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By Yuanbo Zhang, Ruijun Wang, Qian Li, Zhao Jing, Guanghui Li, Zhengwei Yu, Chen Liu

The high content of sodium and potassium in sinter is harmful for blast furnace ironmaking. Reductive sintering technology can remove more alkali metals than conventional sintering process. In order to improve the removal ratios of Na and K, reductive sintering with both CO-containing flue gas circulation and carbon-bearing pellet was conducted in this study. Experimental results show that all indexes except the VSV and P were improved in reductive sintering with CO circulation. Flue gas circulation technique combined with carbon-bearing pellets were beneficial to reductive sintering, because it could maintain good sintering indexes and enhance the removal of Na, K. The best removal ratios of Na, K and reduction degree of iron oxides were 20.37%, 63.73% and 23.76%. In reductive finished sinter, silicate mineral becomes the important binder phase, and main iron mineral phases are wustite (FexO) and magnetite (Fe3O4).

Jan 1, 2016

By Jianjun Wang, Jiaqing Peng, Lingen Luo, Zhenbang li, Yinghe Lin

Copper removal from ferronickel by FeS has been exploring studied. It is found that the decopperizing agent FeS makes the copper removal in ferronickel effectively. The effects of FeS addition amount, carbon content in ferronickel and experimental temperature were investigated. The results showed that the removal rate of copper in ferronickel increased with the amount of FeS increasing. When the dosage of FeS is 20% (mass percentage)，the removal rate of copper can reach higher than 11%. The rate of copper removal rises with the amount of carbon content increasing in ferronickel. When the amount of carbon content is 1.86%, the removal ratio of copper is 41.3%. Higher experimental temperature promotes the copper removal reaction in certain extent. The flux is acidity and weak oxidative can also promote the reaction of copper removal.

Jan 1, 2015

By S. Fitzel

The Betts process for electrorefining of lead has been in operation since 1902 in the Trail Operations Metallurgical complex. The Betts process allows production of high purity lead in a single electrochemical step. Process improvements and plant expansions have taken place over the many decades of operation of this process which has proven to be robust, flexible, and capable of successfully treating a large range of anode bullion compositions. This paper reviews the history of the Betts lead electrorefining process, the innovations and quick industrial adoption of new discoveries that took place at the end of the nineteenth century. The process was first implemented in Trail Operations and integrated very well with metallurgical needs then and now.

By D. M. Jones

Dust generation data have been obtained from 19 industrial Outokumpu flash furnaces. Statistical analyses of the data have been carried out and the most significant factors affecting dust generation evaluated. The results indicate that dust production may most effectively be minimized by: 1) Minimizing the distance between the molten slag and the furnace roof 2) Optimizing burner design and combustion parameters.

Jan 1, 1996

By Xuling Chen, Zhiyun Ji, Min Gan, Tao Jiang, Liang Yin, Xiaohui Fan

Straw char exhibited considerably faster burning speed than coke breeze for its porosity, which significantly degraded sinter quality when it replacing coke breeze as sintering fuel. In this investigation, preforming technology has been employed to densify raw straw. The properties of straw char preformed show that its density was increased, and the structure was also densified, which made the difference of combustibility between the straw char and coke breeze smaller. The proper preforming temperature, residence time and pressure were 200℃, 1min and 120MPa respectively. Sinter pot trials show that the product carbonized from preformed straw made the proper replacement ratio to coke breeze increase from 20% to 40%, and the emission reduction of SOx, NOx in flue gas increase from 11.50%, 14.15% to 37.85%, 23.60% respectively, compared with non-preformed straw char.

Jan 1, 2015

By R. L. Player

"The Copper Isasmelt process has been developed over the past 15 years by Mount Isa Mines Limited (MIM) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The first two commercial plants were commissioned in mid 1992.The results of four heat balances on the Mount Isa plant are presented. At a smelting rate of 98 t/hr of chalcopyrite concentrate plus 14 t/hr reverts, the total heat generated was -91MW. Approximately 39% of this energy came from coal, while 50% of the energy reported to the process waste gas. To a first approximation the furnace is near chemical equilibrium.The impurity distribution in the Mount Isa plant was presented. Approximately 91 % As, 85% Cd, 75% Bi, 68% Zn, 60% Sb and Tl, 45% Pb and 30% Te in concentrate was eliminated from the matte.The ""bubble"" frequency of the gas cavity below the foot of the lance was measured at -2. 1Hz. Side bands displaced by -l.lHz modulated the bubble frequency. This was consistent with radial gravity wave motion in the slag bath. The two processes, gas bubbling and wave motion appeared to be coupled together; the bubble frequency was twice the slop wave frequency. IntroductionCopper Isasmelt has been developed over the past 15 years by Mount Isa Mines Limited and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. The process is based on the Sirosmelt lance, invented by researchers at the then Division of Mineral"" and ProcessEngineering ofCSIRO in 1973.The first two commercial scale copper furnaces were commissioned at Mount Isa and the Cyprus Miami Mining Corporation smelter at Miami, Arizona in August and June 1992 respectively.The process concept, the history of the development, and the Mount Isa plant have been described (1, 2, 3).This paper sununarises heat balances obtained on the furnace, the impurity distribution among the output streams and lance injection characteristics."

Jan 1, 1996

By Pekka Hanniala

The Outokumpu Flash Smelting process today is the most feasible method for copper matte smelting. The economic feasibility of the process has always been one of the main decision making criteria in smelter projects. Thus, today about 50 % of the world primary copper production utilizes Outokumpu Flash Smelting Technology. However, in the future, environmental criteria will have stronger and stronger impact on decision making. Flash Smelting technology offers the best pollution control features of any process. today. It is foreseen that, in the near future, the global trend will be that all the smelters must decrease their emissions at an accelerating rate, compelling the smelters to make increasingly larger investments on environmental protection. In most of smelters ?today, Peirce-Smith converting and transfer of the molten material in ladles are the number one pollution source. The key today for copper converting and minimizing emissions is the Kennecott-Outokumpu Flash Converting process, which has proven to be the most effective converting method in terms of pollution control and, production efficiency including capital and operational costs. Outokumpu Flash Smelting technology is applicable also for small to medium scale smelters but the most interesting area is the upper capacity limit for smelting in one line, which has not yet been reached. We predict that by the year 2000 to 2005, there will be at least one smelter which produces 500,000 tonnes of Cu per year based on one Flash Smelting and Flash. Converting unit. The current state-of-the-art of the Outokumpu Flash Smelting - Flash Converting process is presented in this paper as well as some new options for copper production to be utilized in the near future but which are available already today.

Jan 1, 1998

By Joni M. Barnes

A strain of Pseudomonas stutzeri isohted from selenium contaminated surface waters, was found to be effective . in reducing selenate (Se04 2) stoichiometrically to selenite (Se03 2 '), which was further reduced to elementaJ selenium (Se0 ). These reactions were concurrent with the microbial oxidation of lactate. In order to assess quantitatively the amounts of seilenate and selenitein solution, improvements to existing analytical methods (ion exchange chromatography and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrophotometry technique) .were made.

Jan 1, 1991

By Charles W. Kenney

Mercury contamination of soil at an old chemical plant surrounded by a residential community and adjacent to a river has provided unique challenges for the current owner. Inorganic and organic mercury compounds had accumulated over the past 50 years to levels that require remediation. Hazen Research, Inc. conducted a multi-phased program to characterize contaminants and their occurrences, evaluate various treatment technologies, and demonstrate the selected technology at bench and pilot scales. A combined physical cleaning and chemical treatment was demonstrated to meet treatment goals for the site. This paper discusses the methods of process selection and results of the bench-and pilot-scale testing.

Jan 1, 2003

By Makoto Ohlsuka

The ternary Ni2MnGa intermetallic compound is an intelligent material which has both a ferromagnetic property and a shape memory effect (SME). The use of the shape memory alloy films for an actuator of micro-machines is very attractive because of its large recovery force. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of fabrication conditions and to clarify the relationships between these properties and fabrication conditions of the Ni-Mn-Ga films. The Ni-Mn-Ga films with a thickness of nearly 5 um were deposited with a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering apparatus using a Ni50Mn25Ga25 or Ni52Mn24Ga24 target. They were heat-treated at various temperatures between 873 and 1273 K for homogenization and ordering and then cooled in a furnace. The composition of the films depended on the sputtering power. The as-deposited films were crystalline and had columnar grains. After the heat treatment the grains widened and the grain boundary became indistinct with the increasing heat treatment temperature. The martensitic transformation temperature of the heat-treated films increased with increasing nickel content. Furthermore the effect of plastic deformation and constraint aging on SME is also investigated. After plastic deformation, the two-way SME was shown through the martensitie transformation and its reversion, The intensity of X-ray diffraction peaks from stress-induced martensitie phase was found. The constraint-aged films also showed the two-way 3ME by thermal cycling.

Jan 1, 2003

By Youn-Bae Kang

Evaporation mechanism of S from liquid Fe–C–S alloys at 1873 K was proposed by analyzing available experimental data. It has been known that increasing C content in liquid alloy increases activity coefficient of S ðfSÞ, and it could raise driving force for the evaporation reaction S = S(g). However, experimental data of the evaporation of S in the Fe–C–S alloys could not be accounted for only by considering the increases of fS. In the present study, formation of carbosulfides, CS(g) and CS2(g), was additionally taken into account in order to explain role of C for the accelerated S evaporation. Surface adsorption of S was also taken into account, which retards the evaporation rate of S. An evaporation model equation was formulated. It can be applied to calculate the evaporation rate of S over wider C content (from zero to its saturation to liquid alloy).

By C. Lupi

"The energy consumption of copper production by electrowinning, generally represents more than 1/4 of the total energy requirement in hydrometallurgical traditional process (roasting, leaching, purification and electrowinning). The considerable saving can be achieved just in this step that requires about 2.2 kWhlkg of the produced copper. To save energy the cell voltage, or more appropriately its anodic component, can be reduced: that is because the anodic voltage represents the main component of cell voltage and so it is largely responsible for the excessive energy consumption in copper sulphate electrowinning.In this work some ways are studied to lower the anodic voltage. First the cobalt ions were added to the sulphate solution in order to study the catalytic effect on oxygen discharge. Then lead alloys anodes (Pb-Ag, Pb-Sb-Ag and Pb-Ca) were used to promote a better oxygen evolution as a result of a different anodic surface. Their behaviour was compared with the PbSb traditional ones. Finally, as already pointed out by several authors for zinc electrowinning, ethylene glycol was employed as anodic depolariser in order to verify its effectiveness in the case of copper electrowinning. By combining all the above-mentioned ways, energy saving ranging from 20% to 27% is achieved.All the tests were carried out on a laboratory pilot-plant for long time to simulate the industrial conditions. The obtained copper deposits were observed by SEM to highlight their morphology."

Jan 1, 1997

By Chan. C. L., Zehr. R., M. M. Chen, J. Mazumder

"Two three-dimensional models of a surface tension gradient driven flow during laser surface heating are developed. The first model is based on a perturbation solution. The basic solution corresponds to the stationary axisynwnetric case and perturbation is based on a small scanning velocity. The advantage of seeking a perturbation solution, as it turns out, is that the three-dimensional flow is modeled by two sets of two-dimensional equations which are presumably much more tractable than the original three-dimensional equations. Numerical solutions are obtained and discussed. The second model is a full three-dimensional numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations, using a point-by-point partially vectorized iteration scheme. Surface shape is also determined in a self-consistent manner. The effect of the presence of convection on pool geometry, cooling rate and solute redistribution is presented and discussed.IntroductionThe existence of fluid flow and convection and their effects were first reported in the fifties (1,2). The role of convection in controlling pool geometry such as pool shape, undercut and ripples, and defects such as variable penetration, porosity and lack of fusion and weld properties such as weld homogeneity and bead formation is studied by a number of researchers and is reviewed by the authors in a recent paper (3).Recently, surface tension gradient driven flow has been identified as one of the forces responsible for convection within the molten pool (4,5). It is postulated that surface tension gradient driven flow is responsible for the surface ripple formation in the weld pool (6-8). Oreper, et al. (9) developed a two-dimensional convection model. Buoyancy, electromagnetic and surface tension gradient forces were considered. The formulation was based on a specified pool profile. It was found that the surface tension gradient is the dominant force in most cases. However, the solid-liquid interface is not known a priori. In fact, the solid-liquid interface, i.e. the pool shape, is a piece of information that the model should be able to predict. A two-dimensional transient self-consistent (i.e. the solid-liquid interface is solved as part of the solution] model for laser surface melted pool was first developed by Chan, Mazumder, and Chen (3)). This model predicted a non-uniform cooling rate, hence non-uniform microstructure. Depending on the Prandtl number (i.e. material) and surface tension number, the shape of the molten region as well as the cooling rate changes. It was also predicted that the recirculating velocity is of one or two order of magnitude higher than that of the scanning velocity. This model provides the detail of the flow field and heat transfer on a plane perpendicular to the scanning direction. However, the front-to-back motion and its effect on heat transfer also play important roles in the physical process, especially for the fact that the recirculating velocity is so much higher than the scanning velocity. Such a motion cannot be obtained from two-dimensional models."

Jan 1, 1986

By Bo Liang, Hongmin Zhu, Kai Huang, Shafiq Alam

A new approach of recovering platinum and palladium from electronic wastes by hydrochloric acid leaching followed by selective adsorption on low-cost and environmentally benign biomass sorbent prepared from easily available agriculture waste is suggested. The obtained adsorbents were prepared by a combination of chemical modification and hydrothermal carbonization process with (NH4)2C2O4. It was found that the maximum adsorption capacity of hydrothermal carbonized garlic peel for Pt( ) and Pd( ) was 1.64 and 0.42 mol/kg respectively. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm was applied to describe the adsorption process. Kinetics of the Pt( ) and Pd( ) ions adsorption was found to follow pseudo-second-order rate equation. The adsorbents were examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Based on the characterization results, a possible mechanism of Pt( ) and Pd( ) ions adsorption with the hydrothermal carbonized garlic peel was proposed. This study provides a promising adsorbent with efficient adsorption property for platinum and palladium recovery from the leach solution of electronic wastes.

Jan 1, 2016

By J. W. Ahlrichs

In gold exploration and metallurgical testing, the role of the mineralogist is to assist in solving problems with regard to (a) sampling, (b) gold occurrences, and (c) petrologic classifications of host rocks. The presence of "coarse" gold as a sampling problem can be overcome by various methods, including "screen fire assays," screened analyses and special gravity techniques which may be used to determine distributions of "coarse" versus fine gold. Determinations of mineralogic associations of gold usually require special separation techniques, accompanied by fire-AA-mineralogic assays of the products. After accurate mineralogic analyses are obtained for various products, quantitative distributions of refractory gold associations can be calculated by the use of simultaneous equations. Petrologic classifications are required by the geologist for mapping and interpretation of the various rocks. After the petrology and mineralogic differences of the rock units are determined, x-ray diffraction analyses of analytical pulps can be used for lithologic logging of drill cores. XRD logging is an efficient method for correlating lithologic units and alteration trends throughout a gold prospect.

Jan 1, 1981

By L. I. Rosato

A novel hydrometallurgical process for the recovery of silver and gold from neutral leach residue that is based upon leaching with thiourea, is described. Laboratory and pilot plant studies have shown that 80-90% of the silver and 60-70% of the gold can be recovered by:? ( i) leaching zinc calcine with 'Spent electrolyte at pH 2.0-3.0 to generate a precious metal-bearing zinc ferrite residue, (ii) leaching of the thickened zinc ferrite with 3-5 g/L thiourea in a six stage carbon-in-pulp circuit, (iii) elution of silver and gold from the loaded carbon with a thiourea- butanol solution, (iv) thermal regeneration of the stripped carbon and (v) recovery of the precious metals from the pregnant eluate by cementation with zinc dust. The reasons for adopting the thiourea CIP leach and the preferred operating parameters for each process step are presented. The requirements for the destruction of any thiourea transferred to the zinc circuit are outlined, and the results of an integrated one tonne/day pilot plant operation at Canadian Electrolytic Zinc are given.

Jan 1, 1990

By Terence Makanyire, Animesh Jha

The dissolution and chemical properties of vanadium, zirconium, and niobium in rutile lattice are analyzed by comparing the octahedral site preference energies, with respect to Ti4+ ion in the solvent phase. The oxides are often present in rutile lattice and interfere in achieving the quality of pigment grade TiO2 due to favourable Gibbs energy for dissolution in the solvent rutile matrix. Binary mixtures of V2O5 { TiO2; Nb2O5 { TiO2 and ZrO2 { TiO2 with compositions of 80, 85, 90, 95 and 97 wt% TiO2 were made, pelletized and sintered at 1100 °C for 24 hours. The solidsolution mixtures were then cooled and leached in 2M NaOH for 3 hours at 60 °C. Phase and lattice parameter characterizations, and microstructural and compositional analyses were then carried out using X-ray diraction and SEM/EDX, respectively. The leachates were analysed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), using which the solute dissolution model for oxides were investigated.

Jan 1, 2014

By Yuan Zeping

This paper describes the distribution and removal of the main impurities in the pyrometallurgical process ?at the Guixi Smelter. The paper discusses in detail our converting schedule?of3S-SB and injecting deeply a mixture ofNa2CO) and CaO flux into the converters to enhance impurity removal.

Jan 1, 1998

By Suchun Zhang

The alkaline oxidation of refractory gold concentrates containing arsenopyrite and pyrite at ambient temperatures and pressures has been found to be accompanied by the simultaneous dissolution of gold without the addition of cyanide. A detailed study has been made of the kinetics of the oxidation of the pure minerals and of several concentrates. The reaction products of the oxidation of arsenic and sulphur have been monitored using chromatographic techniques. In the case of arsenopyrite, thiosulfate, monothioarsenate, arsenate and sulfite are the principal products while thiosulfate has been confirmed to be the dominant product of pyrite oxidation. Gold, either as added powder or as a constituent of the concentrates has been found to dissolve simultaneously during the alkaline oxidation of both arsenopyrite and pyrite, and this appears to be associated with the in-situ formation of thiosulfate as a lixiviant. The effects of temperature, stirring speed, oxygen partial pressure, alkalinity and pulp density on the oxidation of arsenopyrite and the dissolution of gold have also been investigated. Keywords: Gold, dissolution, arsenopyrite, pyrite, alkaline, oxidation, thiosulfate, thioarsenate

Jan 1, 2005

By Guanghui Li, Xuling Chen, Zhiyun Ji, Min Gan, Tao Jiang, Xiaohui Fan, Zhiyuan Yu

With the increase of proportion of biochar(without modified) replacing coke breeze, the physical strength of sinter decreases due to the faster burning speed of biochar. An investigation upon passivating biochar with boric acid was then conducted to strengthen sintering in this paper. A layer of thin film of B2O3 distributed in the surface of biochar was observed, which could reduce the contact between reaction gas and biochar. So the burning speed of biochar was decreased properly after passivation, and the combustion efficiency increased due to the inhibition of carbon gasification. The comprehensive effects of above changes could increase the maximum temperature of sintering bed, which facilitated to the mineralization of sintering mixtures. Eventually sintering indices got reinforced. Thus the indices of sinter as applying 40% passivated biochar were comparable with that of 100% coke breeze.

Jan 1, 2015