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By Ephraim Jeya Kumari

The demand for the titanium dioxide pigments and the shortage of higher-grade titaniferous ores with low radioactivity and zircon sands worldwide has encouraged the development of new techniques for the beneficiation of lesser grade titaniferous ores. The inferior quality ores are invariably richer in radio-active and lanthanide oxides, which severely interfere with the fluidized bed chlorination reaction (FBCR), in which ultra-high purity titanium tetrachloride is distilled off for pigment manufacture. However the present beneficiation techniques require high quality ilmenite ores and are not suitable for upgrading lower grade ilmenite ores which do posses trace metals in the form of lanthanides and actinides as Al-phosphates and zirconium silicates, respectively. The presence of mineral hosts, zircon sand and monazite in ilmenite and anatase also increase in chlorine gas consumption in the FBCR and contribute to a larger volume of hazardous waste production, which must be neutralised at a significant cost before being disposed off safely. In view of the problems described for lanthanide (Ce, Nd etc) and actinide (Th, U) trace impurities in titaniferous ores, an alternative route, which is flexible and more accommodating for processing difficult ores, is discussed. In the new process, which may be used for richer grades of ores too, the ore is roasted in air with sodium carbonate below 950°C to promote the formation of water-soluble sodium ferrite and insoluble sodium titanate phases. In this investigation, the high-temperature roasting process and the ensuing hydrometallurgical leaching steps have been analysed in the context of selective separation of lanthanide and actinide minerals from the main titaniferous mineral structures. Evidences for the selective separation are presented based on the chemical (XRD, XRF, AA) and microstructural analysis (SEM, EDX, EPMA) of roasted mass and the leached product. The efficiency of selective separation is also reported based on the chemicals analysis and the particle size of the materials derived after leaching. The paper highlights the various thermodynamic aspects of reaction equilibrium in the Fe-Ti-O-Na system, and the effect of Eh-pH diagram in the determination of pH required for the better control of the removal of iron and sodium. Two different types of Ti ores, namely ilmenite and anatase, their crystal structure and the phase transformation will also be explained on the basis of wet chemical analysis, XRF, XRD, EPMA and SEM-EDX studies. The method developed examines the technological feasibility of the selective separation process.

Jan 1, 2006

By Melvin H. Miles

"Considerable research has been conducted on the anodic oxidation of methanol in fuel cells. The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide in aqueous solutions to form methanol is the same reaction in reverse, i.e. CO2 + 6 H+ + 6 e- ? CH3OH + H2O. The same catalysts and conditions may operate for both reaction directions. This carbon dioxide reduction reaction, however, must be able to compete with the electrochemical reduction of water to form hydrogen gas. Thermodynamically, the reduction of CO2 to form CH3OH is slightly more favorable than the reduction of water. The use of nearly neutral electrolytes rather than acidic electrolytes makes the reduction of CO2 kinetically more favorable. The thermodynamics of various reaction steps are presented. Similarities exist with the electrochemical reduction of CO2 and the green-plant photosynthesis process that converts CO2 to carbohydrates.IntroductionVirtually all of the oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere is of biological origin having been generated by green-plant photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide [1]. The net reaction can be represented byCO2 + H2O ? O2 + [CH2O] (carbohydrates, etc.) (1)Chlorophyll and enzymes promote this reaction, and the energy required comes from sunlight. The actual photosynthesis process is a complex multistage reaction and requires 469 kJ mol-1 of energy supplied by the sun. Isotope tracer experiments using 18O have shown that both the oxygen atoms in the O2 molecule originate from H2O, whereas oxygen atoms in the carbohydrates come from CO2 [1]. The total amount of water on the earth is split by photosynthesis and reconstituted by respiration and combustion once every 2 million years or so. The photosynthetically generated oxygen gas temporarily enters the atmosphere and is recycled about once every 2000 years [1]. The carbon dioxide is partly recycled in the atmosphere and oceans after an average residence time of 300 years and is partly fixed by precipitation of CaCO3 and other carbonate minerals [1]."

Jan 1, 2008

By Sylvain Gouttebroze, Mohammed M'Hamdi

In a previous work, a small scale Bridgman furnace has been used to study silicon bi-grain crystallization at different cooling rate. This work expands the analysis by studying the mechanical interaction between the crucible and ingot during the solidification and cooling. The thermal model is based on a 2D-axisymetric heat-transfer model. The flux histories are then transferred to the ingot-crucible 3D-model. Anisotropic Elastic and Crystal Plasticity model are used to model the silicon deformation. Four different assumptions are applied to model the mechanical contact crucible-ingot and three grain misorientations are considered. The results show the strong impact of the alumina crucible contraction on the stresses and deformations in the silicon ingot.

Jan 1, 2015

By Rongshan Qin, Dengfu Chen, Yan Zhao, Mingtu Ma, Yang Li, Xinming Wan

A two dimensional cellular automaton (CA) model coupled with finite element (FE) method has been developed for simulating the formation of solidified microstructure during beam blank continuous casting, which represents columnar and equiaxed dendrites growth in the case of detailed secondary cooling boundary conditions. In this model, a new adaptive mesh division is proposed to couple CA cubic lattice and irregular FE mesh of beam blank. A double-accuracy liner interpolation method is employed to obtain micro CA temperature field via macro FE calculation. The nucleation process and the velocity of dendrite tip are calculated by continuous nucleation model and KGT model, respectively. Moreover, the preferred orientation of dendrite growth is determined using a probabilistic model. The effects of super heat and casting speed on the microstructure characteristics are analyzed. This model can be applied to optimize processing parameters for beam blank continuous casting basing on microstructure evaluation.

Jan 1, 2015

By T. Maruyama

Tamano Smelter of Hibi Kyodo Smelting Co., Ltd. has been operating with one Flash Furnace (FSFE) and three Peirce-Smith Converters since its start-up in 1972. Anode production capacity has increased from 101,000 to 263,000 t/y by the several expansion programs, while converter capacity has increased and stable operation has been established by several improvements as listed below. - Expanding the furnace body (length) - Development of two kinds of automatic scrap charging system for each converter. (Increasing the in-stack time and better control of the melt temperature) - Oxygen enrichment at slag blow and copper blow - Increasing the blowing rate This paper reports the details of these improvements.

Jan 1, 1998

By Jian Li

Corrosion resistance of materials is highly dependent on the microstructure of the specific material. Apart from general corrosion rate measurement using techniques like linear polarization and A.C. impedance, microstructural investigations are frequently needed to identify the root cause of corrosion. Advanced techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), have been well integrated into routine characterization studies. Other microscopy techniques, including electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA), Auger, X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), can provide detailed chemistry information on corrosion products. In recent years, focused-ion beam (FIB) microscopes have evolved into an important microstructural characterization instrument. In this study, corrosion of rebar encased in concrete was studied in great detail using advanced microscopy techniques. Corrosion product on the rebar surface was identified as ferrous oxide with relatively large crystal size. The morphology of this passive layer was thoroughly analyzed, and its formation mechanism is proposed.

Jan 1, 2009

By Gerardo R. F. Alvear, Alistair S. Burrows, Stanko Nikolic, James S. Edwards

"The copper ISASMELT™ process has evolved over more than a quarter of a century and can now be considered mainstream, with single furnaces producing more than 340,000 tpa of copper in matte. The next evolutionary step for the ISASMELT™ technology is to directly challenge the dominance of the Peirce-Smith converter by the implementation of a continuous copper converting process on a commercial scale. The present work describes the status of the continuous converting process – ISACONVERT™.Continuous converting has been performed successfully in pilot scale ISACONVERT™ plants, where operating results have verified the predictions of fundamental research and reinforced the underlying confidence in the design parameters. From a matte feed rate of 250 kg/hr, a calcium ferrite slag and a low-sulfur blister have been produced. Design is now complete for the first commercial application of the ISACONVERT™ process. The present paper describes the status of ISACONVERT™ by summarising results of recent pilot plant tests and describing the first commercial plant design."

Jan 1, 2009

By Norbert L. Piret

During smelting of copper, arsenic in the feed reports to a large extent to the gas phase and some enters the anode copper. From the gas phase it is transferred during wet gas cleaning directly, or indirectly after dust processing, to aqueous solution. During the electrorefining and anode slimes processing, the anode arsenic content is also transferred to aqueous solution. Technology for the efficient removal of arsenic from process streams and cleaning of aqueous effluents is well established. However, the arsenic-bearing products, which thereby are generated, can vary widely in consistency, quality and quantity, from large amounts of gypsum contaminated with water-soluble arsenic compounds to residues with high arsenic content ' or arsenic products. Arsenic management in a copper smelter not only is involved with the duty of compliance to the gaseous and aqueous emissions standards but also should have as objective the minimization of the generation of arsenic-bearing and, in general, heavy metal-bearing solid waste. The present paper outlines options and the associated economic aspects for minimization of arsenic-bearing solid waste generation, for improvement of the environmental compatibility of the residues to be deposited and for the .production of commerciable arsenic compounds under appropriate market conditions.

Jan 1, 1999

By Alex Moyano

The Peirce-Smith converters are traditionally carrying out the converting process of a copper matte in the smelters of Codelco-Chile. However, its production increment is very limited due to the investment magnitude associated to the fulfillment of the environmental regulation. The objective of this paper is to present the Codelco continuous converting process technological advance when converting mattes and/or white metal into blister copper in a Teniente converter unit as an alternative to increment the corporative anode copper production. In 1994, Codelco-Chile started evaluating its ?home made technology? as an alternative to the traditional batch-type converting process. By the year 2001, the Caletones smelter converted liquid white metal to blister copper in a rearranged PS converter continuously. Then, during the 2001-2003 period, several pilot and industrial scale tests were done in a Teniente converter unit at Codelco Norte smelter, evaluating the continuous converting process, i.e., processing liquid mattes (62-68% Cu) to blister copper, demonstrating its technical feasibility with: (i) both constant production of gas flow and SO2 concentration, (ii) production of liquid slag, and (iii) production of a clean blister copper, suitable for the refining process. The promising results have led Codelco-Chile to plan for the 2006 period, a next advanced stage for the continuous converting process evaluation by carrying out a new campaign of tests in a Teniente converter unit at the Codelco Norte smelter.

Jan 1, 2006

By E. S. Geskin, W. L. Chen, A. Vora

"This paper is concerned with the application of an abrasive waterjet for metal shaping. The waterjet cutting technology uses water compressed to the pressure up to 55,000 psia which is accelerated in a cylindric nozzle. Abrasive particles are then supplied into the water stream and accelerated by the water. Cutting occurs via the interaction between the water-particles stream and a workpiece that causes material erosion at the impingement zone. The mechanism of this interaction enables shaping of practically any material with a minimal effect on the metallurgy of subsurface. The motion of the jet penetrating through a material body is guided by a robotic arm. A waterjet cutter is becoming one of the principal tools for shaping titanium, super-alloys and other hard-to-machine metals and composites. The shaping, resulting from the waterjet cutter, is very similar to laser beam cutting. However, unlike laser processing, there is no damage to the subsurface structure.The presented work discusses the experimental study of cutting of titanium plates. The results of these experiments demonstrate the potential of the abrasive waterjet as a shaping tool. IntroductionOne of the main avenues in the development of metal shaping is the use of high energy beams as cutting tools (1,2). There are a number of advanced beam oriented material removal technologies, such as laser, electron beam, plasma and abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting. The advantages of AWJ cutting are well understood and documented (3-14). This technology has the potential of becoming the principal tool for netshaping and netsurfacing of parts. However, the use of AWJ is currently limited to cutting of hard-to-machine materials such as titanium, superalloys, glass, composites, etc. The cost of A W J cutting is much higher and the productivity is much lower than those of the thermal cutting. At the same time abrasive waterjet can be used for shaping any existing technological material from fabrics, plastics, aluminum to glass, composites, and diamonds. The material losses during AWJ shaping are minimal. The roughness and waveness of the surfaces generated during AWJ cutting are substantially less than those of the thermal cutting. Due to the size of the jet cross-section total force exerted by the jet on a workpiece does not exceed 30-50 newtons. This terminates the need in the use of complex fixture for material holding. Low applied forces and low surface temperature prevent the damage of metal subsurface in the course of cutting. The small size of the impingement area will determine the limited width of the kerf. Due to the size of kerf and unidirectional character of the water jet the formation of practically any metal contour is possible."

Jan 1, 1988

By Takayoshi Fujii, Mitsumasa Hoshi, Chikashi Suenaga, Yoshiaki Suzuki

"In a bid to renovate its Saganoseki Smelter & Refinery and to establish a leading production unit in terms of global competitiveness, Nippon Mining & Metals undertook major - restructuring efforts since 1993.One of its themes was the shift from a two-flash furnaces operation to a single-flash furnace operation. The shift was successfully completed in 1996 while maintaining the production at the same level (330,000 metric tons per year of copper) by adopting such measures as improvements in pneumatic concentrate dryers, the concentrate feeding system, concentrate burners, the furnace cooling system, and a new cryogenic oxygen plant was constructed.With a view to realizing high matte grade operation (at 65%Cu) and increasing the concentrate feeding rate, further steps were taken the capacity of waste heat boiler was expanded and technical improvements were added, including optimization of the smelting reaction in the furnace shaft. As a result, the smelting capacity, as of the year 2000, has increased to 450,000 metric tons per year of copper.IntroductionThe feed rate to the flash furnace was doubled to 140 t/h from 70 t/h in 1996. Teething problems, as a result of the renovation, were almost solved by the end of 1996, and the operation of the single furnace operation has become stable.The main theme was the shift from a two-flash furnaces operation to a single-furnace operation to maintain the production capacity at the same level, namely 330,000 metric tons of copper per year. Then, in a bid to further renovate the Saganoseki Smelter & Refinery and to establish a leading production unit in terms of global competitiveness, further enhancement of the flash furnace's productivity was planned.The purpose of this plan was to raise the copper production capacity to 450,000 mtpy building on the potentialities of existing plants and without installing new equipment."

Jan 1, 2000

By Mieke Campforts

The usefulness of the water-cooled probe technique to experimentally study slag solidification and freeze lining formation in pyrometallurgical reactors is evaluated. With this technique a layer of solidified slag is formed on a water-cooled probe that is submerged into a liquid slag bath. The influence of the submergence time and the heat input is examined. The solidified layers are analyzed with light microscopy, electron microscopy, electron probe micro-analysis and X-ray diffraction. Thermodynamic software is used to interpret the solidification microstructure. The results demonstrate that the technique is useful to understand freeze lining formation.

Jan 1, 2006

By Francis Vanbellen

Umicore Precious Metals Refining operates an integrated precious metals smelting and refining plant in Hoboken, Belgium. Once a smelter and refiner of complex concentrates, the plant today?s feed consists exclusively of industrial and consumer recycled products, making it the world?s largest recycling facility for precious metals. Unlike the fairy tale of the Frog Prince, it took much more than a princess? kiss to successfully realize this makeover. A completely renewed plant has been built over the past decade.

Jan 1, 2006

By Renxing Li, Yongyong Gong, Yufeng Cheng, Zhenxing Yin, Xin Cao, Qijie Zhai

"This paper investigated the refinement effect of pulse magneto-oscillation (PMO) on the solidification structures of medium carbon steel S45C in metal mould. The induction coil was positioned at the middle of ingot. The results showed that solidification structure of the treated ingots was remarkably modified with a transformation from well-developed dendritic structures to small dendritic structures or globular structures compared to the untreated ingot. The area fraction of modified microstructure regions reached more than 80 percent. A further experimental investigation had been done to understand the influence of refinement effect on the solidification structure under different mould size. Theoretical analysis demonstrated that the mechanism for the refinement of solidification structure was that PMO promoted nucleation near the mould walls and changed the interface temperature gradient and concentration gradient in liquid, eventually leading to a transition from the columnar crystals to the equiaxed crystals.IntroductionIn recent two decades, the electromagnetic processing of materials (EPM) has been widely used in many fields such as ironmaking, steelmaking, and solidification processing [1-6], where EPM can control melt flow, modify melt shape, reduce macro-segregation and refine microstructure. Pulse magneto-oscillation [7-9] (PMO), as a novel technique of EPM, has a remarkable effect on grain refinement and high potentiality to be used in industrial production. Compared with ultrasound refinement technique, PMO can be easily employed to metal solidification processing for long time in no contact with hot metal liquid by using a water-cooled coil. Another important advantage is that PMO needs smaller energy compared to pulsed magnetic field which needs a very high current to obtain a strong magnetic field to get a satisfactory effect. These advantages mentioned above are beneficial for industrial application, which make it potential to be widely used in future. Gong et al. [7] have studied the refinement effect of PMO on pure aluminum and find that PMO can significantly modify the solidification structure of pure aluminum. Li et al. [9] have reported the effect of temperature field on solidification structure under the influence of PMO. On the basis of these works, this paper has studied the effect of PMO on solidification process of medium carbon steel S45C in a metal mould, which can also provide some information for industrial application of this new technique."

Jan 1, 2012

By Ted H. Eyde

Natural Zeolites are a less expensive and in certain applications a superior alternative to organic ion exchange resins. Mining and metallurgical waste streams are difficult to treat because the effluents which contain potentially valuable heavy metals such as copper, lead, and silver are often highly acidic and contain significant quantities of suspended solids. Under rigorous operational conditions, certain natural zeolites can remove the metals, which if desired can be recovered by either elution or conventional smelting techniques. There are significant differences in cation exchange rate, selectivity and capacity as well as resistance to either high or low pH, blocking cations and tolerance to elevated or depressed temperature and pressure not only between different zeolite minerals but between the same mineral from different deposits. Applying natural zeolites to the treatment of mining and metallurgical waste streams depends on matching the specific zeolite to the effluent by characterization of the zeolite minerals.

Jan 1, 1993

By G. A. Brooks, R. W. Matusewicz, Nazmul Huda

"A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model of a conventional tuyere blown slag fuming furnace has been developed in Eulerian multiphase flow approach. The model was developed by coupling CFD with kinetics equations developed by Richards et al. for zinc fuming furnaces. The model integrates submerged coal combustion and chemical reactions with the heat, mass and momentum interfacial interaction between the phases in the system. The model predicts the velocity, temperature field of the molten slag bath, generated turbulence, vortex and coal utilization behavior from the slag bath. The highest coal penetration distance was found to be at l/L = 0.2, where / is the distance from the tuyere tip and L is the total length (2.44m) of the modeled furnace. The model also predicts that 10% of the injected coal bypasses the tuyere gas stream un-combusted and carried to the free surface, which contributes to ZnO reduction near the free surface.IntroductionSignificant metal values are often discarded with slag in the form of metal oxide produced by the smelting industries. These metal values can be recovered from the slag by proper treatment. Zinc slag fuming is such a process, where a reductant source (usually coal) is injected in the molten slag bath to reduce dissolved ZnO from the bath into metallic zinc vapour. The process can be carried out in either conventional tuyere blown furnace or top submerged lance (TSL) smelting furnace. Conventional slag fuming processes are carried out on batch basis in a rectangular tuyere blown furnace. Approximately 50 tonnes of charge (either molten slag or solid slag) is fed to the furnace at the beginning of each fuming cycle. Two opposing sets of submerged tuyeres are employed to inject air and pulverized coal into the molten slag bath to carry out combustion and reducing reactions."

Jan 1, 2012

By T. W. Gonzales

The refractory performance of Peirce-Smith converters is considered to be mainly determined by effects of process control and refractory installation design. BHP Copper has shown that, over the last four years, considerable improvements in tuyere line life can be affected .by maintaining a uniform temperature in the operating converter and by ensuring sufficient and specific placement of expansion allowance in the construction of the refractory brickwork. A combination of optimized crane availability, rapid matte transfer, converter operating practices, new refractory installation techniques and applications has minimized out-of stack time. In addition, larger diameter tuyere pipes and hard piping have increased blowing rates and lowered cycle times, which has resulted in a tuyere line performance in excess of 62,500 tonnes of blister copper before maintenance is required. This paper discusses the refractory installation design changes that were made to increase tuyere line life.

Jan 1, 1999

By Fumito Tanaka

The Converting Furnace (C-furnace) of the Mitsubishi process has solely provided opportunities for producing blister copper continuously from molten matte. Continuous converting originates from the proven technology for controlling the behavior of magnetite in lime-ferrite slag of the CaO-FeOX-Cu2O system. Recent improvements in the C-furnace operation have included the slag controls reflecting the impact of minor oxides on magnetite behavior. Although previous investigations focused on magnetite behavior, sulfur has also affected the C-furnace operation because it is of practical importance to avoid the precipitation of gypsum from lime-ferrite slag and the separation of matte from blister copper. This paper will quantify the behavior of sulfur in C-furnace with respect to the gypsum formation and matte separation, and discuss better controls for C-furnace operation.

Jan 1, 2006

By V. M. Paretsky

Most recent developments made in the Gintsvetmet Institute in the field of technologies and equipment for single-stage autogenous smelting of copper sulfide raw materials to produce white metal and blister copper on the basis of oxygen-flame smelting process and separation of highly basic calcium-containing slags have been discussed. This technology includes the oxygen-flame smelting process (KFP Process) to produce highly basic self-disintegrating ferrite-calcium slags with their subsequent flotation to recover copper and a basically new sparging smelting process (FBP Process) to produce combined slags subjected to decopperizing inside the same furnace. Results of special investigations of the slag structure obtained in the KFP and FBP processes and substantiating selection of their chemical and phase composition have been presented. It has been demonstrated that the above processes meet the stringent world-level requirements to advanced technologies with respect to energy conservation and environmental safety with different scales of production and within a wide range of specific conditions of particular operations.

Jan 1, 2006

By Mark William Kennedy

"Electric furnaces containing high quantities of slag are applied in many areas of pyrometallurgy, often for smelting or slag cleaning. A variety of ratios or rules of thumb have been employed in the industry for the dimensioning of these vessels, in most cases with no clear technical basis.In this paper, several design guidelines are presented (electrode size, spacing, vessel dimensions, energy intensity, etc.) as an attempt to provide some technical basis for optimal dimensioning.Furnace heat generation is related to side wall copper cooler heat losses, in an attempt to establish a methodical design strategy particularly for minimum electrode to wall spacing for modern furnaces with cooled linings.Issues regarding the true nature of heat production in a slag furnace are discussed with regards to the possible impact on accurate modeling and design.IntroductionSlag furnaces have passed through a number of design 'generations' characterized by increasing energy intensities, improved electrode technologies and advancing development in their physical structure or 'furnace integrity' as shown in Table I f 1]. A 3rd generation furnace using ultra-high-power (UHP) graphite electrodes is shown in Figure 1, as a generic example of the types of physical structures present in modern slag furnace designs [1]."

Jan 1, 2012