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By V. B. Telles, J. A. S. Tenorio, J. O. Alves, D. C. R. Espinosa

"The world production of crude steel in 2009 reached 1.2 billion tons. For each ton of steel produced, 150 kg of steelmaking slag and 20 kg of steelmaking dust are generated. These are wastes with considerable production and limited applications, therefore this work studied the recovery of these wastes into useful sub-products. The slag was used as raw material in the production of rock wool (a thermo-acoustic insulator) and the dust was inserted in the iron ore sintering process. Results showed that produced materials have exceptional proprieties, therefore the recovery of these wastes can contribute to decrease extraction of non-renewable resources, reduce the costs and impact of disposals, and aggregate value to the slag and dust.1. IntroductionSteel production using Eletric Arc Furnace (EAF) has grown over 119 million tones in the last years. In 2008 30.7% of all steel produced, was obtained through EAF. In United States of America (USA) the percentage of this process in the production of steel was about 58% in 2008, while in 2000 this percentage was only 47% [1]."

Jan 1, 2011

By Vinicius Alves Gomes, Jean Igor Margem, Thallis Cordeiro, Frederico Muylaert Margem, Roberto Faria Jr., Sergio Neves Monteiro, Marina Rangel Margem

Natural fibers are attracting the interest of engineering sectors owing to specific advantages such as lightweight and lower cost as well as for their inherent condition of being renewable, biodegradable, recyclable and neutral with respect to CO2 emission. In particular, the fiber extracted from the malva plant stem is nowadays recognized as one of the strongest lignocellulosic fibers. However, the thermal properties of the malva fibers have yet not been fully investigated. The present work had as its objective to investigate, by photoacoustic spectroscopy and photothermal techniques the thermal properties of diffusivity, specific heat capacity and conductivity of a pressed malva fibers sample. The results revealed that these fibers showed a superior thermal insulation capacity.

Jan 1, 2015

By Raymond E. Healy

Mercurian e1ectrum (Au-Ag-Hg alloy) is the principal Au-bearing phase in the massive sulphide ores at Trout Lake, Manitoba. The average composition of this phase (in wt %) is 49.2 % Ag. 38.7 % Au and 11.0 % Hg, with ranges of 17.34 to 76.47 % Ag, 1.62 to 79.86 % Au and 1.29 to 30.87 % Hg. Compositional variation reflects solid solution in the a-phase of the Ag-Au-Hg system. Backscatter electron imagery reveals systematic zoning and suggests a general crystallization sequence from metamorphic pore fluids of progressively Ag-rich compositions. Investigation of the occurrence of gold in mill products demonstrates that mercurian electrum accounts for over 90 % of the Au in Trout Lake ore. I Invisible" gold in pyrite (x = 0.72 ppm Au) and arsenopyrite (x 30.2 ppm Au) is confirmed by SIMS analyses, and accounts for 7-10 % of the Au in the ore, and 35 % of the Au lost to the tailings. The remaining 65 % of the Au lost to the tailings consists principally of mercurian electrum locked with pyrite. No significant losses of mercurian electrum in the size range amenable to flotation and/or regrinding is indicated.

Jan 1, 1989

By Runsheng Xu, Haiyang Wang, Pengcheng Zhang, Tengfei Song

Semi coke, a byproduct in the chemical industry, is a new fuel for blast furnace injection in China. In this study, semi coke and bitumite were milled into different size, ranged from 0.147mm to under 0.074mm. The content of volatile matter and ash, which affect the combustibility of semi coke, were measured using muffle furnace. The mixture, in which the proportion of coal in different sizes changed, was blend by semi coke and bitumite with different size. Activation energy calculation and the comprehensive combustion characteristic index of all kinds of blends was also discussed. The result obtained by Thermogravimetry –Derivative Thermogravimetry curves indicates that the smaller the size of mixture is, the lower for the characteristic temperature, and the better for its combustibility, Semi coke can be a substitute for anthracite in blast furnace injection.

Jan 1, 2015

By Wei Gao, Qing-cai Liu, Cun-fang Lu, Jian Yang, Hinmi Zheng

"The mode of occurrence of sulfur and mercury in 57 Chinese bituminous coals have been examined using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Zeeman atomic absorption mercury spectrometer. Mercury levels in coal are related to the geographic location of the coals and types of the coals. A synthesis of result indicated that most likely occurrence modes of mercury in high-sulfur and high-mercury coals are in solid solution in pyrite. Our study from 57 coal samples showed that most values of mercury concentration in coal varied from 100 to 1000 ng/g with an average of approximately 500ng/g, and mathematical model about correlation between mercury and sulfur was gained by mathematical statistics. This is apparent that mercury and sulfur vary concomitantly from coal data (table 3) , the high correlation between them in all coals at confidence of 95% ( a=0.05 ) .1. INTRODUCTIONThere contained about one trillion ton abundant coal resources in China. As a leading level of proven coal reserves in the world, the coals mainly distributed in north China and northwest China, especially in Shanxi, Guizhou, Shanxi provinces and Inner-Mongolia autonomous region. At the same time, China has the largest production and consumption of coal, and has the output of coal nearly accounted for 37 percent of the world's production. Coal-fired power plants are the major source of energy generation in China, and the proportion of coal combustion is up to 75 percent in the total energy configuration. Therefore, the mercury pollution caused by coal-fired has become a topic of wide-spread discussions since 1990. The contamination of mercury of human activities accounted for 10 to 30 percent [1], and the mercury emissions of coal-fired flue gas has made the greatest contribution to the pollution of atmosphere[2] In the past 30 years, the global increasing concentration of mercury pollutant in atmosphere maybe result from coal combustion[2]. The mercury emissions caused by coal-burning has become the main reason of China's mercury pollution, and the characteristics of mercury pollution is closely related to China's energy configuration, additionally, the features of mercury pollution have changed from the point pollution in 1970's to diffused pollution today[3]. Mercury can be found in various types of coals, and it is evaporated into gas phase during the combustion process."

Jan 1, 2011

By Wen Chen, Xinghua Liu, Zeyou Peng, Qiulin Wang

"Limonite is a collective for iron hydroxide argillaceous materials. It is very difficult to be treated due to the wide variation in specific gravity and magnetism and the high argillization rate in the course of grinding and beneficiation. The iron ore in Huangmei, Hubei, China is the typical representative of limonite. If the limonite is processed using conventional physical beneficiation methods (e.g. magnetic separation, gravity separation, flocculation-desliming-flotation, or a combined process of the three), it can only be obtained an iron concentrate grade of 51.98% and an iron metal recovery of 86.64%. However, the technique of flash magnetic roasting-magnetic separation can improve the concentrate grade to 61.03%, iron recovery to 91.17%. This paper describes the tests of recovering limonite by flash magnetic roasting in detail.IntroductionLimonite (mFe2O3, nH2O)[1] is a general designation for hydrous iron hydroxides and argillaceous matters. Limonite is hard to be separated because of its complicated geneses, comparatively weak magnetism, nonuniform grain size and being easily slimed during grinding. So most small and medium enterprises sell deslimed limonite product which was dealt with just by simple methods of washing, magnetic separation or gravity separation and so on. In recent years with the iron ore prices soaring, significant progress was made in mineral processing research of limonite. Laboratory research and industrial test results showed that flocculation-desliming-flotation process and roasting-magnetic separation process are the two best methods to recover limonite till now. To compare these two methods, roasting-magnetic separation process is superior to flocculation-desliming-flotation process in aspects of beneficiation indexes and industrial stability."

Jan 1, 2012

By W. E. Straszheim

Computerized microscopic techniques were used to determine the size and identity of the ash-forming mineral components, as well as their association with the organic coal matrix, in order to aid in the development of physical methods of beneficiation which require such characterization for the most effective cleaning. Examples of particle size measurements, mineral phase identification, and especially coal-mineral association results are given for selected samples of raw and physically cleaned coals. These measurements can reveal certain characteristics of coals which can be be of significant value in predicting coal recovery and mineral matter rejection for coals undergoing beneficiation.

Jan 1, 1989

By Jr. Robison

"Aluminothermic (""thermite"") smelting became commercial with the development of tonnage aluminum, and prospered producing metals and alloys with higher cleanliness, consistency and elemental control than competing technologies. We explore the scope of thermite smelting, and metallothermic smelting in general; the thermochemistry of the process; and its advantages and limitations as applied to industrial production. We review currently-produced products of thermite smelting in several forms and a wide range of heat sizes. As these products serve several industries, we relate the demands of those industries to the requirements imposed on the thermite process, leading to process dynamics and mechanisms to control/alter those dynamics. We review ways to lower the process costs by altering process stoichiometry, using other energy sources and utilizing less costly materials while considering effects on product quality and customer requirements. Finally, we examine overall emissions control and waste disposal.IntroductionAluminothermic smelting is the reduction of various oxides by aluminum to produce metals or alloys with varying levels of residual aluminum. One of the earliest uses of the process was the production of liquid iron to weld railroad rails, later modified in ""thermite grenades"" used to ""spike"" artillery pieces in World War II. Then during the 50's, 60's and 70's the growth of jet aircraft created a demand for new superalloys and titanium alloys, both requiring master alloys for efficient production. Aluminothermic smelting grew with the aerospace industry and with the expansion of microalloyed steels. It is very much a niche industry, dependent on the specialized demands of the specialty steel, superalloy and titanium industries. In this paper we introduce the characteristics of aluminothermic smelting, the scope of smelting operations, the markets served, and the environmental aspects of the process, as seen through the eyes of a company using aluminothermic smelting for over fifty years"

Jan 1, 2012

By V. I. Lakshmanan, R. Roy

Base metals and PGMs are currently recovered from sulfide concentrates using pyrometallurgical processes. These processes suffer from several limitations such as being capital intensive, scaling problems, S02 emissions and long delay in value recognition. Alternative hydrometallurgical technologies have so far not been successful and currently total pressure oxidation and partial pressure oxidation hydrometallurgical technologies are being evaluated. Process Research ORTECH has developed a unique hydrometallurgical process to recover base metals and precious metals using mixed chloride technology. In a first stage leach, base metals are recovered and elemental sulfur is liberated from hydrogen sulfide formed during this leaching stage. During second stage leach, precious metals are recovered using proven separation technologies. Some of the advantages of the process are the recovery of elemental sulfur from sulfide sulfur, recycle of the chloride lixiviant thereby eliminating effluent treatment steps and use of excess energy from the Claus reactor for the pyrohydrolysis step.

Jan 1, 2011

By Joerg Hammerschmidt, Marcus Runkel, Andreas Wirtz, Kent Pope

"Fluidized bed reactor systems in the minerals industry have been progressively developed and widely implemented over a period of more than sixty years for a multitude of process applications. Their versatility is manifested in calcining, roasting and combustion treatment of minerals including solid fuels. Experiences from metallurgical processes have expanded to new applications in the oil shale processing, biomass combustion and renewable energy sector. This paper focuses on the most important aspects of fluidized bed technology for a variety of Outotec processes. Energy recovery is a major topic for all applications and will be addressed, as well as environmental aspects, particularly regarding the off-gas treatment. Outotec is one of the pioneers of roasting and the fluidized bed process including gas cleaning and sulphuric acid production where applicable. Process development is strongly supported by significant investment in R&D, thus enabling process adaptation and scale-up to meet specific customer/market requirements.Introduction to Fluidized Bed TechnologyThe early days of fluidized bed technology were characterized by the use of bubbling fluidized bed reactors (BFB). This technology was popular for roasting zinc and copper ores. The introduction of circulating fluidized bed technology led to increased plant capacities and improved process control for the traditional processes. Furthermore, the technology has been applied in many other industries, including the renewable energy industry, which will be part of this design and process comparison. The paper starts out with the fundamentals on particle fluidization as the main common design parameter, leading to the importance of heat recovery and offgas treatment.In fluidized reactor systems, the particle concentrations can reach several hundred kilograms per cubic meter of fluidization gas. This high solid concentration leads to large surface areas and enables direct contact of gas molecules with particle surface molecules. Excellent conditions for enhanced heat and mass transfer thus provide nearly ""ideal"" heat exchange conditions and better reaction kinetics. The bubbling bed exhibits a better heat transfer coefficient within the bed in comparison to the circulating fluidized bed (CFB). The different conditions of gas velocities and solid concentrations allowing the classification of fluidization reaction regimes are shown in the Reh diagram in Figure 1."

Jan 1, 2014

By Liyuan Chai

The corrosion mechanism of A3 steel induced by chloride ions in the purified water had been investigated with the A C Impedance technique. The results showed that there were another two factors which determined its electrochemical corrosive rate: the electrode potential and coverage ratio of chloride ions on the surface of A3 Steel. The corrosion mechanism of A3 steel in the solution with chloride ions emendation was two steps of electrode process with the rate-determining step of 0,32kFeClFeCle+--¾¾®++.

Jan 1, 2009

By Corby G. Anderson

Hydrometallurgical technology for the pretreatment of refractory gold concentrates has been developed at Sunshine Mining and Refining Company. It employs a patented nitrous-sulfuric acid pressure leaching process which' was proven industrially at the Sunshine refinery. Additionally, pretreatment for removal of antimony and some other impurities is done with alkaline sulfide leaching. This paper will discuss the successful application of these two technologies for pretreatment of a refractory gold concentrate prior to CIL gold recovery. A complex gold concentrate composed of pyrite, arsenopyrite and stibnite was tested. Results of antimony leaching in alkaline sulfide media will be discussed including some details of a novel and selective recovery method for gold leached by polysulfide or thiosulfate" Also, the factors important in and the results of the application of nitrogen species catalyzed pressure leaching to refractory gold concentrates will be detailed.

Jan 1, 1996

By Rauno Peippo

Horizontal Waste Heat Boiler (WHB), today's proven and dominating technology for copper smelter gas cooling, has been utilized by the industry for over half a century. During this time development has taken place in geometry, flow characteristics, cleaning technology and design details. This development has been driven by improved understanding of the specific process requirements, gained both by wide experience and by utilizing new emerging design tools, like computer flow modeling. It had to wait till mid 90's to unite effective and proven Spring Hammer cleaning technology and the process benefits gained by gas guiding vanes or baffle wall in the copper smelter WHB design. The new design has demonstrated improvement in gas cooling efficiency and the process conditions down stream in form of less dust sticking problems in the boiler and precipitators. Reduced weak acid production has also been reported as a result of the design. The theoretical aspects, computer flow modeling results and actual benefits measured in old smelting line modernization are discussed. Experience £tom modernization projects such as Phelps Dodge, Atlantic Copper, Mexicana de Cobre, and Nippon Mining, Saganoseki, are discussed. In mechanical design there has been development resulting improved gas tightness with less corrosion and better control of dust sulfation. An essential improvement is the integration of the boiler hopper and dust removing conveyor. Having no steel plate casings in the hopper and conveyor section but using of boiler tube membrane instead eliminates thermal expansion differences. The dust conveyor will be effectively cooled against hot dust lumps falling down while the acid dew point corrosion is prevented in the cooler sections of the hopper. Conceptual features are presented of a new generation Copper Flash Smelter WHB presently under construction at Boliden Mineral, Skelleftehamn, Sweden, where the latest development and innovations are adopted.

Jan 1, 1999

By Mitsuru Tanahashi

In order to develop an effective process for the production of from metallurgical-grade one (MG-Si), the oxidation removal of boron from molten MG-Si was investigated at a solar-grade silicon (SOG-Si) 1773K by the following two CaO-saturated CaO-CaF2 flux treatment processes. I) Boron removal by flux addition onto the molten M6-8 followed by oxygen gas injection into the melt (Two-stage connecting process). II) Boron removal by simultaneous injection of flux powders and oxygen gas into the molten MG-Si (Simultaneous injection process). These processes can establish the special condition of both high basicity of the flux and the high oxygen partial pressure at the boron removal reaction sites. Through these processes, especially by the simultaneous injection Process using a flux powder injection equipment, the boron content in MG-Si can be efficiently reduced. The obtained results clarified that both processes should be conducted for a time period as short as possible by using as much flux as possible. By repeating the simultaneous injection process for 60 s three times under the optimum operating conditions determined in the present study, the boron content in MG-Si can be reduced from 14 to 4.7 mass ppm.

Jan 1, 2003

By Qing-Yun Huang, Xiao-Yi Zeng, Bing Xie, Hong-Yi Li, Jia-Rong Yan

"In order to utilize vanadium resource in vanadium-titanium magnetite ore efficiently, vanadium distribution ratio between hot metal and slag should be improved during BF process, meanwhile the precipitating of Ti(C,N) in slag must be minimized. Effects of temperature, Ti02 content in the slag and basicity on vanadium distribution between slag and hot metal were investigated by experiment and thermodynamic calculation. The results indicated that high temperature, low Ti02 content and high binary basicity of slag were beneficial to increase the vanadium distribution ratio. The effects of temperature and Ti02 content in slag on vanadium distribution were stronger than that of slag basicity.IntroductionVanadium is an important element that is widely used in industrial fields. Most of vanadium resource is hosted in vanadium bearing titanomagnetite [l]. Vanadium bearing titanomagnetite is thus one of the domainate raw materials to produce the vanadium products. In other words, the comprehensive utilization of vanadium bearing titanomagnetite is beneficial for vanadium resource utilization. Vanadium bearing titanomagnetite sources are abundant in Pan Xi of China [4]."

Jan 1, 2013

By Mitsuru Tanahashi

In order to develop an effective process for the production of a solar-grade silicon (SOG-Si) from metallurgical-grade one (MG-Si), the oxidation removal of boron from molten MG-Si was investigated at 1773 K by the following two CaO-saturated CaO-CaF2 flux treatment processes. I) Boron removal by flux addition onto the molten MG-Si followed by oxygen gas injection into the melt (Two-stage connecting process). II) II) Boron removal by simultaneous injection of flux powders and oxygen gas into the molten MG-Si (Simultaneous injection process). These processes can establish the special condition of both high basicity of the flux and the high oxygen partial pressure at the boron removal reaction sites. Through these processes, especially by the simultaneous injection process using a flux powder injection equipment, the boron content in MG-Si can be efficiently reduced. The obtained results clarified that both processes should be conducted for a time period as short as possible by using as much flux as possible. By repeating the simultaneous injection process for 60 s three times under the optimum operating conditions determined in the present study, the boron content in MG-Si can be reduced from 14 to 4.7 mass ppm.

Jan 1, 2003

By D. W. Lawler

Prior to the manufacture of sulphuric acid in metallurgical plants, the SO2 rich gas from the smelter, roaster, or furnace must be cleaned to removed particulates, volatile contaminants, SO3, and water. Cleaning is accomplished by contacting the. gas with cooled weak acid. The system is designed so that all the contaminants, originally in the gas are captured in the weak acid, which then becomes an effluent from the plant. Historically, the entire weak acid effluent stream has been treated for disposal, with no attempt to recycle or recover any part if it. This is becoming increasingly environmentally unacceptable, and operators must consider better methods of treatment and recovery. In this paper, Kvaerner Chemetics discuss a number of options that allow the contaminants to 'be separated from the acid' value. This will result in an acid byproduct that can be sold or used elsewhere, and will minimize the volume of hazardous byproducts that must be discharged.

Jan 1, 1998

By R. C. Nascimento

It was investigated the effect of the addition of bentonite on the physical propertiesof pellets produced from fines of manganese ores. Cold-bonded pellets were produced. Pellets bearing up to 1 wt% of bentonite were submitted to strength compression resistance tests, fatigue of pellets to impact and maximum height of fall tests. A correlation of resistance of the pellets and time for curing were stablished. The produced pellets match the conditions for raw materials used in electric smelting hrnaces to produce manganese based ferro-alloys.

Jan 1, 1995

By Sen-xiang Yang, Xin-teng Liang, Gui-jun Li, Jian-hua Zeng, Yong Chen

"This research is based on PANSTEEL 120t steelmaking converter technology to have the quantitative description of the time needed in uniform mixing of molten steel in the converter with the computer. In present work, the numerical simulation approach is used to analyze oxygen lance nozzle, the flow condition of oxygen and flow status of molten steel in the converter. The various oxygen jet flows that come out from different angles and the flow status of all kinds of jet flows in the converter have also been simulated. All of the simulation parameters are based on the specifically practical conditions according to the physical conditions of PANSTEEL 120 t steelmaking converter. Through numerical simulation, the angle parameter of the oxygen lance nozzle is 16 °. The optimized oxygen lance 536-16 has a good performance in industrial application. This kind of phenomenon shows that the ways and processes of numerical simulation in this research are right.IntroductionThe oxygen lance system is the significant process in semi-steel making converter. It's related to whether the converter or even the whole system can function well. While in actual production, many problems emerge in the process of using the former oxygen lance, such as re-drying, slopping, high lance position, dead burning and even blowing out. In continuous fast-paced process, the unstableness of oxygen lance will lead to speed droop or even stop pouring. Analysis shows that all these problems are not only related to the raw materials but also the design of oxygen lance. Bad oxygen lance's scorification kinetics condition and low content of FeOn in early slag are the direct factors that we cannot easily control in steelmaking at present [l]. Therefore, the good scorification kinetics condition which is related to nozzle has good influence on BOF steel making."

Jan 1, 2013

By Tao Li

The development of DP(Dual Phase) steels and TRIP(Transformation Induced Plasticity) steels has received much attention in recent years due to their high strength and simultaneous good ductility, which provides the potential for weight reduce and resource savings on certain components in automobile or other industries. So a controlled rolling process was simulated in the present study by thermomechanical simulator (Gleeble 1500) for producing DP steels on a kind of low carbon steel containing a small amount of Si and Cr. F+M dual phase microstructures have been obtained during continuous cooling processes of a wide cooling rate range from 10°C /s to 60°C /s. The grain size of the dual phase steel developed can be refined to less than 5 m through the mechanism of deformation induced ferrite (DIF) transformation. The ultrafine ferritic grains are equiaxed with high-angle boundary, and the martensite islands of an average size less than 5m disperse uniformly in the ferrite matrix. The ultrafine martensite islands not only inhibit the growth of ultrafine ferritic grains and improve the bonding of F/M interface, but also increase remarkably the strain hardening rate in the processing of the present Dual-Phase steel. As a result, the tensile strength of ultrafine grained Dual-Phase steel reaches higher than 1000 MPa. The result shows that an ultrafine grained Dual-Phase steel of low carbon and low alloy is promised to exhibit desired F+M microstructure by means of this new TMCP process.

Jan 1, 2006