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By Thomas Mütze, Frank van der Meer, Gunnar Kretschmar

"The air classification of moist bulk materials is addressed in the literature insufficiently. Therefore a feasibility study investigated the influence of feed moisture on the separation efficiency expecting a reduction with higher moisture content in the feed. Two iron ore samples were characterized in terms of the nature of bonding of moisture as well as its effect on the agglomerate strength. The classification tests themselves were conducted with two dynamic laboratory air classifiers at cut sizes from 45 to 110 µm and a moisture of the feed material between 0 to 10 wt.-%. The quality of classification was assessed by split factor, cut size, separation efficiency, moisture of both products, as well as the yield of the fines as product fraction in a corresponding processing plant. An initial approach was found for a technological implementation: A sufficient drying of a moist feed can be realized simultaneously to the pneumatic transport inside the classifiers. In the present case the drying effect and dispersion intensity was sufficient to provide good separation results up to 3 wt.-% feed moisture. An additional drying step was necessary beyond 3 wt.-%.INTRODUCTIONSpecific information about the influence of moisture in air classifiers is very rare. Mostly only dry products are processed and/or drying prior to classification is recommended. Apart from the specific influence of the feed moisture a lot of literature can be found regarding air classification itself. Altogether air classification can be divided into several sub-process (Leschonski, 1977):- dosage of the feed material,- dispersing the solid feed material into a gas stream,- feeding the dispersed material into the classification zone by pneumatic conveying,- separation of coarse and fine particles, and- separation of fine particles from gas.For wet feed particles also drying plays an important role. Interesting for the present investigation are the humidity of the feed and its influence on the single sub-processes."

Jan 1, 2016

By Corrie Pitzer

Safety performance in many companies and even industries has stalled in the last decade. Accidents rates are improving but more slowly and yet, serious accidents and fatality rates are not: in fact, these rates of more serious incidents have plateaued or deteriorating. In more dramatic cases, organizations that had ?exemplary? safety statistics, suddenly had a catastrophic or multi-fatality event occurring. Popular books such as In Search of Excellence of Peters and Waterman or Good to Great of Jim Collins created many delusional ?secrets? or recipes, to achieve great performance and yet, most of those ?great? or ?excellent? companies have now declined in their performance, some dramatically and some have fallen from grace, like Fanny Mae, a company Jim Collins identified as a ?great? one, that had to be bailed out in the latest financial crisis. These organizations share several ?delusions? about managing a business, and often, these delusions are created by academics, consultants and authors of popular books about (safety) management. More damaging however is that safety management is defined by a set of key practices or axioms: a focus on human error, compliance to rules and regulations, creating consistency of systems and actions, reacting to accidents and incidents and on prevention of those, measuring safety with performance metrics and rewarding employees on those measurements. All of these axioms contain the seeds of destruction, and they create conditions and dynamics that precede the disaster - and ironically, they are all 'good things' we do in safety management. For example, a mere focus on safety in the business, and the measurement of it, create a culture of repression of mistakes and incidents, leading to a situation where the organization knows incrementally less and less of risks and risktaking behaviour - until the day it all coincides destructively! This paper discusses seven such safety delusions and how they impact on the views and safety management approaches. They are: ??The delusion of (risk) control, that risks can actually be identified, analyzed and mitigated. ??The delusion of compliance, that mere compliance to rules will safeguard the business ??The delusion of consistency, that standard operating procedures will ensure safe operations ??The delusion of predictability, that accidents and trends tell us everything about the risks of the future ??The delusion of human error, that people are the weakest link and that it can actually be dealt with through discipline and enforcement. ??The delusion of statistical trends, that safety is measurable with statistics ??The delusion of invulnerability, that we have achieved high levels integrity and capability to deal wit risks. Organizations that suffered catastrophes all share some or all of these delusions and this paper traces how these played a role in many disasters, ranging from the Titanic, Challenger, Piper Alpha, Bhopal, BP Deepwater Horizon and many more.

Aug 1, 2013

By M. K. Kim

This study presents a framework for quality inspection of precast concrete components using the 3D laser scanning technique. As precast concrete-based rapid bridge construction is getting standardized, quality assessment of the precast concrete becomes critical for preventing any failures during the construction process. Moreover, as Building Information Modeling (BIM) gains popularity in the construction industry, autonomous and intelligent inspection systems are needed. Current method for quality control of precast concrete components, however, heavily relies on visual inspection and contacttype measurements, which are time and labor demanding. Also, storage and delivery systems of inspection information such as the procedures and results of quality inspection are lacking. To overcome these limitations of the current quality assessment technique for precast concrete, this study aims to develop a BIM-based framework for efficient quality inspection of precast concrete with the use of a 3D laser scanner. First, we formulate practical guidelines including detailed inspection procedure, selection of optimized scanner and scan location, inspection criteria, and data storage and delivery system. Second, to investigate the applicability of 3D laser scanning to precast concrete quality inspection based on the proposed framework, a case study inspecting quality of a lab-scale object assumed as precast concrete component is presented for detecting defects.

Aug 1, 2013

By D. Karpoff

"IntroductionUNTIL the recent discovery and development of deposits at Allard Lake, on the Lower Romaine river, practically the whole of Quebec's - and indeed of Canada's - production of ilmenite had come from deposits in the vicinity of St. Urbain, Charlevoix •county, a village about eight miles north of Bay St. Paul on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, some sixty miles below the city of Quebec (see Figure l) . Although these deposits were known nearly three hundred years ago and were worked in a small way during the years 1872-74, when a charcoal blast furnace was operated by the Canadian Titanic Iron Company for making white pig iron, it was not until 1908 that more or less continuous production commenced and has •continued to the present by the American Titanic Iron Company. The whole of the output has been exported to the United States.The ilmenite occurs in lenses •and dyke-like bodies within anorthosite. Production has come chiefly from three deposits: General Electric, Furnace, and East and West Coulombe. During 1951 -52, an extensive diamond drilling programme was carded out under the direction of the writer to test the Furnace and the East and West Coulombe deposits (Figures 2 and 3), which form part of the property of St. Lawrence Iron and Titanium Mines, Limited. The average tenor of the orebodies encountered in the course of the drilling was 38.60 per cent TiO2 and, in addition to these high-grade •bodies, there was found a very considerable tonnage of lower grade ore."

Jan 1, 1953

By Olanrewaju A. Ojo, Xu Wang, Jian Xin Dong, Lina Zhang, Jerzy A. Szpunar

"The influence of crystallographic orientation on the pitting corrosion behavior of Ni-Fe-Cr alloy 028 was studied by a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), potentiodynamic polarization technique and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that there is anisotropy of pitting corrosion that strongly depends on crystallographic orientation of surface planes. The distribution of pits frequency in standard stereographic triangle shows that the crystallographic planes close to {100} are more prone to pitting corrosion compared to planes of {110} and {111}. The calculation of surface energy (001) and (111) shows that the planes of high packing density of atoms have low surface energy with concomitant strong resistance to pitting corrosion. A correlation function between crystallographic orientation and pitting corrosion susceptibility suggests a method not only to predict the pitting resistance of a known textured materials, but also to improve corrosion resistance by controlling materials texture.INTRODUCTIONNickel-iron-chromium(Ni-Fe-Cr) alloys are widely used in various industries and engineering sectors due to their combination of good mechanical properties and high corrosion resistance(Hibner, 2001; Thomas, 2006; Ghosh, 2005).Ni-Fe-Cr alloy 028 (alloy 028)has such important characteristics worth mentioning. Alloy 028 contains high amounts of nickel, copper and molybdenum which improve its resistant to corrosion attack in reducing medium, and presence of high level of chromium makes it more resistant to oxidizing species. Moreover, alloy 028 is less expensive because of higher amount of iron compared to other similar alloys. Currently, alloy 028 is manufactured as evaporator tubes applied in the phosphoric acid production; production tubing and casing used in deep and sour gas wells; heat exchangers employed in nuclear power plants, and seawater-carrying piping and seawater-cooled heat exchangers (Bankiewicz, 2012; Kivisäkk, 2003; Gómez, 2003; Xian, 2012; Bellezze, 2004)"

Jan 1, 2017

By C. W. Drake, J. H. Walsh

"The Canadian Carbonization Re-search Association was formed during 1965, with seven founding members representing four integrated steel companies, two coal companies and one high-temperature tar processing company. The purpose of this paper is to review the circumstances which led to the formation of this new research association and to discuss its general objectives. Also discussed will be the organization of the Association, the nature of its relationship with the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources in the early stages, and some of the technical programs which have now been initiated."

Jan 1, 1967

By Doug Russell

Natsource: At a Glance l 160 employees l Global reach ? New York, Washington, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, London, Tokyo l Major Environmental Commodity Broker ? Rated as Top GHG Broker (Environmental Finance Magazine Survey, Dec. 2000 & 2001) ? Leading RECs Broker ? Large Broker of SO2, NOx l Large Energy Broker ? One of Highest Volume Gas Brokers ? Major Electricity Broker Overview l International Market l Implementing the Rate-Based Proposal l Assessment and Management of Risk from GHG Emissions Limitations

Nov 1, 2002

By I. Nakatsugawa

Chemical conversion coating is a process to create thin oxide/hydroxide film containing several inorganic/organic compounds by way of chemical deposition reaction. In case of the application to Mg mobile electronic housings, the film should possess a good electric conductivity while keeping adequate corrosion resistance and working as a paint base. The use of toxic/hazardous chemicals is strictly prohibited from the environmental aspects. This paper describes the recent trend of conversion coating used for Mg electronic housings and analyzes critically from the point of surface technology. The importance of cleaning process and understanding of surface microstructure are particularly emphasized with several experimental results.

Jan 1, 2006

By Nicholas Macrae Steven

Abstract - The Shaba-type Luamata Cu-Co(-Ni) deposit (11°50_S, 24°28_E) is located in a tectonic slice of Katangan Roan Supergroup (Mines Group) sedimentary rocks, surrounded by younger Kundelungu Supergroup lithologies in the external fold and thrust belt of the Lufilian Arc. Luamata is a classic central African copper clearing in dense woodland, visible as a tonal botanical anomaly on Landsat imagery. Supergene Cu-Co mineralization (especially malachite and subordinate chalcocite, digenite, covellite, and copper and cobalt oxides) and, probably hypogene, bornite, and chalcopyrite are hosted by altered, but essentially unmetamorphosed, moderately dipping, dolostones and dolomitic shales. Alteration products include talcose dolomite, sericite rocks and intense silicification and brecciation. Friable yellow shale is best mineralized with cobalt (up to 0.43 wt%), whereas, highest copper grades occur in brecciated, silicified shale (up to 13.5 wt% CuO). Soil copper and cobalt contents are up to 2.2 and 0.6 wt%, respectively. A newly identified nickel zone (where soil contents exceed 0.1 wt% Ni) fringes the Cu-Co deposit. Polymictic, matrix-supported breccias with a calcareous matrix that underlie the Cu-Co deposit are interpreted to be fluidization breccias related to thrust tectonics and the emplacement of the Mines Group slice. Although small compared to the Kolwezi district Shaba deposits in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Luamata exhibits all the classic features of an ore deposit type (with low calcite contents), whose high metal concentrations could potentially be very profitably exploited by low-cost opencast mining and hydrometallurgical recovery methods.

Jan 1, 2000

By G. F. MacDonnell

THE Privateer mine consists of a group of mineral claims situated in the Zeballos area, on the west coast of Vancouver island, approximately 180 miles north of Victoria. Although Zeballos is a comparatively new mining camp, its transportation facilities can be considered exceptionally good. General freight and supplies are brought in by either C.P.R. or Frank Waterhouse steamers from either Victoria or Vancouver. Service by these boats varies from five to ten days and the trip from Victoria takes approximately two days. Passengers may use the C.P.R. boats, or, if speed is essential, they may fly, in which case they have the choice of two flying companies, namely, Canadian Air-ways, Limited, and Ginger Coote Airways. The average flight from Vancouver takes approximately two hours. Excellent unloading facilities are provided at the beach by a government dock for the steamers and a floating dock for aeroplanes. The mine, which is approximately five miles from the beach, is serviced by a fairly good gravel road, which has proved satisfactory for all haulage purposes. Zeballos has the reputation of having one of the heaviest rainfalls on the west coast, but as no accurate records have been kept, no comparisons can be made. H. C. Gunning, in his report, comments on the weather from 1929 to 1932, and one would judge that the practically continuous rainfall did not add to the pleasures of the field work. During the summer of 1938, the opposite condition prevailed and the area had exceptionally dry and pleasant weather. The snowfall is generally light at the lower elevations, but very heavy higher up. No extreme cold weather is encountered during the winter, which is generally short.

Jan 1, 1939

By Gyeonghye Moon, Inhyeok Choi, Jyothi Rajesh Kumar, Jin-Young Lee

"This paper deals with the recovery of the tungsten and vanadium from spent SCR catalyst leach liquors by different hydrometallurgical methods. The first part consists of pressure leaching of spent SCR catalyst using caustic soda followed by metal recovery by liquid-liquid extraction. In a leaching process, the following experimental parameters were tested and optimized: NaOH, particle size of feedstock, temperature, and solid to liquid ratio. The optimum condition for leaching of tungsten and vanadium was under the following conditions: NaOH 3 mol/L, temperature 250°C, particle size <300 µm, and solid to liquid ratio 0.4. From these optimum conditions in this experiment, the dissolution efficiency of vanadium and tungsten was 91.5and 87%, respectively. Liquid-liquid extraction following commercial extractants were tested: TBP, Cyanex 272, D2EHPA, Aliquat 336, Primeme JM-T, Alamine 308, Alamine 304-1, and methyl-tri-octyl-ammonium chloride. The conditions for both valuable metal recoveries were optimized.INTRODUCTIONSelective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalyst has become the most effective to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from stationary segments such as power plants and waste incinerations around the world due to the reinforcing regulatory trend and emerging environmental issues (Forzatti, 2001; Spivey, 2002; Li et al., 2011).Currently, the most widely used SCR catalyst is V2O5-WO3/TiO2 system due to its great catalytic properties (Li et al., 2011; Marshneva et al., 1995; Marbergeret al., 2015). In general, the composition of the SCR catalyst used in the stationary application is 0.5 to 1 wt% of V2O5and 7 to 10 wt% of WO3(Marberger et al., 2015; Chen &Yang, 1992, Vuurman et al., 1991; Alemany et al., 1991). Currently spent SCR catalysts are treated as waste and disposed of in landfills. This causes a lot of waste of secondary resources of vanadium and tungsten. In terms of industrial value of vanadium and tungsten (Gupta &Mukherjee, 1990; Moskalyk &Alfantazi, 2003) and reduction of pollutant emissions, it should not be disregarded for their recovery for their material recycling from spent SCR catalyst. However, investigations for recovery of metal values from spent SCR catalyst has been rarely carried out."

Jan 1, 2017

By E. Ghali, J. F. Dorion

This paper presents the results of on-going investigations on the influence of corrosion on the performance of support systems in selected underground gold mines. Rock support is exposed to various conditions that can be aggressive. Samples of corroded support were analysed using SEM and photomicrography to determine the main corrosion forms. Tests are on-going in controlled corrosion chambers to qualify and quantify the impact of rock and minerals particles on steel corrosion. As more data become available these relationships can lead to useful information on the choice of support systems and reliable estimates of their longevity.

Jan 1, 2011

By M. A. Vasina, I. A. Matveeva, E. A. Naumova, V. V. Doroshenko, N. A. Belov

"Using the calculated (Thermo-Calc software) and experimental methods (SEM, TEM, EMPA, DSC, XRD, etc.) the phase composition, structure and hardening of aluminium alloys of the Al-Ca-Zn-Mg system were studied in the following range: 2. 5%Mg, up to 10% Ca, and up to 14% Zn (wt%). Fragments of this quaternary phase diagram in the aluminium corner were constructed, including the liquidus surface, as well as some vertical sections. It was shown that the relatively large amount of zinc enters in the Ca-containing phase, which formula can be described as (Al,Zn)4Ca. An increase of Zn content leads to formation of Al4Ca primary crystals at lower concentrations of calcium. The eutectic (Al)+(Al,Zn)4Ca has a fine structure and aluminide particles are capable to spheroidization during the heat treatment at temperature 500 C. The maximal level of hardness observed on calcium containing alloys was higher than 200 HV, what gives the reason to expect good strength properties. With an example of an Al-9% Zn-2,5%Mg-3,5% Ca model experimental alloy based on the (Al)+(Al,Zn)4Ca eutectic, a principal possibility of manufacturing thin rolled sheets was demonstrated.INTRODUCTION Aluminum alloyed with calcium was first studied in 1970-80s by such authors as Piatti (1976), Moore (1978, 1980), Il'enko (1985), Swaminathan (1990), and Perez-Prado (1997) as superplastic materials. In particular, the alloy systems Al-Ca-Zn were studied (Il'enko, 1985, Swaminathan, 1990, Perez-Prado, 1997). For some time there was no new published works concerning the aluminum-calcium alloys. During the last years many works were published dedicated to the calcium alloying of magnesium alloys (Kim, 2011; Xu, 2011; Aljarrah, 2008; Bakhsheshi, 2014). This urged the authors (Belov, Naumova & Akopyan, 2016) to start studying cast and wrought aluminum-calcium alloys for construction (2008–2014). There is almost no information in the literature concerning triple and more complex diagrams of the aluminum-based system states with calcium and other elements. In recent work, parts of the state diagrams are plotted for the aluminum angle zone: Al-Ca-Mg-Sc (Belov, Naumova & Bazlova, 2016), Al-Ca-Ni-Sc (Belov, Naumova & Bazlova, 2017), Al-Ca-Si-Sc (Belov, Naumova & Akopyan, 2017) and others. Special attention was paid to the study of the system Al-Ca-Zn-Mg (Naumova, 2017). Based on this system creation of advanced extra-high tensile alloys is planned. Wrought extra-high tensile alloys series 7??? based on the system Al-Zn-Mg-Cu are well studied."

Jan 1, 2018

By Mustafa Kumral

Monte ? Carlo simulation is often used to assess the risks associated with uncertain variables in mining operations. The success of Monte-Carlo simulations depends upon reproducing the dependencies among variables to some extent. However, some variables may exhibit different dependency patterns. In these cases, classical techniques for dependency quantification cannot capture dependencies. As an alternative, the copulas allow modeling nonlinear dependencies. Furthermore, any choice of marginal distributions can be used. Especially, for the data, which is sensitive to extreme case such as financial crisis, the copulas arise as a means to reproduce the correlations among variables. In this paper, the copulas are introduced to mining practitioners using Monte-Carlo simulations for risk assessment. Then, a case study is given to show the superiority of the copulas over classical techniques using ModelRisk Software. In conclusion, it was observed that the copulas enhance the quality of Monte-Carlo simulations by capturing variable dependencies.

Aug 1, 2013

By W. W. Cummings

Canada&apos;s only current tungsten producer started up in 1962 with a small open-pit mine on the Flat River , 180 air miles north of Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. The orebody was in a contact-metamorphic skarn zone and contained about 1.5 million tons of ore grading an estimated 2.47% W03 and 0.5% copper. Near the end of the open pit , a new zone was discovered on the lower limb of the same structure, and the decision to go underground was made in 1972. The new "E Zone" contains over 4 million tons of ore grading an estimated 1.6% W03 and 0.28% Cu , and has been supplying the concentrator at about 175,0 00 tons/ year since late 1974. A continuing program of change and up-grading is necessary in the conversion from a seasonal open-pit mine with limited life to an underground operation with twenty years of reserves. Changes are necessary in plant and services as well as the mine. Also, environmental protection requirements have changed from rudimentary to rigorous over the life of the operation. This paper sums up the changes in the operation since 1971 and outlines the changes yet to come.

Jan 1, 1977

By W. Kempson

"Mining Companies have producing assets in increasingly diverse portions of the world. It is not uncommon that the owner, the design team, the mine contractors and the operators are all based in different countries. While these assets are always subject to the regulatory requirement of those countries there have not been international standards available to review and evaluate these assets. This becomes particularly important when considering safety critical items such as tailings dams, vertical shaft systems and autonomous vehicles to highlight a few. The work currently being completed in ISO ensures these standards will be available and will be generated by and subscribed to on an international basis, thus removing the potential for patriotic partisanship and ensuring safe and predictable systems are installed. This paper will discuss the benefits of the international standards, the structure of the teams and working groups who are generating these standards as well as the process by which the standards are generated. This will allow insight into the creation of the standard and will aim to demonstrate the “neutral” and technically strong manner in which the generation of these standards is achieved. In addition, the paper will discuss the standards which have been produced in the last five years as well as the current standards which are in place. The finale will discuss upcoming work and the timelines in which it is anticipated these will be completed. INTRODUCTION Mining Companies have producing assets in increasingly diverse portions of the world. While these assets are always subject to the regulatory requirement of those countries, there have not been international standards available to review and evaluate these assets. This becomes particularly important when considering safety critical areas such as vertical shaft systems, tailings dams and autonomous vehicles to highlight a couple. The work currently being completed in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) ensure these standards will be available and will be generated by and subscribed to on an international basis, thus removing the potential for patriotic partisanship and ensuring safe and predictable systems are installed. The ISO/TC 82 – Mining was founded in 1955. This was an active committee until it was thought that the standards at the time were adequate and the Technical Committee was put on “Care and Maintenance”. In 2012 countries lobbied ISO to pull this committee from dormancy and restart it, this happened in in the same year."

Jan 1, 2019

By Pizhi Zhao, Jingwei Zhao, Zhenshan Liu, Yiheng Cao

"A new Al-Mg-Si-Zn alloy designed for automotive outer panel was trial-produced with industrial procedure. The final product shows a strong planar anisotropy. X ray diffraction analysis shows such strong anisotropy is caused by the dominating cube texture component in the final product. The reason for such high cube texture component was investigated by tracing texture evolution starting from the hot roll slab. It is found that certain cube texture components already exists in the hot rolled slab. The density of cube texture component shows as a wavy change through the following1st cold rolling, inter-annealing, 2ndcold rolling and solution treatment. This study shows that the cold rolling in the laboratory can well represent the texture evolution during the industrial production. The results obtained by lab rolling hints that change of second cold rolling reduction has weak effect on the planar anisotropy, when the gauge of hot rolled slab and final sheet are fixed.INTRODUCTIONWith the rapid progress of light-weighting in the automotive industry, aluminum sheets get more and more application as closure panel and structure parts. Recently the dominating alloy for outer panel is 6xxx series, containing the main alloy elements Mg and Si. The popular gradesareAA6016,AA6111, AA6022, and AA6014. These alloys still cannot satisfy the various requirements from automotive manufacturers. Most suppliers of automotive aluminum sheets are developing their own specific grades according to the customer’s demand. To increase the baking response, anew Al-Mg-Si-Zn alloy was designed, concerning the high combination energy between Zn solutes and vacancies formed during the quenching stage of automotive sheet manufacture. This combination is helpful to the precipitation of ß”phase during the paint baking (Wang, 2015,2016; Yan, 2014).The plastic strain ratio (r value)is a key index of the formability of automotive body sheet. A high r value means a good formability. The r values in different directions can be used to evaluate the planar anisotropy of the metal sheets. The trial produced Al-Mg-Si-Zn sheet shows a strong planar anisotropy with respect to r values. Since the r value is tightly related with texture, the texture evolution from hot roll slab (HRS) to final T4P temper was analyzed with X ray diffraction (XRD) to find the reason for the high anisotropy. Besides, the cold rolling reduction (CRR) was varied in the laboratory to modify the texture distribution, i.e., the planar anisotropy."

Jan 1, 2018

By Sylvain Castonguay, Sylvain Pilon

"Operator competency is an important factor in the safe and successful operation of today’s complex processes. Competent process unit operators deliver superior performance and results. In greenfield projects, operator competency is particularly critical, as the lack of specific operations experience must be offset with proven practical knowledge and skills to avoid mistakes that can cost millions in terms of start-up delays, production losses and equipment damage. It is, therefore, important to know precisely what competencies are required for a project or site, and what any gaps in operator competency need to be addressed and improved. The success of plant commissioning, start-up and sustainable operations is directly tied to operator competency. The significant investments required for new projects, the exploitation of more challenging ore bodies, and the increasing complexity of plant operations have placed renewed emphasis on the need for competent operators. Furthermore, many large capital projects are being developed in remote regions, often with ties to the delivery of social benefits for the local population in terms of jobs, training and other development opportunities. While automation and processing technologies have helped do more with less, indicators now point to a bottleneck in human performance limiting operational results.Automation industry development in managing abnormal situations, including solutions for simulation and operator training, has produced applications to provide customized and flexible training methods. This paper will discuss tools to automate the operator competency process in order to guide trainers to effectively teach, measure, control, provide feedback, and monitor operator skills. Today’s competency management solutions can be effectively applied throughout the course of an operator’s professional life, as a guide to hiring new operators, for developing competencies to support operations, and also to develop and refine best practices and share lessons learned."

Jan 1, 2016

By Seshadri Seetharaman, Nurni N. Viswanathan, Haijuan Wang

The present work aims at some process modifications in specified metallurgical processes, wherein CO2 can be used successfully as an oxidant for decarburization in steelmaking and applied in some non-ferrous metals production processes. During the decarburization of Cr-containing high alloyed steels, the present researchers investigated the possible use of CO2 instead of Ar-O2 mixture and could successfully decarburize the steel melt without significant loss of alloyed Cr to the slag phase. A mathematical model was developed based on the bubble formation accompanying the chemical reaction: C(molten steel)+ CO2(gas)= 2 CO(gas). The model predictions were tested by laboratory scale (1 kg) experiments carried out in an induction furnace and very good agreement between the model predictions and experimental results were observed. A national project has been sanctioned in China for the implementation of CO2 in decarburization of ferroalloys as well enable the addition of pig iron in the electric arc furnace process when the scrap supply is limited. New processes have been developed for the utilization of CO2 in the case of non-ferrous processes. A novel method of treatment of Al dross by leaching with water and capturing the evolved NH3(formed by the hydrolysis of AlN) has shown very promising results.

Jan 1, 2015

By A. Vervoort, A. Govaerts

Geostatistical concepts are often difficult for students to understand, even those with a strong mathematical background. One of the main problems is the link between the variation of the parameter value in space or time and the calculated experimental semivariogram. Another challenge is differentiating between directional and omnidirectional semivariograms and their interpretation. For these reasons, interactive tools were developed based on the free public domain software R. The use of these interactive tools is limited to educational situations only (i.e., to visualize basic concepts). The interactive modules can be accessed at www.bwk.kuleuven.be/geostatistics.

Jan 1, 2014