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By R. Gordon Bloomquist

The economic benefits of the co-production of minerals from geothermal brines far exceeds the potential revenue stream from the sale of marketable by-products such as silica, zinc, manganese, lithium and a number of rare earths. Extraction of silica can avoid scaling problems often associated with many geothermal power projects and may allow for additional power production through the use of bottoming cycles or the use of the brine in direct use applications now impractical due to scaling problems. An additional benefit of silica removal is the opportunity to use the geothermal brine as a source of water for enhanced evaporative cooling ? a technique that can significantly improve the summer power output from binary power plants employing air cooling for condensing the working fluid.

Jan 1, 2006

By J. C. Agarwal

Rare earth metal alloys are becoming increasingly important, particularly those of neodymium, because of their magnetic properties. This paper will present a generalized approach to the production economics of the metallic rare earth alloys. With appropriate regard for the chemistry of different rare earths and the large impact of economies of scale, it is possible to make fairly accurate estimates of the production costs of other rare earth alloys as well.

Jan 1, 1989

By Matti Hämäläinen

Outokumpu has developed a new chloride leaching process, HydroCopper?, for copper concentrates. The process utilizes the cupric ion as oxidant, which is able to dissolve chalcopyrite. After solution purification monovalent copper is precipitated as cuprous oxide, Cu2O, using sodium hydroxide. Copper product is produced from Cu2O by reduction, melting and casting. An essential part of the new process is chlor-alkali electrolysis, which regenerates the reagents used. All impurity metals are removed before Cu2O precipitation, because otherwise they would report to the copper product, impairing its quality. A multistage solution purification scheme has been developed consisting of firstly, chemical precipitation of impurity metals by pH increase, secondly, cementation of silver and thirdly, removal of trace multivalent ions using ion exchange. This paper describes the characteristics of solution purification in the HydroCopper? process based on the laboratory tests and pilot runs made by Outokumpu Research Oy.

Jan 1, 2003

By Paul-Dominique Oudenne

This paper reviews the experience gained by CMI NESA over the last thirty years for the treatment of arsenical and antimonical bearing concentrates and other complex metallurgical by-products. The importance of preliminary mineralogical characterization is emphasized as a preliminary step for the success of the roasting. Stage selective roasting appears as an attractive and efficient route for the treatment of complex concentrates. Numerous examples will be given for confirmation of such thermal treatment.

Jan 1, 2006

By Huang Chao

The thermodynamics analysis on reducing-matting smelting of sulfide ore of lead, antimony and bismuth which use ferric oxide as sulfur fixed agent is first analyzed. Due to the analysis of reaction mechanism, ferric oxide is first reduced to ferrous oxide, then ferrous oxide produce reducing-matting reaction with sulfide ore and reducing agent as reaction equation: MeS+FeO+CO=Me+FeS+CO2. The reaction thermodynamic calculation shows that the reducing-matting reactions of lead sulfide, antimony sulfide, Jamesonite, and bismuth sulfide are feasible, but is infeasible for zinc sulfide. These conclusion provide a feasible method for solve the pollution which produced in the smelting of sulfide ore of lead, antimony and bismuth.

Jan 1, 2006

By Chang-hong Peng

Solubility phase equilibrium in the ternary system of Me2+-NH4+-SO42--H2O (Me2+ represented Mn2+, Zn2+ and Fe2+) was studied by the isothermal method at 298K and physicochemical properties of the saturated solution such as density, refractive index and pH were also investigated. The experimental results show that the solubility isothermal phase diagrams of these systems consist of three invariant branches, two invariant points and three crystallization fields. Corresponding to the three crystallization fields, there have three phases of solid, that is MeSO4?nH2O, (NH4)2SO4 and (NH4)2Me(SO4)2?6H2O, respectively. At the eutectic point, the concentration and the refractive indexes of the saturated solution change evidently. Otherwise, the pH value change slowly in all the systems. The calculated results of the density and refractive index agree with the experimental results.

Jan 1, 2006

By Chunlin Chen

Published data on thermodynamics of a number of minor elements (As, Sb, Bi, Pb, Zn, Se, Te, Cr, Sn) in liquid copper, matte and slag have been reviewed, assessed and used in development of thermodynamic solution models of melts. The behavior of antimony in alloys, mattes and slags is used as an example to illustrate the approach taken in assessment of published data and validation of the developed models with respect to the activity of Sb in condensed phases as well as the effects of matte grade, slag chemistry, temperature etc on the equilibrium distribution of Sb between melts and the gas phase. Results obtained from a comparison of different smelting processes with the modeled multi-phase equilibrium are presented and discussed. The predicted effects of slag chemistry and matte grade on the deportment of other minor elements during smelting of copper mattes will be presented and discussed.

Jan 1, 2006

A full-scale test of chalcocite heap bioleaching was undertaken at Straits? Nifty Copper Operation. Straits worked closely with the CSIRO to investigate the chemical and biological changes over the life cycle of this chalcocite heap bioleach system. Results indicated nearly 80% copper recovery was achieved in just over 300 days. Significant changes in iron chemistry and microbiological activity were detected. Temperatures in the heap reached as high as 70 ºC during the time of maximal copper recovery rate. The dominant cultivatable bacterial strains were typical mesophilic bacteria, however, naturally occurring moderately thermophilic bacteria were detected by culture and culture independent molecular (PCR followed by denaturing gradient electrophoresis [DGGE]) and signature lipid methods. Signatures for the iron and sulfur-oxidising species Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Sulfobacillus spp., as well as the moderately thermophilic heterotroph Alicyclobacillus sp. were detected. Biomass was greatest in ?warm? but not ?hot? parts of the heap, and Hyperthermophilic Archaea were not detected.

Jan 1, 2003

By Larry Southwick

In the early 1940's, the Caron ammonia ? ammonia carbonate leach process was used to produce nickel from Mayari ores at the Nicaro plant in Oriente Province, Cuba. While plant operation was generally successful, it was not broadly economical and was shut down. The plant was later restarted in the 1950's and a number of investigations initiated to resolve the more serious operational and performance issues. Processing steps studied included iron reduction (chemistry ? nickel and iron, reductant, equipment), ore variability (homogeneity and consistency of mineral concentrations, serpentine vs. laterite), leach solution strength, nickel recovery (temperature ? reduction and leaching, reoxidation) and a variety of other topics. These studies and their findings will be discussed. Caron himself obtained good results on these ores in the laboratory. They could not be duplicated in the field, the reasons for which will be reviewed. (Note: the ore looked like garden dirt; charcoal made from palm trees was one of the reductants attempted; and ammonia was the leach solution. Mixing the three, so to speak, was to yield nickel.)

Jan 1, 2006

By Jouko Kallionen

Advanced Flotation Technology is the application driven design of flotation cells to achieve the optimum performance for each type and grind of flotation. This can be applied to roughers, scavengers, cleaners and specialty cells such as those to float hydrocyclone underflows in both primary and regrind circuits in order to reduce overgrinding. Standard, engineered, components are matched to provide mechanism design and cell dimensions for each case according to feed parameters and flotation type. Advances in process control have been achieved with high level controls and operator information data. This has gained a higher degree of understanding of cell operation and ore type being processed. Excellent results of this Advanced Flotation Technology in large scale porphyric copper ore have been achieved and designs through 7000 cu ft (200 m3) are currently available for high capacity concentrators. This paper will detail how flotation cells are more responsive to the exact requirements of the duty specified.

Jan 1, 1999

By Peter G. Smith

Tri-calcium aluminate (TCA) is a dominant alkaline component of the red mud residue from the Bayer process. A method being considered for industrial implementation partially neutralizes the residue by contacting it with gaseous CO2. This paper outlines the chemistry of CO2neutralisation of TCA under conditions relevant to the treatment of Bayer residue. CO2 neutralisation of the liquor is fast. It results in the formation of amorphous aluminium hydroxide and dawsonite that agglomerate together. Neutralisation of solid TCA is slower and leads to the formation of calcite, dawsonite and amorphous aluminium hydroxide. The dissolution of TCA in partially neutralised slurries causes pH reversion. However the carbonated solutions contain a store of bicarbonate that can supply aqueous carbon dioxide to complete the transformation. The pH at which the carbonation is carried out will affect the degree of TCA transformation during the carbonation process. In particular, if the pH of the carbonation is too low (near 7.0), calcite precipitation is inhibited and the degree of transformation is low. Controlling the carbonation pH helps to optimise the neutralisation process.

Jan 1, 2003

By B. J. Beaudry

The preparation of alloys containing one to two percent of the volatile lanthanide metals Sm, Eu, Tm and Yb in the high melting point (HMP) rare earth metals Sc, Y and Lu was accomplished by a vapor deposition, diffusion method without crucible contamination. The method avoids the melting of the HMP metals which would introduce impurities from the crucible, generally Ta or W. Plates of the HMP metals were hung from the lid in the upper part of the Ta crucible. The volatile metals were placed on the bottom and the lid welded in place under an atmosphere of helium. By proper selection of thee alloying temperature, the effusion of the metal vapors, through the helium atmosphere was slow enough to permit diffusion to occur and prevent refluxing of the newly formed alloy. Very volatile metals such as Mg required a Knudsen cell with a suitably sized hole to prevent too rapid transfer of the low melting metal. Electron microprobe analysis of a cross-section of the HMP metals showed a homogeneous distribution of the volatile metals. The time and temperature required to obtain a homogeneous rare earth alloy without contamination are given. The use of a Knudsen cell to form magnesium-rare earth alloys is reviewed.

Jan 1, 1992

By C. H. Quan

Solvent extraction tests were carried out on a rare earth chloride solution derived from monazite processing to determine the effect of extractant and diluent on the distribution coefficients between organic and aqueous phases, and the separation factor between rare earths. The extractants were 20% by volume di-2-ethyl-hexyl phosphoric acid (DZEHPA) or 2-ethyl-hexyl phosphonic acid (Ionquest® 801). Four Shellsol diluents were tested ranging from nil to 100% aromatic content. D2EHPA gave the highest rare earth extraction for a given pH but was less selective than Ionquest. The geometric mean separation factor between adjacent rare earths varied from 2.41-2.56 for D2EHPA to 2.62-3.01 for Ionquest. The nil-aromatic diluents (Shellsol 2037 and 2358) gave better separation factors in Ionquest but, in D2EHPA, were slightly inferior to the 100% aromatic diluent Shellsol AB. Yttrium behaved as a pseudo-heavy rare earth with a distribution coefficient lying between Ho and Er, as expected from its ionic radius.

Jan 1, 1992

By Tateo Usui

In the course of carbonization of coal under a rising temperature condition, volatile matter (V.M.) is released. The kind and amount of V.M. released depend on the kind of coal. Components of V.M. are tar, hydrocarbons (CH4, C2H4, C2H6, C3H8), CO, CO2 and H2, which are released in this order as a function of carbonization temperature. When the carbonization of coal under a rising temperature condition is interrupted at a certain temperature, TC, max, semi-coal-char with residual V.M. is obtained. If some optimum interruption-temperature is chosen, small but most suitable amount of V.M., namely H2, is retained. When the semi-coal-char thus obtained is heated again under the same rising temperature conditions but up to more than TC, max (1), the residual V.M. is released from just around TC, max (1). We propose novel iron ore agglomerate bearing such semi-coal-char with some strength. While simple iron ore agglomerate bearing coal char will start the reduction reaction as solid-solid reaction at somewhat higher temperature, the proposed one will start the reduction reaction as gas-solid reaction at somewhat lower temperature but a little higher than TC, max. Samples of semi-coal-char and novel iron ore agglomerate bearing such semi-coal-char have been prepared and evaluated.

Jan 1, 2006

By Qixing Yang, Björn Haase, Fredrik Engström, Anita Wedholm

"MiMeR, the Minerals and Metals Recycling Research Centre at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, started industry-related research work to stabilize an EAF slag from Höganäs AB with of CaO/SiO2 values near to 3.2. The intention was to determine the suitability of the EAF slag as construction material after stabilization. Some of the stabilizers effective for preventing disintegration of AOD slag were examined in laboratory tests for stabilization of the EAF slag. The EAF slag samples were mixed together with stabilizers for melting at 1600ºC and then cooling in a crucible system. With a laboratory granulation system, the liquid EAF slag was cooled rapidly using air. Samples from the tests were characterized by different techniques, including XRD and SEM. Some of the results from the work may be useful for preventing slag disintegration and, thus, enhancing utilization of the EAF slag as construction material, thereby saving valuable natural resources.IntroductionAt steel plants of some MiMeR member companies, steel grades with low carbon contents were produced in Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF). EAF slag was tapped out of the furnace to slag pots for transport to slag yards, where the slag was poured on the ground. Very often, the EAF slag disintegrated during cooling on the ground. Fines from the slag disintegration were often difficult to handle and use as material for road construction [1, 2]. The EAF slag disintegration was rather similar to the disintegration occurring in the slag tapped from some AOD (Argon Oxygen Decarburization) converter heats.Literature studies show that formation of dicalcium silicate (C2S) is the main reason for the disintegration or dusting of AOD slag from production of stainless steel [1-4]. The C2S can form while the content ratio of CaO to SiO2 of the slag, CaO/SiO2, exceeds 1.4 [1]. Values of CaO/SiO2 for the AOD slag are often near to 2.0, making the C2S a predominant slag component. The ß phase of C2S, ß-C2S, transforms into its low temperature ? form in the temperature range of 400-500°C, inducing a volume expansion of nearly 12% [1-4]. The volume expansion disintegrates the AOD slag."

Jan 1, 2008

By Jiu-ju Cai, Wen-chao Liu, Fei Liu

"The material flow of urban eco-industrial system includes linear flow, recycling flow, branching flow, converging flow, etc., which consequently lead to the system complexity. Comparing the urban eco-industrial system to ecosystem, it can be concluded that this complexity is caused by the system adaptability. In the system, the interaction and adaptability between the agents themselves and between the agents and the environment stimulates the changes of material-flow mode, which lead to the evolvement from traditional industry to the eco-industry. Focusing on the evaluation of this evolvement process, two material-flow models are established in this paper, one of which is for the system itself and the other for the agents in system. The latter model is applied to analyze the interrelationships among mass, energy and pollutant flow in the iron and steel industry, and to make the direction clear to improve the resource and energy efficiency and decrease the environmental load.1 IntroductionIndustrial system is a subsystem of urban system, and they are interconnected and interrelated through material flow. The industrial development causes the urbanization. But the traditional industrial mode, characterized by high consumption, high pollution and low efficiency, also causes the “urban problems”, and leads to the reduction of resources carrying capacity and the increase of environmental load. Nowadays a lot of researches focus on how to realize the sustainable development of industries and cities. Thus comes the urban eco-industrial system guided by industrial ecology.Regarded as a Complex Adaptive System (CAS), the urban eco-industrial system evolves for quite a long time. According to Holland’s description on CAS, CAS consists of adaptive agents, which interact with the environment and other agents, learn and accumulate experiences, and accordingly change their own structures and motion modes. In this way, the evolution of the whole macro system is improved [1]. The evolution from traditional industrial system to urban eco-industrial system is mainly reflected in the variety of internal material flows which include not only linear flows but also recycling flows. Therefore, to construct models which clearly analyze industrial metabolism, is of great importance to evaluate industrial system evolution.The article is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the urban eco-industrial system. Section 3 presents the system-oriented metabolic analysis model and the agent-oriented one, analyze the interrelations of energy flow, material flow and pollutant flow in Chinese iron and steel industry through the latter model, and indicates the directions of improving the resource efficiency and energy efficiency, and decreasing the environmental load. Section 4 concludes."

Jan 1, 2008

By Thomas Niehoff

"Oxyfuel combustion systems are state of the art for many melting operations. Airfuel systems have been stepwise modified to oxygen enrichment, oxygen lancing and oxyfuel. Every change of the melting process will have consequences with regards to emissions and energy usage. The uniqueness of many operations requires unique skills to resolve potential issues. This paper will give some examples of how airfuel systems can successfully be converted to oxyfuel.IntroductionOxyfuel technology – meaning the combustion of fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil or coal with technical oxygen instead of air for industrial melting or heating processes is widely used in many industries these days. Even though oxygen production, storage and handling has been state of the art for decades other opinions exist. Often oxyfuel is regarded with fear and potential hazards like: “Oxygen makes the process too hot.”, “Oxygen will melt away the refractory.”, Liquid oxygen is dangerous.”, “Oxygen will cause explosions.”, ……etc.Typically a more detailed discussion about a specific industrial process and how oxygen can be applied in a safe and economic way the seeming issues go away."

Jan 1, 2010

By M. Hadj Meliani

This paper explores direct use of finite element analysis by CASTEM 2000 in order to determine the evolution of T-stress term for arc of pipe specimens with external surface crack. A simple method, called the stress difference method proposed by Yang (1999), is used to compute the elastic T-stress in mode I at a crack tip. The different crack geometries and length-to-thickness ratio on T-stress and stress-intensity factor (SIF) are examined. The revisited stress difference method is shown to be an accurate and robust scheme for evaluating T-stress in arc of pipe.

Jan 1, 2006

By Kliment Y. Hakobyan

A new technology for treating molybdenum sulfide concentrates has been developed. It includes roasting the concentrate in a special regime with water vapor, cooling and neutralizing exit gas, oxidation roasting of rhenium containing MoO2, and the extraction of rhenium from exit gases. This technology allows economically efficient and environmentally safe processing of molybdenum concentrates: The degree of molybdenum extraction is 98.8%, rhenium-90%, sulphur-98.4%. The technology also ensures high extents of extraction of selenium and tellurium as well as the fixation of sulfur in the form of sodium sulfide or elemental sulfur.

Jan 1, 2006

By John O. Marsden

The past fifteen years have seen a number of important developments in copper hydrometallurgy, including the commercial application of biological heap leaching of secondary (chalcocite-dominant) copper ores, the commercial demonstration of chalcopyrite concentrate leaching technology using pressure leaching and biological processes, and the application of novel configurations of solution extraction circuits. Significant emphasis is now being placed on the development of effective stockpile leaching practices for primary ores (chalcopyrite and bornite-dominant mineralization). Some of these developments have been highly successful, and will pave the way for further development and commercialization. Others have been less successful. These developments are reviewed in the context of the metal price cycle and trends for the future are identified.

Jan 1, 2006