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By Sundarrajm Suresh, Hrushikesh G. Pimpalgaonkar, Thiyagarajan Paramadayalan

In this paper, a model of a fuel cell system has been proposed to account for the membrane physics at the micro level which is coupled with the macroscopic flow and mass transport phenomena occurring in a single channel of a Polymer Electrode Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) system. We have developed a novel approach to model the catalyst layer electrochemical processes in a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) and coupled it with mass transport and fluid flow calculations at the channel level using STAR-CD commercial software. The predicted values of the cell voltage from this micro-macro model are validated with experimental data available in the literature. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out to study the effect of the design and operating parameters such as catalyst loading and initial temperature on the overall performance of the PEMFC. The results indicate that the cell voltage increases at higher platinum catalyst loading and is also independent of the choice of initial cell temperature.

Jan 1, 2012

By Ahmet Geveci

In this work it is aimed to assess the plant analytical data which appeared during efforts to decrease the effect of carry-over slag (basic oxygen furnace slag) that can not be prevented to leak during tapping of steel in the ladles. While the amount changes, carry-over slag that escaped to ladle, consists of appreciable amount of reducible oxides (?FetO? and MnO) which act as oxygen source for steel bath. By using aluminum dross, containing %30-35 metallic aluminum, which is a non-recoverable process outcome (discard) for most of the aluminum factories, slag reduction behavior will be analyzed together with other parameters such as reaction time, initial amount of total Fe+MnO, amount of reducing agent and reducing effect of soluble aluminum in steel bath while obtaining a slag composition which promotes higher desulphurization capacity and inclusion removal for liquid steel.

Jan 1, 2006

By Freddy Syvertsen, Ali Riza Tarakcilar, Engin Tan, Derya Dispinar

"It has been shown that the disturbance of the advancing liquid front in the mould cavity may lead to surface entrained defects known as bifilms. These defects can deteriorate the mechanical properties significantly. The developments in the simulation of castings aid many casters. It is quick and economical. Therefore in this work, the aim was targeted to optimise the mould filling of a tensile test pattern design that is used for aluminium alloys. Several different designs, gatings and runner systems were investigated with Vulcan Casting Simulation Software. In addition to the achievement of non-turbulent and quiescent mould filling; other parameters such as temperature profile, porosity and feeding were investigated to optimise the process.IntroductionConsiderable effort has gone into understanding and controlling defects that are formed in aluminium and its alloys during casting. The conventional approach was the elimination of porosity by eliminating hydrogen in the melt simply due to the following reaction:"

Jan 1, 2012

By S. J. Kohut

Until recently SX-EW technology has only been used to produce conventional cathode for the cyclical commodity marketplace. Unlike electrorefining, SX-EW lends itself to the integration with the downstream manufacturing technologies for direct mine site production of value added products. The integration of SX-EW and downstream manufacturing results in the elimination of redundant process steps, the cost savings, and the access to value added product markets which can buffer the producer from swings in the cathode market. SX-EW production of copper powder and powder-based products has been demonstrated at the pilot plant level. The SX-EW process has been successfully redesigned to meet the more specific demands of engineered products. Challenges include the solution purity, the cell ventilation, the high current density operation and the product handling. Successful demonstration of mine site production of value added SX- EW products opens up new non-commodity marketplaces to the mining industry.

Jan 1, 1999

By Tomoji Kawai

"The Pulsed Laser Deposition method using multi-targets is extremely useful for the creation of functional multi-layers and variety of artificial lattices. The topic of the present talk is on the creation of ''Function hannonized artificial lattices by laser ablation"" made of the combined magnetic, ferroelectiric and superconducting layers. The outline of talk is,1. Features of Pulsed Laser Deposition method (Laser Molecular RHEED and S1M/AFM.2. Creation of magnetic, dielectric and superconducting artificial lattices by Pulsed Laser Deposition.3. Novel properties of function harmonized artificial lattices: especially on the magnetic and magnetoresistive artificial The outline of talk is, lattices made of3d transition metal oxides."

Jan 1, 2000

By V. I. Lakshmanan

Whilst the prices of metals in nominal terms have largely remained static over the past forty years, in real terms, the primary metals industry receives very much less today for its products than in the past. Yet, it has largely managed to remain competitive, despite the fact that ore reserves are not only diminishing, but are of lower grade and higher complexity, and that there are much greater pressures on companies to be good environmental stewards. This paper examines how hydrometallurgical processing has shown itself to be highly innovative in order to remain viable both economically and environmentally. Aspects of process chemistry are discussed, and the lessons to be learned from having a good understanding of this chemistry are highlighted with reference to a number of case histories such as HPAL for nickel laterites, the Avmin/Chambishi Cosac Project, use of chloride chemistry for titanium extraction, and plant effluent treatment and recycle.

Jan 1, 2003

By D. J. Burkhardt

Newer copper SX/EW facilities often incorporate hot water heating for the cell feed electrolyte to obtain the necessary plating temperatures of 40 to 50°C. Heating is most necessary in oxide heap leaching, however it may also be required in bioleaching of secondary sulphides in colder climates or higher altitudes where most of the heat gain in the heap is lost to the environment. Given that the solution flows in the leach, organic circuit and electrolyte circuit are circular in nature, and the fact that the hot lean electrolyte is often exchanged with cooler rich electrolyte, it can be difficult to access the heating requirement for the cell feed. There are energy losses in piping, tankage, raffinate, and energy gains through the PLS and electrowinning process itself; some of these are significant and others are not. This paper discusses the overall heat balance, the relative significance of the various energy gains and losses, and describes a methodology to develop a heat balance to assist the engineer in sizing the heating equipment.

Jan 1, 2003

By Fabio J. Esper, Wildor T. Hennies, Guillermo R. Martín-Cortés, Francisco R. Valenzuela-Díaz, Antonio J. Santana de Araujo, Maria G. Silva Valenzuela

Seeking to replace carbon-black as filler of rubber in the production of vulcanized goods, researchers from University of São Paulo have studied different materials types as minerals, vegetal or wastes agricultural and industry. Results of rubber composites filled with MA1 a waste of mineral treatment provided by Esper Industries are presented. MA1 was characterized through X-ray diffraction; Thermal analysis; Scanning Electronic Microscopy; and others laboratory methods. The composite and shaped masses were evaluated by these methods plus their mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation at break and hardness. Exceptional results were obtained in the mechanical properties evaluated, better than those obtained with the traditional carbon-black. Seeing the kind of material used as filler, it can conclude that the environmental benefit is present, as well as economic development, giving credibility to the use of these alternative material in replacement carbon black.

Jan 1, 2015

By M. Z. Sukiennik

A static method for vapor pressure measurement up to 1450 K and above 1 hPa is presented. The method is designed for equilibrium and kinetic studies of metallic systems, including those with a chemical reaction. Application examples are given for determination of activities in condensed phases, and heterogeneous reaction rates and equilibrium constants.

Jan 1, 1993

By Carla Lupi

In this work, nickel-cobalt electrodeposition under galvanostatic conditions was investigated. Ni-Co alloy was electrowon from an acid sulphate bath containing 40 g/L Ni and2-8 g/L Co.. The effect of electrolyte composition, current density, temperature, solution pH and presence of buffers such as H3BO3 and (NH4)2SO4 on Co content of the binary alloy has been investigated. In particular, current densities ranging from 180 to 400 A/m2 and temperatures ranging from 27 to 60°C were tested. The composition of Ni-Co alloys may be diversified through the selection of process parameters. The experiments show that the highest cobalt content of the alloy is reached by using a buffer free electrolyte without solution pH control. Though, in these conditions, the most homogeneous, fine and regular deposit morphology is obtained, energy requirements are the highest in tests lasting just two hours.

Jan 1, 2003

By Zhangm Mingming

Three samples received from the EAF shop were characterized by chemical, X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods. The objective of this characterization work was to investigate the occurrence of nickel, copper, zinc, sulfur and phosphorus and to identify their origin and associations with iron minerals in the concentrate samples from the mines. The samples were identified as MINERAL, PELLET, and HRD. The latter is the DRI product. All three samples were received as fine powders. The results indicate that, in the mineral sample, magnetite is the major iron oxide mineral with hematite as a second phase based on the OM and XRD studies. Pyrite [FeS2], chalcopyrite [CuFeS2] and bravoite [(Fe,Ni)S2] are the major sulfide minerals. Trace amounts of apatite [Ca5(PO4)3(F,Cl,OH)], wardite [Na4CaAli2(PO4)8(OH)8 6H2O], giniite [Fe;(PO4)4(OH)3 2H2O] and vivianite [Fe3(PO4)2 8H2O] were identified by SEM and XRD. Microscopic studies also indicated that most of the sulfide grains in the mineral sample are present either as liberated fine particles (about 10 microns) or as inclusions within the magnetite and hematite grains. XRD studies revealed magnetite as the major mineral with subordinate amounts of hematite and pyrite confirming the microscopic findings. Copper, nickel, and zinc are mainly present as chalcopyrite, bravoite, and franklinite [(Zn,Mn,Fe)(Fe,Mn)2O4] in trace amounts in the mineral samples, respectively. Impurities carry over to the pellet and HRD samples. Chemical analyses of the three iron-bearing samples indicate that sulfur and phosphorus in the pellet sample exceeded the specification. Since liberated pyrite and chalcopyrite particles were observed in both the mineral and pellet samples, magnetic and flotation processing routes should be effective for sulfide removal but at the cost of iron losses. The high phosphorus content of all three samples indicates that there are phosphates which are difficult to remove by the current concentrating processes (magnetic separation and flotation).

Jan 1, 2012

By J. A. Voigt

In an effort to determine the optimum conditions for preparing high purity, fine particle size high temperature superconducting oxide powder, we have investigated how calcination conditions influence the conversion of a chemically prepared hydroxycarbonate precursor powder to YBa2Cu307. We find that the precursor can be converted to phase pure YBa2Cu307 in either oxygen or synthetic air (20% 02. 80% N2) at 850°C. This temperature is substantially lower than the temperature (>900°C) normally used for the calcination of mixed-oxide powders. The lower calcination temperature prevents particle sintering and maintains the desired fine particle size. Powder processed in synthetic air shows a low degree of crystallinity indicating it may be more sinterable than the highly crystalline powders produced when an oxygen atmosphere is used. Intimate contact between powder particle surfaces and a flowing gas atmosphere promotes the reaction between the BaCO3 component of the precursor powder and the Y and Cu constituents.

Jan 1, 1989

By Ennio Bonetti

The technological applications of MgH2 hydrides for hydrogen storage demand the overcoming of some critical issues: an improvement of the reaction kinetics and a reduction of the desorption temperature. The synthesis of nanocrystalline MgH2 by reactive milling and inert gas condensation and a proper metal catalyst addition, constitute recently employed strategies. In the investigation of the hydrogen short and long-range dynamics, sorption kinetics and nanostructure stability, the mechanical spectroscopy offers some specific advantages. In the present research this technique was employed with other experimental approaches (XRD DSC) to investigate relaxational and structural damping processes in nanocrystalline MgH2 with added catalysts (Fe). Time/temperature variation of the dynamic elasticity moduli and mechanical quality factor are correlated to hydrogen anelastic relaxation processes and concomitant structural transformation of MgH2 to Mg associated to long range H diffusion. Results are discussed with reference to microstructural modification strategies able to assist hydrogen release.

Jan 1, 2006

By J. Riccardi

Copper refineries use massive copper castings as moulds into which impure molten copper from the reverberatory furnace is poured to form anodes for further electrolytic refining. To facilitate removal of the copper anodes from the mould and to prolong the life of the mould itself, it is traditional to spray the mould surface prior to each use with a slurry of baryte in water. This slurry application leads to poor housekeeping, operating costs are escalated by the cost of the slurry, and additional problems in the subsequent refining process are experienced due to carry-over of excess undesirable baryte powder. A one-time application of a diffused layer of aluminum to the surface of the copper mould prior to putting the mould into service has been found to provide extended mould life and facilitate anode removal, as well as reducing baryte consumption; thereby reducing operating costs at both the anode manufacturing and refining stages.

Jan 1, 1999

By Bruce R. Conard

Consideration of environmental and human health issues in metallurgy is growing rapidly. While not all metallurgists need to have detailed expertise in environmental and health questions, they should be aware of the challenges the metals industry faces, be able to interact with colleagues in other sciences and contribute to sound metal resource management. Hydrometallurgists occupy a unique position among metallurgists because of their knowledge of the behaviour of metals in aqueous systems, which are of fundamental importance in understanding environmental chemistry and human toxicology. As a result, hydrometallurgists should more frequently and passionately lend their expertise in assessing environmental and health risks of metals and in helping to develop effective global guidelines, regulations and process and product stewardship strategies, thereby enabling metals to continue their beneficial service to society.

Jan 1, 2003

By V. Ramachandran

ASARCO Incorporated, a large and diverse producer of non-ferrous metals, is involved primarily in smelting and refining of copper and lead. The Company also recovers by-product metals and chemicals produced in the smelting and refining process including selenium, tellurium, silver, gold, platinum, palladium, bismuth, antimony oxide, lead-antimony alloys, and nickel sulfate. The treatment of complex concentrates, containing high level's of impurities, also results in the production of various sludges, drosses, dusts and slags. This paper addresses the interplant and intraplant transfer of these materials between the copper and lead circuits and their subsequent treatment for maximum metals recovery. It also describes the role of ENCYCLB/TEXAS Inc., a subsidiary of Asarco, which treats Asarco's by-products, as well as hazardous and non-hazardous wastes produced by other manufacturers.

Jan 1, 1994

By J. G. Reid

Nickel is second only to aluminium, of all non-ferrous metals, in energy required to convert the ore to metal. Nickel Laterite ores, which constitute the feed source for approximately 40% of world nickel production, are at a particular disadvantage because of the absence of sulphur, as an energy source, in the ore and because lateritic ores general 1 y are not amenable to beneficiation. The dramatic escalation of oil prices which commenced in 1973 and continued for a decade meant that Nickel Laterite refineries using oil as a primary energy source were placed at a distinct disadvantage relative to refineries utilizing nickel sulphide concentrate feeds. By the late 1970's the continuing large difference in oil and coal prices caused Greenvale to consider converting certain high oil consuming areas of the refinery to coal. These investigations confirmed that the areas of ore drying and power generation, which together consumed 50% of total Plant oil requirements, could be economically converted from oil to coal firing. Construction of the coal conversion facilities commenced in October 1980 and the first ore drying air heater came on line in August 1981. Construction was completed with the commissioning of the coal fired boiler in June 1982. This paper outlines the additions required to receive and utilize coal in ore drying and power generation and how the changeover was completed with minimal process disruption.

Jan 1, 1988

By L. L. Ludwig, S. E. James, B. L. Motycka

Significant modifications to the electrolytic zinc plant operated by Big River Zinc Corporation were made at the end of the 1990's resulting in increased capacity and improved efficiencies. A new cell room, with the innovative use of acid-resistant concrete cells and a modern ventilation system, was installed to raise the capacity from 80,000 tonne/y to 106,000 tonne/y of finished zinc. Improvements to the leaching section include the conversion from a single to a two-step process, with associated equipment changes, to improve the quality of the residues produced. Another key change is the construction of a facility to allow the use of zinc oxides from secondary sources as a feed to the plant. This paper describes these improvements and the current operations.

Jan 1, 2000

By Jie Li, Thomas A. Rawdanowicz, W. J. Collis, S. Venkatraman, S. Iyer

"InSb being the lowest band gap. material amongst the 111-V semiconductors with low effective mass has long attracted research interest, due to its potential application in far infrared devices and for high speed circuit elements. In this paper, we report, for the first time, Te-doping of InSb on GaAs substrate using SnTe doping source with molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique and its electrical characterization. The undoped epilayers are n-type in the temperature range of 10 K to 300 K investigated. The room temperature (RT) mobility as high as 64,810 cm2/V·s (1.9x1016 cm-3) have been measured on a 4.8 µm thick epilayer. Sn Te doping at different doping levels were investigated. 5. 7 µm thick doped layers with RT carrier concentrations ranging from 2x1016 cm-3 to 3.2x1018 cm-3 with corresponding full width at half maximum (FWHM) of x-ray (400) rocking curve varying from 170-200 arc-seconds have been achieved. The Hall mobility of 20,000 cm2/V·s at 1.3xl018 cm-3 carrier concentration was obtained indicating that SnTe is a good candidate as source material for n-type doping of InSb.IntroductionThe thin films of InSb and InSb-based alloys have found considerable interest because of potential applications in III-V semiconductor-based infrared optoelectronic devices1• In addition, the advantage of the small effective mass and the consequent high mobility can be utilized in high frequency and high-speed circuit devices2 InSb can also be used in magnetoresistive sensors for position sensing3. Epitaxial InSb films grown by MBE may be doped n-type with Si or Sn, or with the group VI elements, namely, S, Se, or Te. Of the group VI elements, Te may be advantageous because of its relatively low vapor pressure. However, the vapor pressure is high enough to have sufficient memory effect during MBE growth. Hence different telluride compounds such as GaTe45, PbTe6 and Sb2Te37 have been used as the dopant source for Sb-based compounds. SnTe has also been used as a successful n-type dopant in the MBE growth ofGaSb8 But, to our knowledge, there is no report on the investigation of SnTe doping of InSb. In this paper, we report the first doping characteristics of SnTe in InSb layers grown on GaAs substrate."

Jan 1, 1998

By Wolfgang Steffes-Tun

Pyrite ore concentrate from the Meggen mine (FRG) , which contains about 0 300 400 ppm thallium, is roasted in a fluid bed furnace at 1000 -1100 C to form sulfur dioxide and ash consisting mainly of hematite. Subsequently, the sulfur dioxide is separated from the ash or dust during several steps while cooling to about 250oC. The pyrite ash fractions show decreasing grain size down to 5 pm, a pH-decrease down to 2,4 and a marked enrichment of arsenic and thallium by a factor of 12. In the final fraction, the hot electroprecipitator dust of the dump (EGR), minute crystals of thallium-containing jarosite can be detected by analytical transmission electorn microscopy (TEM). Under oxidizing, acid conditions, jarosite may be a possible "reservoir mineral" for immobilizing thallium.

Jan 1, 1989