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By Bin Du

In recent years, concurrent product design and process is gaining popularity and will become a norm of the industry of the future. Forging has been a critical manufacturing process for production of components with superior tensile strength, toughness and grain flow. This paper describes an expen system which is being developed for forging die design and forging process analysis in concurrent engineering environment. Rules and guidelines pertaining to forgeability are formulated and incorporated into the knowledge-base in building the system. The system is built using an object-oriented paradigm. The object-oriented approach and hierarchical rule structure paradigm are briefly discussed. Finite element analysis packages (ALPID-2D) were incorporated into the program to give the simulation result of the forging process. The system can automatically produce a competent design and recommend a set of processing parameters for a given product. The designer can modify the design according to the result of the simulation.

Jan 1, 1992

By Yunnen Chen

This work concerns the removal of zinc(II) and COD by means of sawdust obtained as a by-product from locally used wood. The zinc(II) and COD removal study has been carried out batchwise where the influence of physico-chemical key parameters such as tree species, pH value of solution, temperature and contacting time and dosage of adsorbent have been considered. The maximum percent removal was attained at pH 9 all for Zn(II) and COD after about 60 min. The adsorbent can be effectively desorption using 0.1 M HCl. The experimental results showed that ion exchange maybe the major adsorption mechanisms for binding the divalent metal ions to the sawdust. Sawdust was a potential adsorbent for the removal of Zn(II) from the effluent of electroplating industry.

Jan 1, 2009

By Frank R. Field, Randolph E. Kirchain, Elisa Alonso

"There are a number of environmental incentives for increasing recycling, including the reduction of waste, energy and resource use. Recycling can also be advantageous for manufacturing firms in both the short and long term. Secondary material can substitute for primary material, potentially dampening primary material price increases and reducing the pressure for greater primary extraction. This paper examines the potential for and dynamics of recycling for the case of platinum using a dynamic, behavioral simulation model of the primary and secondary markets. Since the secondary supply of platinum depends on a supply chain separate from primary extraction, recycling can diversify the risks of primary supply instabilities. Over time, recycling can cut primary consumption, reduce overall costs to firms, and possibly reduce the impact of price fluctuations upon firms.IntroductionThe benefits of recycling, from the perspective of the environment, are many, and the environmental benefits of increased recycling are considered a step towards increased sustainability [1, 2]. Life cycle assessments indicate that obtaining materials from secondary sources generally requires less energy and has fewer environmental impacts than extraction and refining of primary materials [3]. Analyses of materials flows show that, in addition to landfill volume reduction, recycling reduces primary material consumption, affecting long term materials scarcity [4, 5].The benefits of recycling are not limited to the environmental. Firms can benefit from the lower energy costs of recycling, especially that of metals whose primary extraction and refining are particularly energy-intensive (e.g., aluminum). The routine participation by firms in secondary materials markets (e.g., www.recycle.net) shows that this advantage has not gone unnoticed.Recycling can also benefit firms whose costs can be significantly affected by changes in material prices resulting from material shortages and material scarcity, with potentially permanent effects upon firms [6-8]. This paper focuses on the impact of recycling in the face of platinum scarcity for supply chain downstream firms."

Jan 1, 2008

Lime-enhanced carbothermic reduction may provide an alternative process for treating low grade chalcopyrite concentrates. To date, most research on lime-enhanced reduction has been on pure, synthetic sulfides. In this study, preliminary experiments were carried out on natural chalcopyrite using a thermal analysis system to assess the rate and extent of reaction at several temperatures and identify the major solid and gaseous reaction products. Calculations were performed to establish the thermodynamic limits of the reactions in the temperature range of interest in order to identify the potential conditions for processing chalcopyrite concentrate. The study found that finely ground chalcopyrite can be reduced carbothermically in the presence of lime at moderate temperatures and in a reasonable time to form metallic copper, with the sulphur reporting virtually entirely to calcium sulfide. At temperatures below about 750?770ºC calcium ferrite is the stable form of iron whereas at higher temperatures metallic iron is stable. Further work is required to demonstrate the reaction on a scale to obtain sufficient sample for evaluation of subsequent processing steps to remove the gangue material and iron products from the copper.

Jan 1, 2009

By Albaharna O. T., Argyropoulos S. A.

"This paper describes the development and the implementation of process control in a variety of instruments used in metallurgical laboratories. These instruments are used for different research projects in extractive metallurgy. Hardware and software aspects for this implementation are described and analyzed. Extractive metallurgy applications where process control was .used are presented. IntroductionMicroprocessors are invading almost every area of our lives and are turning up in unexpected applications. A great deal of new equipment which is coming into the market have built- in microprocessor systems. Nevertheless, the area of upgrading existing processes has been slow to develop. There are a variety of reasons for this, and many of these are economic. One of the principal reasons, however, is the general reluctance on the part of many organizations to commit a strong effort to put this new technology into their existing processes.Microprocessor systems developed ""in lab"" are capable of not only measuring thermophysical events which are taking place in metallurgical furnaces, but simultaneously controlling these furnaces. In this paper software and hardware aspects in the implementation of microprocessor control for resistance and for induction furnaces are presented. In addition to this, metallurgical results are given from experiments where this furnace control was applied."

Jan 1, 1989

By Sven Eck, Andreas Ludwig, Menghuai Wu

"Phase separation is a frequently occurring phenomenon during solidification accompanied by melt convection, sedimentation or, in the case of two unmixable liquids, a Marangoni driven motion. In order to describe these phase separation phenomena a two-phase volume-averaging model was employed for globular equiaxed solidification of binary alloys and decomposition and solidification of hypermonotectic alloys. The model considers nucleation and growth of equiaxed grains or second phase droplets, motion and sedimentation of grains or droplets, feeding flow and solute transport by diffusion and convection. It allows the prediction of macro segregations and the distributions of grain size or droplet size. Evaluations were made by comparing the numerical predictions with experimental results. For example it is shown that the numerically predicted grain size distribution in a plate casting (Al-4wt%Cu) agrees reasonably well with the experimental analyses.IntroductionModeling of metallurgical processes is a rapidly expanding field and the research activities in the last decades cover a wide range of areas including melt pre-treatment, solidification and subsequent manufacturing routes. Among those activities solidification stands in the central position, because the primary structure of the materials, and even many defects such as porosity, (macro or micro) segregation and inclusions form during solidification. Those primarily formed structures or defects once existing are difficult to be removed or modified by the subsequent material processing.Solidification is a multi-disciplinary field involving thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and solid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, and other disciplinesr1 -31• One of the most challenging problems in solidification modeling is the complex interactions between physical phenomena occurring on different length scales ranging from atomic rearrangement over single crystal-melt interactions to heat extraction, momentum and species transport at the system level. Modeling an industry process on atomic scale is umealistic, even on grain scale (e.g. phase field method) it would need another 40 years to be able to model the exact grain morphology in a casting space envelope of 10x10x10 cm3 [ 4]. Therefore, the realistic models for industry process are based on the solution of the macro transport equations (mass, momentum, enthalpy and species) on system scale. The microscopic phenomena such as thermodynamics, nucleation law, crystal growth kinetics and interactions at the liquid-solid interface are considered with simplified models, which are coupled with the macroscopic transport equations."

Jan 1, 2004

By C. J. Parradies

During injection into a die, semi-solid metal alloys exhibit a shear-rate, history-dependent flow response. Simulating the injection of a thixotropic material requires that empirically determined boundary conditions and viscosity are specified as a function of both temperature and shear rate history. Experiments were performed using an industrial die casting machine that was instrumented with sensors to measure the pressure and temperature during the injection of a semi-solid aluminum alloy through a tube. This benchmark experiment was used to develop a simulation of the die casting process that could then be applied to more complex die geometries. The results of the experiments were analyzed using the exact, steady state solution for a power law fluid and simulations accounting for slipping at the boundary between the semi-solid metal and the die. Results indicated that the no-slip condition cannot be used to simulate the velocity boundary condition, because the measured pressure is much lower than that predicted by the models. An estimated apparent slip coefficient was introduced to account for the reduced pressure. During some of the experiments, a sudden drop in the measured pressured, prior to decreasing the ram velocity, coincided with observations of segregation in the form of concentric rings visible on the polished surface of cross-sections cut from material remaining in the tube.

Jan 1, 1997

By Muammer Kaya

The purpose of this review is to raise awareness about e-waste problem in the World. Whether generated at our home or our office, e-waste is most rapidly growing waste problem in the world. Even though there are conventional disposal methods (such as landfill and incineration) for e-waste, these methods have both economic and environmental disadvantages; recycling is a new waste management option which diverts end-of-life (EOL) electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) from landfill and incineration [1, 2]. Successful diversion strategy must be based on economic sustainability, technical feasibility and social support [3]. Recycling infrastructure includes transportation, collection, recovery and resale establishments. The first part of this paper describes the e-waste facts, how big is the e-waste problem and existing recycling programmes and collecting methods in the USA and EU; second part, describes various methods available to recover valuable materials (glass, plastic and metals (Pb, Cu, Al, Steel, Ni, Au, Pd, Cu etc)) in e-waste for a safe and environmental friendly disposal

Jan 1, 2009

By Joner Oliveira Alves

The aim of this work was to study the use of steelmaking slag as raw material to the production of rock wool and glass wool. Firstly, the chemical composition of the slag was analyzed. These results were used to infer the amount of additives to assemble the charge for the experiments. A laboratory-scale electric furnace was used to melt the mixtures used as charge. The melt material were turned into a water filled recipient, this process was performed in order to impose a fast freezing that is a characteristic of mineral wool production. Finally, with the rest of the melt material it was performed the Herty Viscosity Test. Samples of the produced material were characterized by different analyses. The results found in this research may lead to a technological innovation, because they indicate that the use of steelmaking slag to produce rock wool and glass wool is possible.

Jan 1, 2009

By Z. Sun, H. A. Davies

"Current understanding of the mechanisms by which glassy and crystalline thin ribbons are formed in high speed continuous casting processes is considered. A computer model of the combined heat and momentum transfer during melt spinning has been developed. The influence of roll velocity and of heat transfer coefficient (between the melt and the roll) on the temperature and velocity distributions within the melt puddle is analysed and the thickness of the extracted ribbon computed. The relative importance of heat and momentum transfer under different conditions is assessed and differences between the casting of crystalline and amorphous strip highlighted.IntroductionHigh speed continuous casting of thin metallic ribbon and strip is currently of considerable interest both to metal processers and to those studying process mechanisms. The practical interest arises both from the potential economic benefits to be gained from a shorter and more energy-efficient production route and from the ability to obtain extended and uniform thin strip having a metastable microcrystalline or amorphous structure with enhanced or unique properties. The latter arise from the rapid solidification associated with the cooling of very thin sections of melt brought into intimate thermal contact with one or two rapidly moving heat sinks.The principal processes for casting thin strip include free jet, chill-block melt-spinning (GBMS) (1), melt drag (MD) (2), planar flow casting (PFG) (3) and twin-roll casting (TRG) (4). For the first three of these, all essentially variants of melt-spinning, melt flows through a nozzle onto the circumferential surface of a rapidly rotating roll, whereas for TRG the melt passes into the nip between two contra-rotating rolls. We shall be concerned in this paper with the single-roll melt spinning processes only. For these, a puddle is established where the melt contacts the roll surface and the length of this puddle l is a function of the process conditions, notably the circumferential velocity of the roll Us and the volumetric flow rate of the melt Q. The contact time between any point on the roll surface and this puddle, or residence time eR(= l /Us) determines the thickness of ribbon t extracted from the puddle. This thickness, in turn, partly governs the cooling rate T and the amount of undercooling in the melt and thus the microstructure of the solidified ribbon."

Jan 1, 1986

By Thais Cristina da Costa Caldas, Carlos Mauricio Fontes Vieira, Alline Sardinha Cordeiro Morais, Sergio Neves Monteiro

"This work has as its objective to evaluate the effect of the incorporation of a glass powder waste obtained from discarded and Hg-cleaned fluorescent lamp into clayey ceramics used to fabricate bricks and roofing tiles. Formulations were prepared with incorporation of the waste in amounts up to 10 wt.% into the clayey body. Rectangular specimens were prepared by uniaxial mold-press at 20 MPa to fire at 850 and 1050°C. The physical and mechanical properties evaluated were: linear shrinkage, water absorption and flexural rupture strength. The microstructure of the fired ceramics was evaluated by optical microscopy. The results showed that the waste incorporation significantly improved the evaluated properties mainly at 1050°C.IntroductionFluorescent lamps use mercury as a main component for its operation. This metal is potentially toxic and can contaminate soils, animals and water bodies. The problem is aggravated if considerations are made with respect to the amount of lamps that are commercialized and discharged in emergent countries like Brazil [ 1].By using appropriate recycling processes applied to discharging fluorescent lamps it is possible to reuse most constituents of these lamps into new productive processes. A study has shown that one million common fluorescent lamps can generate 900,000 tubes of clean glass [2]. Moreover, this Hg-cleaned gloss may be recycled in different products.In fact, to recovery and recycle all materials that constitute the lamp instead of discharging them. This action protects the soil avoiding the formation of environmental passives [3]. It is also relevant to mention that the glass from fluorescent lamps is 100% recyclable while its permanence in the environment would correspond to very long time pollution, since its decomposition time is undetermined [4]."

Jan 1, 2011

By Dachun Liu, Baoqiang Xu, Bin Yang, Yong Deng, Heng Xiong, Xiumin Chen

"In this paper, vacuum distillation technology has been employed to study the possibility and regularity of separating copper and enriching lead, silver and other valuable metals from copper- based multi component alloys. The result of experiment indicated the practicability of vacuum distillation dealing with copper base complex multi-component alloy to separating lead and silver, when the vacuum distillation temperature was 1637K, distillation time was 60min; residual gas pressure was 20-30Pa, the removal rate of silver was 95.86%, of lead was 99.63%; the evaporation rate of copper was 0.745%. The removal rate of arsenic, antimony and tin respectively were 83.09%, 48.12% and 24.54%. Vacuum distillation method is applicable for dealing with the copper-based multi component alloys, silver and lead can realize effective recovery.IntroductionCopper generally go with lead mineral, therefore, to remove copper from lead becomes an inevitable link in lead smelting. Dross from removed copper usually contains lead, arsenic, antimony, tin and noble metal silver. In abroad, soda ash-iron dust is adopted to process copper dross of this kind. The outcomes of this process are lead matte, wet lead, scoria smoke dust etc[1~5] The dominant components of all the outcomes are copper and lead. Moreover, in the process of tin smelting, copper contained by-products are produced, such as, crude tin alloy, tin lead electrolytic anode slime and so on. Copper content of all the products are ranging from few percentages to several tens percentage. Those products, no matter merge into main producing process, or separate treatment cost losses of valuable metal. For one hand, the containing of copper of outcomes from pyrogenic attack is less than 50%, for the other hand, a lot of valuable metal need to be processed, which increase the cost of retrieve."

Jan 1, 2013

By Y. Huang, P. B. Prangnell

"An Al-0.1Mg alloy was firstly deformed at room temperature by ECAE to a true strain of 10, where a steady state deformation was established and further processing had little effect on grain refinement. The ECAE samples, with an average grain size of ~0.55µm, were then compressed in a channel die at 77K- 473K to various reductions. Microstructures were characterized by electron backscatter imaging and EBSD in a FEGSEM. Grain refinement to the ECAE submicron structure occurred during deformation at cryogenic temperatures of 77 – 213K, whereas coarsening took place during deformation at elevated temperatures. A steady state deformation was observed at all temperatures where a constant grain structure was developed and maintained upon further straining due to dynamic recovery. The mechanisms of dynamic recovery during steady state deformation at cryogenic temperatures are discussed.IntroductionSevere deformation processing (SDP) has been successfully used to produce submicron grain structures, and in some cases nano-scale crystallite sizes, in a wide range of alloys. However, the rate of grain refinement becomes increasingly inefficient at high strains as a steady state grain structure is approached [1-3]. Steady-state grain sizes have also been reported in other ultra-high strain deformation processes, like cryogenic ball-milling [4]. There is thus a minimum grain size achievable in a material by a given SPD process under constant deformation conditions.It is well documented that a steady state subgrain size is observed in warm deformation of metals due to dynamic recovery (e.g. [5]). In severely deformed alloys a constant grain size at ultra-high strains has similarly been attributed to dynamic recovery [1-3]. Mechanisms have been proposed, for rapid deformation induced grain growth including stress driven boundary migration and breakaway from solute pinning [2]. However, as pointed out by Humphreys et al. [2] the restoration processes are currently poorly understood, particularly at low temperatures, where the boundary migration rates required to maintain a constant grain size are orders of magnitude higher than can be satisfactory explained from diffusion controlled migration. Similar to the subgrain size, the steady state grain size obtained during SDP is generally related to the temperature compensated strain rate [2, 6]. Thermally activated restoration processes are thus expected to be suppressed by lowering the deformation temperature and a smaller steady state grain size can be achieved."

Jan 1, 2012

By Rajesh S. Ransing

An intelligent tool has been developed to analyse the quality of diecast components. The influence of both design and process parameters has been studied in great detail. The tool, based on expert systems related technologies, can identify the causes for the defective castings manufactured. Design related causes such as gate position; gate area, runner design etc. as well as process related causes such as cycle time, cavity filling time and melt temperature are suggested by analysing the data on defective castings for a manufacturing campaign. This intelligent analysis is useful for both design as well as production engineers in the decision making process. All the causes for the occurrence of defects are classified into two categories. The firs category is the 'rootcauses' i.e. the causes which are related to the actual process, material and design parameters and which can be directly monitored. The second category is more abstract in nature and is classified as `metacauses'. These capture the scientific rationale implicit in the cause and defect relationships. This knowledge on causes and defects is represented in the form of a structured graph rather than by a set of rules, which, coupled with forward reasoning and heuristic search techniques results in an elegant and efficient approach. Uncertainties and the degree of relationship among causes and defects are represented by a fuzzy probabilistic model.

Jan 1, 1994

By Wang Shulan

The synthesis process of BaTiO3 from TiO2 and BaCO3 in the molten NaOH-KOH at 350oC was studied by the A.C impedance technique. The A.C. impedance of molten NaOH-KOH (xNaOH = 0.36) and the variation of the conductivity of the salt with time during the synthesized process were measured. The synthesized reaction of the BaTiO3 and the decomposition reaction of BaCO3 are fast and were finished in 10min. The interaction between TiO2, BaO and BaTiO3 and the molten salt was confirmed by the variation of the conductivity.

Jan 1, 2005

By J. Daniel Bryant

Deformation processing of rapidly solidified powder alloys presents a technical challenge different in several ways from the processing of ingot based alloys. The metastable phases formed during planar flow casting of aluminum alloy 8009 (FVS0812) must be safe-guarded from high temperature excursions during processing to avoid decomposition; this restriction prohibits liquid phase sintering of particles during consolidation. The development of strong particle-particle adhesion, therefore, relies on the imposition of very large strains during forming operations to insure sufficient mechanical meshing of the aluminum particles and break-up of prior particle oxide boundaries. These strains are generally much greater than those required for metallurgical transformations in ingot based alloys. In an attempt to quantify the deformation required to improve interparticle bonding, the finite element method (FEM) was employed. Preliminary results which predict the metal flow and strain distribution in several workpiece configurations are discussed. These predictions are then correlated to measurements made on experimental subscale forgings. Lastly, experimentally measured quantities which reflect the degree of interparticle bondingg are related back to FEM model predictions.

Jan 1, 1992

By Bo Björkman

A controlled dust generation whereby the dust generated would be enriched with specific metals would considerably facilitate the possibilities of recovering metals from such dusts. A basic understanding of the dust forming mechanisms is of fundamental importance to achieve a controlled dust generation. The present study deals with dust formation in a copper converting process. Dust samples collected from various places in the gas cleaning system were characterised for chemical and mineralogical composition using chemical analysis as well as microprobe analysis. Thermodynamic calculations were used to predict the formation of chemically formed dust at various temperatures and amounts of leakage air to the gas system. The results show that a separation of mechanically formed dust. e.g . Si0:2. Cu and chemically formed dust. e.g .? Ph, Zn, As, Bi. could, to some extent, be obtained due to their different particle sizes. A selective condensation of Pb, Zn and As at various temperatures could. according to thermodynamic calculations, he possible at high temperature. A selective condensation of metals requires an airtight gas cleaning system or a gas cleaning system with a limited amount of leakage air in order to maintain the desired temperature level.

Jan 1, 1996

By Jianhang Hu, Li Yang, Yonggang Wei, Kongzhai Li

"In this paper, the pyrolysis of biomasses including bamboo, sawdust and walnut shell were performed in a tube furnace under temperatures between 400? and 600? to obtain biomass carbon, gas, and tar. Textural parameters analysis revealed the caloric value of biomass carbons between 32 MJ/kg and 34 MJ/kg. It also indicated that the surface of biomass carbon consists of mesopore and macropore structures. By using GC analysis, it was determined the main ingredients of pyrolysis gas are CO, H2, CO2, CH4, C2H4 and C2H6. Calculation states that the density of pyrolysis gas is roughly between 1.0 kg/m3 and 1.7 kg/m3, while the calorific value of pyrolysis gas is between 12000 kJ/m3 and 16500 kJ/m3, illustrating that pyrolysis gas is a median gas. The calorific value of biomass tar was found to be between 32 MJ/kg and 34 MJ/kg, with more than 80 compounds in the biomass tar identified by GC-MS method.IntroductionBiomass as a renewable source is the world's largest and most sustainable energy resource [1].The conversion of biomass has the potential to be a renewable and carbon neutral method of producing fuels and chemicals [2-4]. Pyrolysis is a thermo-chemical process defined as applying heat to degrade biomass in an inert atmosphere. It transforms unstable biomass and other organic materials into biomass carbon, gas, and tar [5]. Biomass carbon can be stored or transported much easier as compared to parent biomass or be converted to value added products such as activated carbons[6]; gas is a relatively low-energy-density fuel; tar can be considered as a source of useful chemicals[7].The characterization of biomass pyrolysis will lead to its increased understanding and utilization as a source of solid, liquid and gaseous products which can be used as fuels and petrochemical feedstock[8,9].In recent years, many researchers studied the effect of temperature on biomass pyrolysis product distribution characteristics in a variety of pyrolysis reactor[10]. Ramin Azargohar's paper [11] presents the results of characterization for biomass and investigates the effects of pyrolysis temperature on the pyrolysis products obtained by fast pyrolysis of four different types of biomass."

Jan 1, 2014

By G. Upadhya

Of late, solidification modeling has progressed considerably to emerge as a viable simulation tool for the foundry engineer. A wide variety of tools exist in the commercial market to cater to the various needs of the design/ foundry engineer. In fact, recent developments in the area of solidification modeling have been so rapid that a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art is very much needed. In this paper, an attempt is made to summarize the various issues of solidification modeling, at the same time addressing the historical evolution of the subject. The various phenomenological issues covered in this paper include: heat transfer, fluid flow during mold-filling, solidification kinetics and microstructural evolution, quick-analysis schemes for approximations, porosity prediction models, and the phenomena of fluid flow in the mushy zone. Modeling issues related to the development of solidification stresses which lead to defects such as hot tears and the development of artificial intelligence concepts in the area of rigging design are also discussed. Due emphasis is given to the various phenomena which add to the complexity of the whole subject, and the various alternatives available for solving a particular problem. For example, the heat transfer problem can be approached by the use of simple modulus schemes or by solving the conduction equation to obtain a more accurate temperature distribution. Similarly the microstructural evolution can be handled in a deterministic way by use of nucleation and growth models, or in a probabilistic way by use of empirical models. The main goal of this paper is to put the multi-faceted problem of solidification modeling in proper perspective so that it can serve as a guide for future developments in this area.

Jan 1, 1994

By Yasuo Ojima

The mainstream of copper smelting processes in the world today is a combination of Outokumpu type Flash smelting and PS (Pierse Smith) converting process. Presently it can be estimated that about 50% of the worldwide copper production is produced by the Flash smelting process and 80% by the PS converting process. PS converting process due to its operational flexibility and despite its batch character of operation has been widely used in many smelters for more than 100 years. However, an environmental issue has been pointed out related to this process because of the difficulty of handling the fugitive gases. Recently several copper smelters in the world have been newly construeted and others have executed major modification and modernization. The continuous converting process has been applied in many of them instead of PS converting process. This paper compares PS to the emerging continuous converting process and makes a prospect of the future of the copper converting process.

Jan 1, 2003