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By D. G. Mason

During the design of copper refinery tankhouses, there is a need to develop mass balance calculations for many process components, so that optimum physical plant configuration is achieved. Each mass balance is complex, possibly with over 120 interactive variables as basic input data. Recent developments in tankhouse design (e.g. permanent cathodes) have greatly increased the design options available for any project, multiplying even further the requirement for calculations. In the past these calculations were tedious and susceptible to human error. A comprehensive computer program can now simplify the task of the process metallurgist, enabling more sophisticated and sensitive plant designs to be produced. The paper describes the successful development of a flexible mass balance program that originallly was used in a feasibility study which had to be completed within a short time schedule. The program has been further developed and used for design and energy calculations; it can be usefully applied to existing plants to assess the impact of variations in operating parameters. The software takes account of staged liberation, electrolyte purification bleed and generates a reliable process inventory listing: it can also cope with stripper starting sheet options and disparate commercial circuits.

Jan 1, 1987

By M. Moinpour, E. Liao, C. Y. Aw, D. J. Brown, P. W. Cheung

"Currently, silicon-based insulated-gate field-effect devices are being widely developed as the basic structural elements in a new generation of chemical microsensors. In this paper, we discuss some of the process considerations related to the fabrication of the Chemically Sensitive Field-Effect Transistor (CHEMFET). This ion-sensitive CHEMFET (or ISFET as it is often called) can be used for pH measurements (i.e., as a pH sensor) when the gate insulator of the electrolyte/insulator interface is made of Si3N4 obtained by the LPCVD method. Effects of processing parameters such as the Si3N4 deposition rate, gas composition, total flow rate, annealing treatment, etc. on Si/Si02, Si/Si3N4 and Si/Si02/Si3N4 structures are discussed in relation to the CHEMFET fabrication. Their effects on the electrical characteristics and chemical response of the sensor are also examined. Capacitance-Voltage (C-V) measurements and ESCA analysis have been used to interpret the results. The Si3N4/Si02 double dialectric layer provides improved ion blocking for the gate insulator in electrolyte solutions with enhanced pH sensitivity over time. The stability and performance of the fabricated CHEMFET sensors were tested by measuring the pH sensitivity in various storage conditions. The SEM analysis was used to evaluate the hydration effect at the ISFET's gate insulator with respect to different storage conditions.IntroductionThere has been a continuous interest in the development and fabrication of various chemical microsensors for chemical and biomedical applications over the last fifteen years. The application of semiconductor (particularly silicon) technology to the area of sensor fabrication has led to an emergence of a new generation of miniaturized, microelectronic, solid-state chemical sensors. There are numerous clinical situations where continuous monitoring of body electrolytes concentrations such as Na+, K+, Ca+2 , etc. and blood gases (pH, Po2 , and PC02) would be essential for the effective diagnosis and management of patients under critical conditions. Solid- state microsensors can be used for direct and continuous in vivo measurement of the above parameters in most instances."

Jan 1, 1988

By D. Lui, B. G. Thomas, B. Ho

"Results from mathematical models and plant experiments are combined to quantify the effect of transverse depressions and oscillation marks on heat transfer in the continuous casting mold. A heat transfer model has been developed to calculate transient heat conduction within the solidifying steel, coupled with the steady-state heat conduction with the continuous casting mold wall. The model features a detailed treatment of the interfacial gap between the shell and mold, including mass and momentum balances on the solid and liquid powder layers. The model predicts the solidified shell thickness down the mold, temperature in the mold and shell, thickness of the resolidified and liquid powder layers, heat flux distribution down the mold, mold water temperature rise, ideal taper of the mold walls, and other related phenomena. The important effect of non-uniform distribution of superheat is incorporated using the results from previous 3-D turbulent fluid flow calculations within the liquid cavity. Results from plant experiments confirm that transverse surface depressions and oscillation marks form at the meniscus and move down the mold. Measurements of mold thermocouple temperatures and breakout shell thickness were used to calibrate the models. The results indicate that the surface depressions and oscillation marks are filled with mold flux, but still have a significant effect on decreasing heat transfer. The predicted mold temperature fluctuations are consistent with measurements. If the depressions become filled with air, their effect is greatly increased. These results should be useful in the difficult task of interpreting transient mold thermocouple signals for on-line quality monitoring.IntroductionMany different types of intermittent surface defects on steel slabs arise during initial solidification in the mold of the. continuous casting machine. These defects include deep oscillation marks, surface depressions, and cracks. They may lead to quality problems, such as slivers, in the final rolled product. In severe cases, breakouts may occur, where liquid steel bursts through a thin section of the shell and drains over the casting machine below the mold."

Jan 1, 1997

By T. T. Nguyen, D. R. Gunasegaram, D. Celentano

"Heat transfer rates at the casting-mold interface are believed to be substantially reduced by the formation of an interfacial gap during the course of solidification of aluminum alloys in permanent molds. In the current work, the effect of force-cooling a permanent composite mold on (i) the initiation and growth characteristics of the gap and (ii) interfacial heat transfer rates are studied. Interesting comparisons are made with the case where no cooling is employed. Casting and mold displacements are measured using L VDTs, and the mold is force-cooled by air jets.IntroductionIn a gravity casting situation where an aluminum alloy solidifies in a permanent mold, a gap initiates and grows between the shrinking casting and the expanding mold (1). It is widely believed that the formation of this gap, customarily referred to as an 'air gap', results in a substantial reduction in the heat transfer coefficient at the casting-mold interface (2), and hence is an important factor in solidification studies.The nature of the air gap formation process is thermo-mechanical. The rate of heat loss from the casting first determines the rate of solidification, which, in turn, decides when the gap initiates. The reason for this is the requirement for the solidified casting surface 'skin' to gain sufficient thickness, and hence strength, to be self-supporting. Once the gap initiates, the gap width controls the rate of heat loss from the casting, which, again, determines the rate at which the gap expands."

Jan 1, 1997

By W. E. Wallace, J. A. Warren, D. Josell, D. Wheeler

"We present the results of experiments and modeling of flip-chip geometry solder joint shapes under shear loading. Modeling, using Surface Evolver, included development of techniques that use an applied vector force (normal and shear loading) as input to determine a vector displacement of the pads connected by the solder joint (standoff height and misalignment). Previous solutions solved the converse problem: fixed displacements used to determine required applied force. Such solutions were inconvenient for applications, where the applied force (chip weight) is known. Also, for geometric and materials studies of solder joint shapes involving multiple parameters, determining the equilibrium displacement from applied force by bracketing solutions could become computationally expensive. Measurements of solder joint standoff height and misalignment as functions of the applied force (normal and shear), solder volume and pad diameter are presented. Experiments were carried out for solder ball diameters from 0.38 mm (0.029 mm3 volume) to 0.15 mm (0.0019 mm3 volume) on pads of diameter 0.64 mm and 0.35 mm. Fitting of simulation to experimental results gave optimized values for the contact angle and surface tension of the solder which were consistent with measured and literature values. IntroductionIn packaging technology flip-chip has become an important method for attaching semiconductor devices to substrates. Generally, the chip and substrate are bumped with solder and then the chip is flipped onto the substrate and the solder reflowed to form conductive interconnects. An epoxy underfill is normally flowed between the substrate and chip to reduce the thermal fatigue on the solder joints. A flip-chip assembly is illustrated in Figure 1.In flip-chip applications, the use of an integrated underfill/solder bump system [1, 2) removes an extra process step, namely infiltration of the underfill. However, the presence of an underfill will retard the self-alignment of the flip-chip. A first step in understanding and predicting this retardation is to develop a model to describe normal and lateral force-displacements curves when underfill material is not present. At this stage it is unclear whether static surface tension theory is sufficient to describe a complete model for flip-chip realignment even without underfill."

Jan 1, 2001

By T. T. Chen

Kidd Creek continuously-cast copper anodes are characterized by high levels of Se, Pb and Ag; the anode slimes constituents and their morphologies are controlled by both the anode composition and the casting process. Hollow Cu2Se spheroids and tube-like structures, enveloping Cu-Pb-As oxide and/or Cu2O, are present in the as-cast copper. During electrolysis, the selenides are liberated from the copper and accumulate in the slimes layer; the Cu2O and Cu-Pb-As oxide react rapidly with the electrolyte to form soluble species and PbSO4. Silver, which is present mostly as a solid solution in the anode copper, is also liberated during electrolysis and reacts with the Cu2Se to form (Cu,Ag)2Se. The ultimate composition of the selenides in the slimes layer depends mostly on the Ag and Se contents, but various other elements, including Au and Te, are also structurally incorporated. Although the selenides are the major Ag carrier, metallic silver also is present. A thin layer of Cu2O crystals sometimes forms at the copper surface, and may affect anode passivation. Copper sulphate is a common constituent and serves to agglomerate the slimes. Copper sulphate is present on both passivated and non-passivated anodes, but that observed on the passivated metal is present as a thick compact layer. Copper powder is associated with CuSO4.5H2O only on passivated surfaces.

Jan 1, 1987

By Mahesh C. Meyer Jha

AMAX has developed a chloride refining process to produce pure nickel and cobalt metals from mixed sulfide .precipitates, Metal chloride solutions, generated in a hydrochloric acid leaching step and purified in a solvent extraction circuit, are converted to metal oxides .and HCI gas by pyrohydrolysis. A pilot plant consisting of a 30-inch diameter fluidized bed reactor and other ancillary units was designed, constructed, and operated for over one year. Process design was aimed at minimizing energy consumption, maximizing conversion efficiency, and achieving simplicity of operation and control. The operation provided valuable information on process scale up parameters, process control strategies, and materials of construction., Several process variables such as bed temperature, solution composition, solution feeding system, bed particle size distribution, and fines recycle system were investigated to determine their effects on process efficiency and the physical and chemical characteristics of the product.

Jan 1, 1985

By Adrian C. Deneys, David G. C. Robertson

"Fluid flow phenomena on the surface of a molten slag have been documented using video photography in a laboratory scale D.C. arc furnace. The flow on the surface of the slag appeared to be electromagnetically influenced. This was confirmed by varying the position of the anode, which changed the direction of flow on the surface of the slag. Temperature measurements in the bath also confirmed the change in the directional nature of the fluid flow induced by the arc.During some periods, solids were fed into the arc attachment zone (AAZ) down the center of the hollow graphite electrode. Significant movement of the arc around the basal annular surface of the hollow electrode takes place. The point of attachment of an arc on a hollow electrode was more variable than an arc attached to a solid graphite electrode. Video images showed that the solids were rapidly incorporated into the bulk of the slag. Temperature measurements confirmed the existence of a superheated slag layer at the slag-gas interface, which allowed the solids to be rapidly incorporated into the melt.This work has been conducted to study fluid flow, temperatures, and solid behavior during feeding, in the arc attachment zone of a D.C. arc furnace. The work also has relevance to optimizing furnace design for pyrometallurgical slag cleaning processes."

Jan 1, 1999

By J. W. Evans

Mathematical modeling has now become a standard technique in the development of new technology and the improvement of existing technology in the processing industries. Physical modeling has a longer history but a smaller following at present. The paper reviews some examples of the application of both types of modeling in non-ferrous metal extraction, particularly within the copper and aluminum industries. The objective is to show that well founded models can lead to results that have practical consequence in scaleup, design and operation.

Jan 1, 1993

By R. J. Mitchell

Results from investigations into impurity distributions over cathodes are presented with implications for various sampling methods, Selection of an optimum treatment procedure for the test sample is outlined. The impact of both these studies on the development of an in-house method for sampling Isa Process cathode is discussed. The economic compromise actually undertaken, satifying wants and needs to sustain confidence in high grade cathode purity is detailed.

Jan 1, 1987

By Dietmar Eifler, Marcus Klein, Hendrik Kramer

Conventional methods to characterize the fatigue behavior of metallic materials are very time and cost consuming. That is why the new short-time procedure PHYBALCHT was developed at the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Kaiserslautern. This innovative method requires only a planar material surface to perform cyclic force-controlled hardness indentation tests. To characterize the cyclic elastic-plastic behavior of the test material the change of the force-indentation-depth-hysteresis is plotted versus the number of indentation cycles. In accordance to the plastic strain amplitude the indentation-depth width of the hysteresis loop is measured at half minimum force and is called plastic indentation-depth amplitude. Its change as a function of the number of cycles of indentation can be described by power-laws. One of these power-laws contains the hardening-exponentCHT eII, which correlates very well with the amount of cyclic hardening in conventional constant amplitude fatigue tests. To identify heat-treatment-parameters and SAE 52100 TRIP-alloys with high hardening rates as well as their damage tolerance the PHYBALCHT- and PHYBALLIT-method were used. One modified SAE 52100 TRIP-alloy was investigated in detail. The fatigue behavior and the cyclic hardening of the selected SAE 52100 TRIP-alloy was investigated and compared with conventional SAE 52100. Conventional stress-controlled fatigue tests were performed on a servo-hydraulic test system with a frequency of 5 Hz and a load ratio of R = -1. Different rates of cyclic hardening were identified. The size of the nonmetallic inclusions leading to crack initiation and the number of cycles to failure were used to evaluate differences in the damage tolerance capability.

Jan 1, 2015

By Chikabumi Yamauchi

The comprehensive scientific development of conventional industrial technologies stimulates the creation of new ones in the next generation. Prof. Akira Yazawa has just accomplished such an important work in the non-ferrous pyrometallurgical field. The results of his successful research are immortal. The research group of the author has conducted since 1985 fundamental studies on the application of sodium carbonate slag to copper fire refining. In the present paper, a calculation method for the distribution ratios of impurity elements between sodium carbonate slag and molten copper will be shown. The specific treatment by sodium carbonate slag will also be presented as an effective way for reducing each impurity content in the molten copper to 0.1 mass ppm, which is the level required for the production of high purity copper. The thinking-out of this evaluation method gets a hint from the Equation (2) in the text which was proposed by Prof. Akira Yazawa.

Jan 1, 2003

By K. Mansfield

Spent Pot Lining (SPL) is an unavoidable waste product of the electrolytic process in the smelting of aluminium. SPL is considered to be a hazardous waste in various countries because it contains significant quantities of absorbed fluorides along with traces of cyanide. In 1995, Portland Aluminium undertook the investment of AUD$26,400,000 to construct a Research and Development processing facility at Portland, Victoria, Australia, to treat SPL. Extensive research, development and design were carried out over 5 years prior to the investment decision. This study led Portland Aluminium to install an Ausmelt pyrometallurgical furnace to combust and melt the SPL producing a hydrogen fluoride (HF) laden gas, which was cooled and then converted to aluminium fluoride (AlF3). Both the cooling and AIF3 manufacture were processes developed by Portland Aluminium. Many commissioning, equipment reliability and process problems have been encountered that had not been experienced in the trials at Ausmelt or in the developmental process for the treatment of the furnace offgases to form AlF3. Designs based on anticipated process expectations have had to be re-engineered by the SPL team to ensure plant and operational success. In June 2001, the installation of the final major component - a slag granulation process - was completed. This has produced a vitrified (glassy) slag that is expected to have leachability qualities acceptable to the Victorian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to allow commercial end uses of the slag material to be developed. Today (September 2001), the smelter has successfully used the fluoride product, namely 65- 70% AIF3, in aluminium production and the SPL plant has significantly increased throughput with expectations to be at annual design rates of 12,000 tonne of SPL in early 2002. "The Alcoa Portland SPL Process" has been technically developed and is a proven process for the treatment and recovery of valuable components from SPL materials.

Jan 1, 2002

By Dong Hoon Han

The sulfation rates of magnesium oxide and calcium oxide (molar ratio 7:3) contained in calcined CMA ( calcium magnesium acetate) by SO2 were measured. The experiments were carried out in the temperature range 700 to 1100 °C and under the SO2 concentrations of 0.3 to I mol % (5 % 02). In the low-temperature range below 830 °C the reaction produced CaSO4.3MgSO4 and unreacted MgO, but no MgSO4 phase. The formation of CaSO4.3MgSO4 phase has a significant implication in that it allows the utilization of MgO for SO2 removal whereas the sulfation of MgO from conventional sources is so slow that it is of no practical interest. Thus, the calcined CMA can remove SO2 at lower temperatures than conventional SO2 absorbents and at a greater capacity. Above 950 °C only CaO reacts with SO2, but at a much greater rate than the calcined Ca(OH)2, which is one of the most reactive SO2 absorbents.

Jan 1, 1998

By Y. A. Chang, J. Woodford, C. R. Kao

Reactive diffusion studies between NbC and Si were carried out at 1300 °C under a vacuum of 10-5 torr and a uniaxial pressure of 1 MPa. The annealing time ranged from 8 to 100 hours. The Si used was single crystal silicon; the NbC was hot-pressed powder compact. A NbSi2+SiC two-phase reaction layer formed with NbSi2 as the matrix and SiC as discontinuous particles. The microstructure of the reaction product is homogeneous, dense, and fine. The NbSi2 grain size and SiC particle size are in the micron range. The growth of the reaction products follows parabolic kinetics. Extrapolation of the data to zero thickness suggests an apparent incubation time of 3.5 hours. However, for short annealing time «60 hours), the thickness data can be approximated by linear kinetics with an initial growth rate of about 2 11m/hr. Based on these experimental observations, a growth mechanism for the reactive diffusion between Si single crystal and NbC powder compact is proposed. We propose that the nucleation sites for the SiC particles are at the voids of the NbC powder compact. This proposed nucleation mechanism offers a potential way of controlling the SiC particle size by changing the void size and void density of the NbC powder compact. This hypothesis, if proven to be true, will allow us to control mechanical properties of the composites by tailoring the SiC particles formed. It is also pointed out that the microstructure requires Si to be the dominant diffusing species and to diffuse through the reaction layer, while Nb and Conly have to undergo local rearrangement.

Jan 1, 1996

By Atul Kurnar

In the present research a two-cell polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack (PEMFCS) with SS-316 bipolar plates has been tested. Different flow field designs were studied and a modified multi-parallel channel design is proposed. The stack is stable within ±3 mV even after 1000 hours of continuous operation, indicating efficient water management and effective removal of any metal ions from the stack. Also no iron is detected in membrane electrode assembly (MEA) by EDAX analysis after 1000 hours of cell operation. Results indicate that high operating pressures beyond 138 kPa didn't significantly increase the performance of cell, however added much to the pressurization cost of the system. Tests at different temperatures showed that at temperatures below 80°C, external humidification could be completely removed. The prototype stack is also tested under variable load conditions simulating highway-driving schedule. The experimental efficiency of PEMFCS is 48%, which is in good agreement with the model predicted efficiency of 53.8 %. Results show that 59% of the total losses are due to ohmic polarization in the cell. Further analysis on applications of the stack in automotive transportation system is in progress.

Jan 1, 2002

By E. Krystad, G. Tranell

"The kinetics of boron removal from liquid silicon during slag refining, as a process step in the production of solar grade silicon, has been investigated by means of small scale mass transfer experimental series at 1600°C, using a graphite crucible. The slags were SiO2-CaO based, with or without addition of approx. 19 wt% MgO. Experiments were carried out at slag-metal ratios of 1 or 2, where the silicon initially contained approx. 250 ppm boron. The metal-slag mass transfer coefficients for boron were found to be in the order of 1-3 · 10-6 m/s and were largely influenced by slag composition. The mass transfer rate was higher for the MgO-containing slag than the slags without MgO. The final equilibrium distribution of boron between metal and slag, LB, was determined to be in the order of 2.3-3.3.I. INTRODUCTIONRecent years have seen a race in industry and research aimed at obtaining a reliable metallurgical route for production of silicon for solar cells (SoG-Si) from metallurgical grade (MG) silicon. Metallurgical routes can successfully challenge the traditional chemical routes for production of SoG-Si if they generate metal of sufficient purity while being less expensive in terms of production cost and energy consumption. Efficient removal of boron is one of the greatest obstacles in the refining of silicon by a metallurgical route, because the segregation coefficient of boron in silicon makes directional solidification unfeasible; in addition, the vapour pressure of boron is not high enough for removal by vacuum refining. However, the thermodynamic properties of boron makes removal from silicon by oxidation possible, and thus the process of slag refining of silicon has been receiving increasing attention as a method for boron removal."

Jan 1, 2012

By Kimiaki Utsunomiya, Yasumasa Hattori, Yoshiaki Mori, Toyokazu Okubo

"The effect of various operating conditions on splashing behavior in a Peirce-Smith converter has been investigated with a 1/5.7 scale cold model. Dynamic similarity between the model and a commercial converter was attained by setting the modified Froude number in the model experiments in· the range for normal converter operation. It is known that for a given modified Froude number the dimensionless penetration length of gas into the liquid phase increases as the liquid density decreases. Moreover, penetration· length has a large effect on splashing behavior. Therefore, a heavy liquid, a mixture of water and lead concentrate was used as the liquid phase. It was concluded that the amount of splash dramatically decreases with a reduction in the buoyancy energy per, unit liquid mass and an increase in the horizontal distance between the tuyere tip and the edge of the mouth.IntroductionSubmerged gas injection is widely used in practice in ferrous and nonferrous pyrometallurgical operations to achieve large gas-liquid contact areas and good agitation of liquid for rapid chemical reaction. The common application in ·nonferrous industry is the Peirce-Smith converter with multi-tuyere for copper and nickel matte converting. This process has been used for over 100 years because of its effectiveness in mixing of the molten bath, as well as its merits of the engineering simplicity. However, the mechanisms which · determine the blowing performance is poorly understood, and the design and operating conditions of the Peirce-Smith converter varies widely from plant to plant, such as by diameter, length, mouth angle, tuyere position and level of molten matte. Smelters have continuously made an effort to increase converter productivity, implying maximum tuyere blowing rate. Above a certain critical blowing rate, splash of molten matte from the converter mouth becomes unacceptable because of dangerous ejection and accretion buildup around the converter mouth, which results in interference with effective hood sealing. In fact, a 1993 converter survey[!] reported that splash was a major limiting factor for blowing rate and 54% of responding plants from around the world regard it as a limiting condition[2]. In order to increase tuyere blowing rate a study of the effect of various operating conditions on splashing behavior is expected."

Jan 1, 2000

By H. Shang

The materials science and metallurgical engineering communities have expended enonnous resources in developing high fidelity process models. Exploiting these Models for Predictive Optimization (MPO) and Control (MPC) is a new frontier in Materials Process Engineering that will lead to exceptional process perfonnance. This paper will begin with a short survey of the development of high quality process models available in the literature and a discussion of how these could be used to improve process operation. A summary of the current "state-of-the-art" in process automation technologies and the traditional framework in which these technologies are deployed will be presented. An illustration of the use of MPO in process design and operations will be presented for the continuous casting of steel. In addition, a simple run-out table simulation will be used to demonstrate the power of the MPC technique.

Jan 1, 2003

By H. Y. Sohn, M. Pérez-Tello, P. J. Smith, K. M. Riihilahti

A three-dimensional computer model for the Kennecott-Outokumpu flash converting process for copper matte is presented. The model incorporates the transport of momentum, heat and mass, and reaction kinetics between the gas and particles in a particle-laden turbulent gas jet. The k-E model is used to describe gas-phase turbulence in an Eulerian framework. The particlephase is treated from a Lagrangian viewpoint which is coupled to the gas phase through the source terms in the Eulerian gas-phase governing equations. Matte particles were represented as Cu2S·yFeSx. Based on experimental observation, the oxidation products were assumed to be Cu2O, CuO, Fe3O4, and SO2. A reaction mechanism involving the external mass transfer of oxygen to the particle surface and diffusion of the oxygen through the oxide layers of CuzO/Fe304 and CuO/Fe3O4 is proposed. Predictions of the mathematical model were compared with the experimental data collected in a large laboratory furnace. A reasonable agreement between the model predictions and the measurements was obtained in terms of fractional conversion of the oxidation reactions and of sulfur remaining in the reacted particles. The simulation of an industrial flash converting furnace was also performed. Higher oxidation rates, more even distribution of particles, and thus a more efficient use of the reactor volume are predicted with a burner having a distributor cone, than with a single-entry burner.

Jan 1, 1999