Search Documents

By Wanderson Silva Rodrigues, Paulo Adão Marinho dos Santos, José Antonio Silva Souza, Luis Alves Venancio, Emanuel Negrão Macedo

"1 AbstractThe production of alumina from bauxite using the Bayer process generates 0.7 to 2.0 ton of the residue known as red mud per ton of alumina. This material has no large scale current use and is usually stored. This paper shows that it can be used in a suspension with water as a gas effluent cleaner with high efficiency to remove SO2. It can substitute other materials currently used reducing the overall environmental impact and potentially reducing the cost of gas treatment.2 IntroductionThe production of millions of tons per year of alumina around the world generates from 0.7 to 2.0 ton of the residue known as red mud per ton of alumina. The vast majority of the red mud is stored in large sealed lakes. Due to the high reactivity this material is considered dangerous and currently there is no operating process capable of reuse all the material produced at any refinery. These lakes after filled of solid material eventually have the surface revegetated. In any cases they will remain as an environmental passive and need monitoring for decades. The search of industrial processes that combine the cleaning of gas effluents emission and reuse of these residues can contribute to the reduction of the overall impact of the alumina production process.The main objective of this work is to study the efficiency of the red mud as alternative raw material for the control of emissions of SO2 in combustion gases. Usually this is made through alkaline solutions of CaCO3 or NaOH in absorbing equipments like spray towers or packed column. This project main objective is to study the reaction of the SO2 with a suspension of red mud and water in order to obtain the basic parameters to design equipment capable of process this reaction on a pilot scale. With that goal compositions of red mud on spray were processed with flow of gas containing SO2 with concentration similar to the exhaust gases of the combustion process of the refineries."

Jan 1, 2011

By Mohamed Y. Bakr, Aly M. Abdel-Rehim

The present work is related with mechanical activation of processing of Egyptian wolframite by simultaneous ball-milling and pressure alkaline leaching, to improve the recovery of tungsten from wolframite. The results show a total recovery of tungsten from wolframite (97.8- 98.7%) by simultaneous ball–milling and alkaline leaching at temperature 175-200oC. It is concluded that processing of wolframite by simultaneous ball- milling and leaching is mechanically activated and accelerated as a result of the grinding action of steel balls that caused the immediate rupture by continuous removing the product layer of the reaction ( sodium tungstate and iron and manganese hydroxides ) from reacting particle surfaces. This leads to the exposing of fresh and activated wolframite particle surfaces to alkaline leach solution and consequently the acceleration of the reaction of wolframite leaching .The results of the kinetic study 0f alkaline processing of wolframite and its mechanical activation show that the system is under kinetic control.

Jan 1, 2015

By M. R. Baren

Unpublished results obtained by Baren on thermodynamic properties of sulfur in liquid Fe. Co. Ni. Fe-Co. Fe-Ni. and Co-Ni are reevaluated. correlated. and interpreted on the basis of recent developments in thermodynamics of alloys:. Existing reliable data are reviewed and compared with the? present results. Sulfur obeys Henry's law up to 0.04 mol fraction. and in this range the standard Gibbs energy of solution of sulfur is expressed as a linear function of temperature for each pure metal. The activity coefficient of sulfur in each binary metal solvent 1s correlated with the composition of alloy.

Jan 1, 1983

By Chai Li-yuan

Anodizing behaviors of magnesium alloys AZ31 at constant applied current, based on the electrolyte solution free of chromate or fluoride, were investigated. The anodizing process was influenced by constituents of electrolyte greatly. Therein, the oxylate salts, which led to the occurrence of the two totally different processes, played a determinant role in anodizing. They were stable and sparking process respectively. The morphology of anodizing film was observed by SEM and the structure of film was analyzed by XRD. During the stable process, a brown thin film was formed, however the sparking process led to the formation of white hard thick film. The functions of some kinds of additives, such as ammonia, glyceryl alcohol and PVP etc were also studied. Some of them had great effect on surface morphology of anodic film and some of them affected stability of anodizing process significantly.

Jan 1, 2006

By H. H. Kellogg

The thermochemical properties of molten solutions in the binaries Cu-Bi, Cu-Sb and Bi-Sb, as well as the ternary Cu-Bi-Sb, have been correlated and described in mathematical form by use of the associated species concept combined with the three-suffix Margules equations to account for the non-idea 1 behavior of the solution species. Agreement of the correlations with experimental data is excellent (relative deviation of less than 2.5% in the values of the activity coefficients) in most cases. The correlations are applicable over the entire composition range of each system, and in the temperature range 700°-1250°C.

Jan 1, 1985

By Hannu Johto

Boliden Harjavalta has operated a flash smelter for nickel sulphide concentrates in Finland since late 1959. The original nickel flash smelting process was modified in 1995 to a novel nickel matte smelting (DON) with semi-low iron where the batchwise operated converting became obsolete. Since that, the process has been applied to multiple chemically variable nickel sulphide concentrates with high environmental performance. In this paper, the status of the current smelter operations is described together with the recent modernizations of the nickel flash smelting furnace and the slag cleaning furnaces.

By C. J. Boreiko

Traditional patterns of lead and zinc utilization are being evaluated in accordance with new paradigms that seek to ensure the long-term compatibility of global industrial activity with precepts of sustainable development and sustainable consumption. As a consequence, both industry sectors are experiencing intense scrutiny from the international community, and numerous regulatory options are being considered that may impact upon international industry practice. This paper reviews the growing expectations being placed upon industry, and highlights some of the common regulatory concerns being expressed regarding both metals despite their differing toxicological profiles.

Jan 1, 2000

By H. Bernier

The Noranda Inc., CCR Division, copper refinery located in Montreal-East, Québec, Canada, has expanded over the years to reach a capacity of 410,000 metric tons of cathode production per year. The expansion process resulted in nine, parallel, 200 m. long bays each equipped with its overhead cranes and manually operated washing machines. Anode scrap washing and piling was done manually. The mechanization of the tank house involved the elimination of 18 cells at one end of each of the bays in order to install transfer conveyors where anode scrap and cathode loads are deposited by the bay cranes. The cathode loads are brought by new transverse cranes to new machines where cathodes are washed, piled in predetermined bundle weights, check weighed, strapped then shipped in trucks or railroad cars. Suspension bars are automatically removed, stacked in magazines and sent back to the starting sheet machines. Anode scrap loads are brought to machines located near the anode furnaces where they are washed and piled in bundles for easy charging. The mechanization has eliminated numerous hazardous jobs and has realized a reduction of 0.2 man-hours/ton. After these modifications, the refinery production capacity now stands at 370,000 metric tons per year.

Jan 1, 1987

By F. G. Prado

The technology for the extraction of zinc from zinc residues, such as zinc ashes, drosses and metallurgical flue dusts, by way of ammonium chloride solutions is well established, at least at the laboratory and bench scale levels. (3, 4) Zinc is soluble in ammonium chloride solutions in the form of zinc diammine chloride. Its solubility depends upon the concentrations and temperatures employed. The procedure and the equipment required are simple, and they can be applied either to small or large operations. As a by-product, zinc diammine chloride is produced with extremely low impurities in quantities which are stoichiometrically proportional to the zinc removed. The technology has been applied experimentally to galvanized steel residues. The dezincing results, including removal performance, energy and reagents required, and by-products are summarily presented in this paper.

Jan 1, 1992

By T. R. A. Davey

Previous publications on the application of EIETSIM include the modelling of an electrolytic zinc plant and a copper flash smelter. In the present case METSIM has been used to model the desilverising of lead by the reagent zinc, whereby a silver-zinc intermetallic compound is formed, and floats out of the lead. This compound has a variable composition, depending upon the ratio of dissolved zinc/silver in the lead bath. Its solubility in lead decreases with falling temperature. A number of variations and modifications of the Davey Desilverising Procedure are modelled, and applied to a wide range of silver contents in lead bullions at several plants. METSIM uses both feed- back and feed-forward controls to simulate plant conditions, and a logic control to distinguish between different phases in the Zn-Ag system. Use is made of extensive (previously unpublished) fundamental data on the ternary Pb-Ag-Zn system, and of plant data, to establish certain operating parameters.

Jan 1, 1993

By Leonard J. Friedman

The recovery of sulfur dioxide from metallurgical gases for the production of sulfuric acid has been an effective means of reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from non-ferrous smelters. Sulfuric acid has been produced from gas originating from fluid bed roasters, electric furnaces, reverberatory furnaces, flash smelting furnaces, Pierce Smith and flash converters, sinter machines, etc. The gas from each of these sources has a unique set of variables that affect the design and operation of the sulfuric acid plant. In addition, the sulfuric acid plant itself has been evolving, with new equipment designs and materials. This paper will review each of the unit operations in the gas cleaning and contact sections of the metallurgical sulfuric acid plant, discussing various equipment designs, materials and the handling of gas stream variables and impurities. The paper updates to 2006 previous works on metallurgical sulfuric acid plants by the authors.

Jan 1, 2006

By F. Sanchez, A. Mejias, C. Frias, G. Diaz

"Crude zinc oxides are the major source of secondary zinc and are produced from fuming processes like Waelz kilns. The impurities of crude zinc oxides make difficult their processing in primary zinc refineries due to mainly high chloride tenor. Washing with sodium carbonate is a costly operation and chloride removal efficiency is not good enough, so further purification steps are required. The crude zinc oxides are easily treated using ZINCEX™ technology based on leaching, solvent extraction, and electrowinning. The ZINCEX™ process is commercially available and is designed to be a perfect barrier for metallic impurities and halogens, allowing selective zinc extraction in mixed chloride and sulfate leaching solutions. Other valuable components as lead and silver can be efficiently recovered from the leaching residue using PLINT technology in chloride media. Silver is recovered as silver cement and lead is precipitated as pure lead oxide or carbonate, which can be smelted at low temperature.IntroductionZinc is a fully recyclable metal and at present approximately 70% of the zinc produced worldwide comes from primary zinc while 30% originates from secondary materials. Nowadays, the zinc recycling rate is continuously increasing mainly through galvanized steel scrap processing, and crude zinc oxides are the major source of secondary zinc [1]. Secondary zinc oxides are obtained from fuming processes like W aelz Kiln, Rotary Hearth Furnace or Primus Furnace. Waelz is the dominant technology accounting for 80% of total crude zinc oxides production worldwide. In the Waelz process, steel dust is mixed with solid fuel reductant (coke breeze) and pelletized. It is then fed to the kiln and heated to a reaction temperature of l ,200°C. In such conditions, zinc, lead, and other non-ferrous metals are vaporized into the flue gas together with chlorides and alkaline metals. Mixed oxides are drawn from the kiln with the process gases and separated to produce typical crude zinc oxides [2]."

Jan 1, 2011

By Georgios Kolliopoulos

Water is a critical commodity of our generation and a key compound for the chemical and mining industries. Sustainable industrial development is directly associated with the ability to recover clean water from contaminated sources. Forward Osmosis (FO) is a low-energy footprint membrane process allowing the recovery of clean water from high salinity effluent streams. In FO, water is recovered spontaneously into a concentrated draw solution (CDS). Energy is required to separate the recovered water from the resulting dilute draw solution (DDS). In the current work, the fundamentals of the FO process and the most important aspects affecting its performance are discussed. An energy comparison of FO and conventional water recovery technologies is presented. Finally, the opportunities FO presents in the field of hydrometallurgy are analyzed.

By L. L. Sutter

Fly ash is a by-product produced from the combustion of most hels including municipal solid waste. Currently, most combustion residuals are disposed of in landfills at a continually increasing cost and with questionable impact on the environment. Due to the presence of heavy metal compounds, municipal waste combustor (MWC) fly ash has the potential to leach these metals (e.g., lead and cadmium) above regulatory limits. The heterogeneous nature of MWC fly ash makes detailed characterization difficult. This research focuses on the identification of lead compounds in MWC fly ash. Samples obtained from the Olmsted Waste-to-Energy Facility in Rochester, Minnesota were examined in this study. The fly ash was fractionated into six size ranges and prepared as geological thin sections for analysis. The worked discussed in this paper involves using an electron microprobe analyzer to determine phase composition in MWC fly ash. In addition, backscattered electron imaging, digital image processing, and mineral liberation analysis software were used to determine phase distributions and phase associations as a function of particle size. Several lead containing compounds in several forms are identified. The results of this study show that lead can be identified in small sectioned particles which would not be apparent using normal backscattered electron imaging.

Jan 1, 1994

By Jeffrey L. Zelms

Environmental issues and how they are addressed -- or not addressed -- by the lead industry in the 1990s will determine the eventual fate of lead mining in both the U.S. and worldwide. Clearly, governmental regulation throughout the West will become harsher. Equally clearly, the industry has? failed to educate the public regarding lead. Instead of public support for a critical mineral, we face widespread public ignorance and paranoia. If we can demonstrate the public interest benefits of the industry, the 1990s will be a decade of continuing growth -- not dynamic growth, certainly, but growth at least comparable to the world economy. If, however, we fail to demonstrate the industry's public interest benefits, the 1990s could mark the beginning of the end of our business.

Jan 1, 1990

By Afshin Sadri

Acousto Ultrasonic-Echo (AU-E) is a technique developed to provide accurate measurements of the refractory lining wear in operating smelters based on the principles of stress wave propagation. The objective of the system is to provide feedback for the continuous optimization of the overall smelter operation. In some cases, the AU-E refractory lining measurements have allowed clients to extend their smelter campaigns and operate safely for several years beyond their planned reline schedule. In other cases, AU-E results inform clients of serious issues within their furnace allowing them to shut down their smelters ahead of predicted failures and possible disasters. This paper presents the results of several smelter AU-E inspections of the hearth and sidewall. These case studies demonstrate how the AU-E results were used to positively affect the smelter operation.

By James R. Craig

Petroleum coke is becoming an increasingly important source of light hydrocarbon products as product crudes become heavier and of poorer quality. The use of petroleum coke to generate synthesis gas results in the formation of residual slags that are enriched in silica, alumina, sulfides, oxides, and free metals. The characterization of these slags and their con? stituent phases is an essential step in considering the ultimate use or disposal of such slags and in understanding how to alter the properties of the slags to optimize the efficiency of gasifiers. Depending upon temperatures and bulk compositions, quenched slags typically consist of silicate glasses, calcium silicates, iron-nickel oxide-sulfide masses, aluminate spinels and free metals. Whereas the glasses contain relatively uniformly dispersed metals and sulfur, the iron-nickel oxide-sulfide masses highly concentrate nickel and sulfur. The aluminate spinels very effectively concentrate vanadium and chromium, thus depleting glasses or other adjacent phases. The abundance as well as the make up of the slags strongly affects the physical behavior of the slags within the gasifiers

Jan 1, 1989

By L. Z. Villanueva

An investigation and evaluation has been performed to determine the potential utilization of electron beam irradiation technology for sulfur oxides removal from reduced-S02-strength metallurgical gases from copper smelters. These off-gases, though too weak to be converted to usable, concentrated: sulfuric acid by conventional means, are characterized by SO2 content higher than 2,000 ppm and a complex chemical composition, including high oxygen content and its generation occurring in a cyclical, fluctuating pattern. This work was based on information supplied by principal smelter companies in Chile. A laboratory facility with flow rate of 20 Nm3/h and equipped with an electron accelerator of beam energy 8.00 keV, has been used for testing. Influence on SO2 removal efficiency of operational parameters such as gas temperature, water vapor content, ammonia feed ratio and irradiation dose was established. The main conclusion of this work, from experimental laboratory tests as well as engineering studies, is that the Electron Beam Process (EBDS) is a cost-effective, simple and appropriate chemical process means for emission abatement. EBDS can, on a site-specific basis, adequately augment SO2 removal to upgrade overall abatement as required and in an optimal manner.

Jan 1, 1999

By D. K. Panda

The behavior of single drops with gas evolution at the interface is of interest because this is one of the important reactions that occur in oxygen steelmaking vessels, where a large amount of iron-carbon drops are dispersed in an oxidizing slag. The carbon dissolved in these drops, reacts with the slag to form CO, which is evolved as a gaseous phase. A room- temperature model was used to study the nature of this type of reaction including the effect of various factors such as viscosity and the presence of surface active impurities. Experiments were done for reacting drops over a wide size range to observe various regimes of behavior. Large single drops were levitated in a counter current flow to produce a sufficiently long residence time to allow the study of the various stages in the reaction. The emphasis of this work was to obtain photographic evidence of a high quality to describe all possible modes of behavior, and so a lot of effort was given to developing and perfecting experimental techniques.

Jan 1, 1994

By Grant E. Casley

Since 1970 Mount Isa fines Limited has made a significant increase in blister copper production from approximately 100,000 to 155,000 mt per annum and in fact 161,040 mt were produced in the calendar year 1974. Flowsheet developments including fluidised bed roasting and converter slag flotation are discussed, particularly their contributions to minimising major equipment changes in smelting and converting. The use of model- ling and simulation techniques for such an exercise is mentioned. The paper reports the alterations made to both equipment and operating techniques in the reverberatory furnace and converter sections to achieve the regular production of 250 mt of blister per converter day from a 41% Cu matte grade. The effects of flux composition on converting performance are highlighted. The air quality control programme is discussed in relation to its restriction of blister copper production.

Jan 1, 1976