the valence of chromium in the slag are important matters when considering how to effectively utilize chromium-containing slags. The experimental data of various types of slags cited in the literature were arranged according to the optical basicity in order to evaluate the effects of the oxygen potential and the slag composition. The saturated solubility of chromium oxide and the Cr2+/ Cr3+ ratio tend to decrease with the increase of the optical basicity of the slag at an oxygen potential below 10.5 atm. However, at an oxygen potential of 0.21 atm, the saturated solubility and the Cr6+/Cr3+ ratio tend to increase with an increase of the optical basicity. A practical approach was suggested to reduce chromium in the stainless steel slag and simultaneously recover it as a ferroalloy by the direct smelting reduction of chromium oxide in the molten slag using some reductant in a small furnace.

Jan 1, 2003

By J. C. Huyhua

The effect or various oxidants on gold and silver dissolution in thiourea solutions (0.05 M in H2SO4) was studied using the rotating disc technique, a.t 2s c and 600 rpm. These studies were carried out at constant (4:1) initial molar ratio or thiourea to oxidant concentrations, to produce 50 % thiourea. oxidation. The initial dissolution rate of gold was approximately four times higher in the presence. of ferric sulfate (5.37 x 10-3mg cm-2 s-1) than in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), potassium persultate (K2S2O3), or monopersulfa.te (KHS06). The dissolution rates for silver were considerably lower than gold for the same oxidants. Oxidation of thiourea in the presence of peroxygen and persulta.te compounds is a. fast reaction and it is completed in less than ten minutes. On the other hand, the oxidation or thiourea with? ferric.sulfate is slow, yielding a second-order reaction rate constant k = 6.09 I mol-1 h-1. Sulfur formation in the ferric thiourea system begins when ferric ion reduction approaches to completion. With hydrogen peroxide, sulfur is observed at lower thiourea concentration than ferric. Suifate. The presence of a large excess or free thiourea i.e., s to 20 % thiourea oxidation) retards sulfur formation and maintains favorable dissolution rates. Finally, carbon-in-leach experiments indicate that thiourea solutions a.re stable for several days, with ferric sulfate or hydrogen peroxide. The dissolution rates of gold and silver doubles in the presence or activated carbon when hydrogen peroxide is used as oxidant.

Jan 1, 1989

By David Bequette, Ray D. Peterson, Cynthia K. Belt

"With a need to cut production costs in the metals industry, cost savings from energy efficiency improvements are critical. Opportunities can be found by reviewing furnace systems and practices so that the melting and holding processes operate at the highest energy efficiency. Many of the changes can be implemented with a minimum of expense or capital investment. This paper will review several low cost methods to optimize energy efficiency on reverberatory melting or holding furnaces. These five methods (furnace utilization, idle procedures, fire rate, controls, furnace pressure) will be explained and information given to implement these changes. Included are several rules-of-thumb and benchmarks for aluminum reverb furnaces.IntroductionEnergy can be a significant portion of the total manufacturing costs for metals and materials manufacturing involving thermal processing such as heat treating, melting, and high temperature processing. Natural gas prices have dramatically varied over the last few years. While no one can foresee the future, prices are expected to increase from the current low prices. More recently, emphasis is being put on the reduction of greenhouse gases with the potential of additional costs to industry.One of the first steps in an energy management program is to measure the energy usage of the process [1]. The results are typically understood in relation to the mass melted in kWh / mT [BTU / lb]. For the purposes of this paper, furnace energy efficiency is calculated over a month or even a year and thus includes hold times. This efficiency is typically different from the values quoted by furnace manufacturers. Those values are for limited short term tests at highutilization.Once you know the performance for your furnaces, these should be compared to industry benchmarks. For aluminum melt furnaces with cold air burner systems, a benchmark value or goal is 1800-2000 BTU/lb [1160-1290 kWh/mt], though some of the best have reached 1600 BTU/lb [1030 kWh/mt]. Furnaces with regenerative burners can attain 1100-1200 BTU/lb [710- 775 kWh/mt]. There are some designs of multi-chamber furnaces or oxygen furnaces that have improved on these numbers, perhaps as low as 950 BTU/lb [615 kWh/mt]. Typically, as the degree of sophistication and energy efficiency of the furnace increases, so does the cost."

Jan 1, 2010

By S. Agatzini-Leonardou

The objective of this work was to prove repeated loading capacities and investigate the selectivity of physically stabilized algal biomass from Spirulina platensis and Chlorella sp. for the removal and recovery of cobalt, nickel and chromium from laterite heap leach liquors. The testwork was carried out on a bench scale in small glass columns and proved that it was possible to immobilize the biomass on the highly porous surface of pumice stone (kissiris). Nickel and cobalt could be removed from pure aqueous solutions of each metal by the immobilized cyanobacterial biomass. Nickel and also cobalt biosorption was sensitive to the initial solution pH. Cobalt recoveries up to 80% were achieved after 5 loading cycles, from low concentration solutions, at pH 6.0. Nickel removal was complete under the same conditions, whereas chromium sorption was ineffective. Desorption of the metal loaded columns was effected by dilute sulfuric acid. The algal species giving the best adsorption capacities for the metals under consideration was selected for further experimental work with real laterite heap leach solution produced by column leaching. A statistical analysis of all obtained results was conducted using the fraction of metal removed as response. The ratio "mass of metal removed to mass of protein contained in the immobilized cells" was determined as well. The described method might be applicable for recovery of cobalt and nickel from diluted laterite heap leach solutions, such as heap wash waters, or for their removal from waste streams of a hydrometallurgical extraction process.

Jan 1, 1997

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 Kim Fagerlund

Boliden Harjavalta Oy operates a copper smelter in Finland, which is based on flash smelting together with Peirce-Smith converting of copper matte. This paper reviews a case study when a high arsenic feed mixture was successfully eliminated in order to guarantee the anode quality. Based on theoretical and practical knowledge in slag chemistry at Outokumpu Research, the CaO-fluxing practice was introduced. Description of a thermodynamic simulation using MTDATA and implementation of the results into converting practice is given. Results showed that the impurity fluctuations in raw materials could be effectively controlled by efficient utilization of different slag chemistry.

Jan 1, 2005

By William Petrul

Image analysis studies were performed on mill products from laboratory flotation tests of the Zn-Pb ore from the Faro deposit in Yukon, Canada, to determine mineral liberations at specific grinds and to predict recoveries at optimum flotation conditions. The minimum and optimum grinds for liberating sphalerite and galena were predicted from size analysis data for the minerals in large ore pieces, and determined by image analysis studies of the mill products. The determined optimum grinds are about 2 Tyler mesh sizes larger than predicted because sane of the fine grained sphalerite and galena occurs in interstices between coarser grained pyrite and is liberated when the pyrite grains are broken apart. Materials balance calculations were performed on the analyzed values for the liberated and unliberated sphalerite and galenaa to determine their distributions in the mill products. The laboratory flotation tests recovered 74% of the sphalerite and 83% of the galena in Zn and Pb concentrates respectively. The mineral evaluation study indicates that the optimum recovery for sphalerite and galena are 85 and 83% respectively. The company is currently recovering 80% 'of the sphalerite and 82% of the galena.

Jan 1, 1989

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 F. E. Brinckman, G. J. Olson, D. Johnsonbaugh, T. K. Trout

"Microbiological metal recovery is an emerging technology likely to play an increasing role in commercial ore leaching, metal removal from process and waste streams, and perhaps ultimately in processing to yield metal products in specified forms or oxidation states. We are studying the potential for using microorganisms for the recovery of elements important to emerging materials technologies and for which domestic supplies are limited and/or low grade. Examples to be discussed include the bioaccumulation of yttrium and gallium. These elements are important in the production of new superconductor and semiconductor materials. However, limited domestic reserves and technologies for their recovery may cause supply problems. Microbiological processes may offer new techniques for recovery of these and other strategic elements.IntroductionMicroorganisms in ore leachingMicroorganisms assist in the commercial leaching of copper and uranium from low grade ores (1,2) and recently have been shown to have immediate commercial potential for the pretreatment of refractory gold ores to increase the gold-cyanide recovery yield (3). Copper bioleaching is the best known example of biotechnology applied to metal recovery. Copper can be recovered by commercial leaching of huge piles or dumps of low grade sulfidic ores and waste materials, which are not otherwise processable. Microbial activity in the leach dump environment oxidizes metal sulfides to soluble metal sulfates:"

Jan 1, 1988

By John R. Goode

Barrick Gold Corporation operates gold mines in the United States, Chile, 'Peru, Canada, and in the near future, in l1anzania. Barrick meets environmental requirements and limits the potentially adverse effect of cyanide discharge to the environment using various cyanide destruction techniques. Barrick operations use, or have used, natural degradation, ferrous sulphate, hydrogen peroxide, Caro's acid, alkaline chlorination, and the SO/Air process for cyanide destruction. This paper presents a general discussion of the options for controlling cyanide in plant effluent and provides details of Barrick's operating experience including general notes on costs.

Jan 1, 1998

By Giacobbe Braccio, Alessandro Blasi, Assunta Romanelli, Massimo Morgana, Corradino Sposato

Yttrium is a strategical material for its several usages in a wide range of industrial production. For this reason, improving the recovery of Yttrium has become a crucial focus for international research. In this scientific activity, the utilization of two extractants, 2-ethylhexyl-mono 2-ethylhexyl ester phosphonic acid (P-507) and sec-octylphenoxy acetic acid (CA-12), working in a synergistic extracting system, has been tested. A series of trials have been carried out to optimize the experimental conditions in order to separate yttrium from a mix of heavy rare earths in chloride media. Tests with different relative concentrations of extractants and a phase modifier (TPB, trybutyl phosphate), with different presaponification rate, have been performed to evaluate the behavior of the synergistic system. Results are very promising to recover and separate yttrium with a high purity.

Mar 1, 2017

By Frame Ritzert, Dennis Keller, Vijay Vasudevan, David Arenas

"An investigation was conducted to describe topologically close packed (TCP) phase instability as' a function of composition in the advanced ·Ni-base superalloy Rene N6. TCP phases are detrimental to overfill high-temperature performance of Ni-base superalloys because of their brittle nature and because they deplete the Ni-rich matrix of potent solid solution strengthening elements. Thirty-four variations of polycrystalline .Rene N6 determined from a design-of-experiments approach were cast and homogenized at 13 l5°C for 80 hours followed by exposure at 1093°C for 400 hours to promote TCP formation. The alloys had the following composition ranges in atomic percent: cobalt 10.61 to 16.73, Mo 0.32 to 1.34%, W 1.85 to 2.52%, Re 1.80 to 2.11%, Ta 2.36 to 3.02%, Al 11.90 to 14.75%, and Cr 3.57 to 6.23%. Physical and chemical characteristics of all microstructures obtained were described using various analytical techniques. From these observations, a mathematical description of TCP occurrence (s and P phase) was generated for polycrystalline Rene N6.IntroductionNi-base superalloy single crystals represent the state-of-the-art for turbine engine airfoil application as they offer the best balance of properties to allow for the high operating temperatures required: for efficient engine operation.1 Current trends in alloy design take advantage of improved creep rupture strength with the addition .of higher levels of refractory elements. 2 In .particular, the addition of significantly higher levels of Re in third generation superalloys is key for both microstructural stability and creep rupture strength. 3 While the presence of the refractories is thought to provide strength benefits from solid solution hardening, a tendency for alloy instability in the form of topologically-close-packed (TCP) phases or secondary reaction· zone (SRZ) ·phenomena accompanies the high refractory content. 3 The formation of these phases in sufficient amount is detrimental to the overall high temperature performance of Ni-base superalloys because of their brittle nature and because they deplete the Ni-rich matrix of potent solid solution strengthening elements.4 The tendency for a particular composition to form TCP may not be immediately known since the precipitation of TCP phases in Ni-base superalloys is nucleation controlled, thereby requiring long times at elevated temperatures to precipitate. 5 They preferentially nucleate along the octahedral planes of the Ni-base superalloys, usually in areas of refractory metal enrichment at grain boundaries or inside dendrites.5-6 In Rene N6, two closely related TCP phases, a and P, have been observed.2"

Jan 1, 1998

By A. Niedbalska

A technique was developed for low pressure diamond synthesis using a specially prepared glassy carbon. The glassy carbon is produced in the form of solid plates by slow carbonization process of phenol formaldehyde resin interrupted at temperatures of 1273° K, 1073° K, and 923° K. The diamond synthesis is performed using cobalt plates as a catalyst-solvent. Synthesis was carried out at applied pressures of 6.0 and 3.8 GPa and a temperature of 1970° K and 2170° K. The products were analyzed by the x-ray powder dyffraction method and by microprobe to identify the diamond crystallites. The samples were taken from the place of contact between the glassy carbon and the cobalt catalyst. They were separated from the charge by a chemical method. Diamonds of the best form and the largest size were obtained at pressures that were much lower than those used in the traditional graphite method of diamond synthesis.

Jan 1, 1989

By C. P. Snyman

Three independent methods of coal classification can be distinguished, namely on the basis of grade, type and rank. The latter two can be determined accurately and unambiguously only by means of microscopical techniques. These three independent variables affect all the coal properties and therefore also the technological behaviour of a particular coal. The influence of the inorganic constituents of coal on the fusibility of the ash and on the length of the slag, and also on fouling and slagging, is discussed. The fractionation of the ash-forming constituents during combustion and gasification of pulverised coal shows that fouling and slagging are not related directly to the fusibility and composition of ash of the coal as a whole. The results of combustion experiments using a drop furnace technique indicate that the ignition temperatures of the light volatiles in the coal, and of the formed char, as well as the burn-out time of the char are more dependent on the rank than on the type or grade of the original coal. High-ash coals, however, apparently ignite at lower temperatures and are more reactive than low-ash coals of similar type and rank. The surface properties of coal, which are important in froth flotation and oil agglomeration, correlate well with the inherent moisture content (and by inference with the heat of wetting and the calorific value) and therefore with the type and rank of the coal. In coal exploration, variations of rank offer the possibility of predicting the presence of an intrusion near the seam, thus contributing to more effective exploration and mine planning.

Jan 1, 1991

Equilibrium calculational software programs can be effectively utilized to illustrate the importance of activity or concentration, solubility, temperature, solution pH, solution potential, and ligand complexation to students studying hydrometallurgy. The calculational program STABCAL will be demonstrated. illustrative examples for the creation of diagrams such as EH-pH, activity or concentration-pH and activity or concentration-EH will be presented to demonstrate the fundamentals of real hydrometallurgical systems. Speciation, titration and mixing will be used to simulate or predict operational processes. Applications will include treatment of Acid Mine Drainage (Berkeley Pitlake water and sediments), mass balance potential/pH diagrams, leaching and selective separation of metals from electroplating sludge, metal adsorption at femhydrite surfaces, and flowsheet development for treating mercury sulfide K106 sludge.

Jan 1, 2002