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By Hidefusa Takahara, Koichi Miyake, Dierk Raabe

"Mechanical properties of copper wires were examined. The copper wires containing 5-10 mass % chromium and 1-3 mass % silver were produced through heavily cold deformation. It was expected that the copper wire was easily fractured during cold deformation because of the existence of brittle chromium phase in the alloy. In fact, the copper wire was fractured due to large work hardening, when the true strain [n] exceeded 5. However, the copper wire annealed at 1273K for 6 ks ·in the middle of deformation process could be smoothly drawn to 11=8. After precipitation treatment for silver phase at 473k for 1.8 ks, the wire was able to further drawn to n=8.4. The final deformed wire showed tensile strength higher than 1200MPa.IntroductionDownsizing of electronic devices has led to the demand of finer and higher strength materials for cables. Conventional copper alloys have about 800MPa in ultimate tensile strength. These strength are mainly obtained by precipitation hardening. Nowadays, a process for higher strength wire has been developed, where dual phase copper alloy is used. When it is drawn heavily, the' second phase is elongated along drawing direction and the wire gets high strength due to fiber reinforcement (1). That alloy is so called in-situ formed fiber reinforced ·alloy. Cu-Ag(2), Cu-Nb(3) and Cu-Cr(4) systems are well known as such alloys. It is also well known that chromium is brittle material except single crystal and high purity of chromium. However, Mihara et al. C5l have achieved 1 GPa in ultimate tensile strength in the Cu-Cr-Zr and Cu-Cr-Ti alloys by appropriate thermo-mechanical processing.In this study, the Cu-Cr-Ag systems were investigated: The alloys contained 10 or 5% chromium and 3 or 1 % silver. It was demonstrated that silver precipitated in copper matrix contributed on further hardening."

Jan 1, 2000

By Upali Siriwardane, Tushar V. Kudale, Naidu V. Seetala

"Cellulose acetate (CA) membranes with 25% triethyl citrate (TEC) as plasticizer were prepared with varying thickness for CO2 gas separation from water-gas-shift (WGS) reaction products. The AFM analysis of the CA membrane showed that the uniform coating had fewer and smaller pores as the film thickness increased, and corroborated by gas permeability studies. The CO2 permeability has decreased faster than CO permeability with the CA/TEC membrane thickness, and findings support that the CA membrane could be used to entrap CO2. Several CA/TEC membranes were also staked to increase the separation efficiency. Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS) was used to estimate the nano-porosity (pore size and concentration) changes of CA/TEC films. PALS results show a decrease in pore size with increasing CA-TEC concentration in acetone, while the pore concentration increases. The PALS results are correlated with the CO2/CO permeability variations as the CA-TEC concentration change.IntroductionHydrogen is one of the main energy sources available for the future advancement of clean fuel technologies especially for fuel cells. Generation of hydrogen and CO2 from Water Gas Shift (WGS) reaction mixtures of CO and H2O is of interest to many researchers since it allows a large scale production of hydrogen [1, 2]. Once hydrogen is produced using the WGS reaction, the output products contain mixture of CO, CO2, H2, and water vapor. Metallic membranes have been used as hydrogen separation membranes [3-6]. As H2 is separated from the mixture using the metal membranes, we need to separate CO2, and find ways of sequestration of CO2 to avoid environmental problems by greenhouse gasses. Polymeric Membranes have been used for CO2 separation [7]. Plasticizer can control the micro-structural properties such as pore size and concentration of polymer membranes [8], which influence the size/molecular weight dependent diffusion rates of the gas molecules. We have used cellulose acetate with triethyl citrate as plasticizer to separate CO2 from the WGS reaction products. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) is very sensitive and able to identify different kinds of defects and their agglomerates such as vacancies, vacancy loops, and voids [9, 10]. PALS has been successful in determining the free volume in polymers that influence the properties of the polymers [11, 12]. Microscopic properties of the free volume obtained from PALS have been correlated to macroscopic properties [13, 14]. We used PALS to study the nanoporosity (pore size and concentration) and fractional free volume changes of CA/TEC films, and used to understand the variations observed in the CO2/CO permeability as the CA-TEC concentration in the membranes change."

Jan 1, 2014

By Gaballah Djona M.

Spent hydrorefining catalysts contain about 5 % of CoO and/or NiO, 12 % of MoO3 and up to 10 % of V205. They are generally supported by alumina and contain up to 25 percent of C, S and hydrocarbons. Such materials are potentially hazardous to the soil and to water resources. Selective chlorination of raw unroasted samples with Cl2 + air gas mixture had been investigated. At temperatures lower than 600 °C, it was possible to recover more than 90 % of nickel and cobalt chlorides, about 99 % of the molybdenum and up to 75 % of vanadium chlorinated compounds. CoCl2 and Ni/Cl2 were extracted from the chlorination residues by their dissolution with acidified water. Molybdenum and vanadium chlorinated compounds were recovered by selective condensation from the vapor phase. The chlorination of Al2O3 could be limited to less than 6 %. The scale up of this treatment was successful and a flow-sheet is proposed.

Jan 1, 1995

By Tuula Mäkinen

One of the latest applications of the Outokumpu Flash Smelting Technology is the direct smelting ,of nickel concentrates to metallised low-iron nickel mattes. Compared to the conventional nickel smelting, the new DON process needs a lower number of smelting vessels resulting in considerable economic and environmental benefits. Fundamentals of smelting nickel concentrates in one stage to low-iron mattes are presented. Properties of nickel. smelting slags with an emphasis of the slag fluidity at high MgO-levels are also discussed. Conditions prevailing in DON mattes at high oxidation degrees are presented as well as their influence on the behaviour of such mattes in the settler and on tapping the furnace. Distributions of elements in the direct smelting are presented and compared with the conventional process. A further comparison is made with pilot-plant data and the industrial scale.

Jan 1, 1998

By Yoichi Takeda

Copper solubility in SiO2-CaO-FeOx slag equilibrated with copper matte in 10% SO2 atmosphere at 1573K was estimated. Essential parameters are activity coefficients of copper oxide and sulfide, oxygen and sulfur potentials and activity of copper in the slag-matte system. A large number of experiments provide proper parameters to calculate copper solubility in slag, A classical thcrmodynamic model postulating CuO0.5 and CuS0.5 moleculcs assists in estimating copper solubility in slag. Additions of Si02 and CaO reduce copper solubility almost in any condition. Copper loss, that is function copper solubility and slag volume, in the silica saturated SiO2-FeO. binary slag is minimally equilibrated with less than 66% copper matte while copper loss in the 50% FeO.-SiO2-CaO ternary slag saturated with 2CaOSiO2 is minimally equilibrated with over 66% copper matte. This slag composition has potential for continuous copper converting, direct copper production or high-grade matte production.

Jan 1, 2003

By A. S. Usrnani

Due to both turbulence and the highly variable geometry of castings, a realistic numerical simulation of the metal flow is prohibitvely expensive with current technology. However, when the chief purpose is to achieve realistic thermal fields a precise How simulation is not necessarily required. In this paper we assume a laminar flow regime and obtain the flow field by solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations using a velocity-pressure segregated semi-implicit finite element method. The free metal surface is predicted by advecting a pseudo-concentration function via the computed How field. This involves an explicit finite element solution of a pure advection equation. The thermal field is calculated by solving the convective-diffusive energy equation by an explicit finite element method using the computed flow field and the location of the free surface. All the advection terms are discretized using a Taylor-Galerkin method. The interface between the metal and mould is modelled using special interface elements. The model is demonstrated by solving practical example problems. The results show that a sharp thermal front is maintained during the course of filling without excessive diffusion. The heat diffusion in the mould can be controlled by varying the metal mould heat transfer coefficient.

Jan 1, 1994

By D. Majuste

This paper describes an experimental approach to evaluate the effect of organic impurities or even additives on metal electrowinning and product quality. In addition to electrowinning tests and electrochemical measurements, the approach includes organic analysis by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography; video monitoring of the reaction interface; and product characterization by using scanning electron microscopy, crystallographic texture and bending tests. The mechanical behavior of metal cathodes was assessed with a customized bending device that is able to bend the cathodes up to angles similar to that of the stripping machine. In this work, the effect of a potential organic impurity, lubricating oil, on the production of electrolytic zinc is taken as a case study. The findings of the investigation allowed a better understanding on the role of this organic on energy consumption and product quality and a qualitative prediction for the behavior of Zn cathodes during the stripping operation. Simple control and optimization procedures resulted in significant energy savings.

By B. R. Westphal

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) concept being developed by Argonne National Laboratory is based on the pyrometallurgical processing of spent nuclear metallic fuel with subsequent fabrication into new reactor fuel by an injection casting process. During fabrication, a dilute scrap stream containing uranium alloy fines and broken quartz (Vycor) molds is produced. Waste characterization of this stream, developed by using present operating data and chemical analysis, was used to evaluate different uranium recovery methods and possible process variations for the return of the recovered metal. Two methods, comminution with size separation and electrostatic separation, have been tested and can successfully recover over 94% of the metal. Recycling the recovered metal to the injection casting process was evaluated for the different economic and process impacts. The physical waste parameters and the important separation process variables are discussed relative to their effects on the viability of recycling the material. A discussion of the criteria that is being used to establish the acceptable operating limits is also presented.

Jan 1, 1992

By B. C. Blakey

Unlike most hydrometallurgical slurries, those containing significant concentrations of goethite are typically highly viscous and shear-thinning, even at solid volume fractions below 5%. The viscosity may also depend upon time. These characteristics must be taken into consideration in slurry transport and heating. The technical literature is replete with apparent contradictions regarding the viscous behavior of these slurries, which may be due, in part, to variations in viscosity-measuring techniques. We present techniques that yield consistent results suitable for use in process design. A striking degree of time-dependent behavior is demonstrated for a laterite slurry. Reliable methods to design and analyze tubular transport and heating systems for time-independent slurries are summarized. Rules of thumb are then offered to account for the effects of time-dependency.

Jan 1, 2000

By Jing Lin, Yuan Xu, Qingcai Liu, Dengfu Cheng

"Smelting reduction technology has been developed greatly in recent years. But one of the key problems for this technology is about the refractory that used as lining material in the molten bath. Investigation and test shown that corrosion rate of refractory was much higher and the corrosion mechanism was much more complexity in the molten bath of smelting reduction with iron bath than that of the blast furnace and rotary furnace technology [l-5]. The corrosion behavior and corrosion rate of Al2OrC-ZrO2 series refractory in the melt of smelting reduction with iron bath have been studied by rotary immersion and quasi-static immersion test in this paper. The major factors that affect the interaction between the melt and refractory were investigated. The test results shown that the corrosion rate of AI2O 3-C-ZrO2 series refractory decreased with the ZrO2 increasing when ZrO2 content was from 3% to 10%. Ferrous oxides content, relative moving speed between the melt and refractory and temperature of the molten bath were the important factors that affect the corrosion rate. But the ferrous oxides concentration was the most important one. The corrosion rate was increased as a linear relation with the rising of ferrous oxides content of the melt. The corrosion rate in the quasi-static immersion was much less than that of the dynamic immersion (rotary immersion) for the Al2O 3-CZrO2 series refractory in the same testing condition. The corrosion mechanism of Al2OrC-ZrO2 series refractory is: graphite oxidized in advance, then interaction between the constituents of refractory and melt taken place and deteriorate layer of refractory and new compounds were formed, the properties of refractory was changed.IntroductionSmelting reduction with iron bath is a typical technology [3, 4, 6]. The obvious features of the melt for smelting reduction technology with iron bath are much higher ferrous oxides and much more complexity melt composition and structure than that of the blast furnace technology [2, 5-8]. The properties of the melt were changed dynamicilly and constantly in reduction process. On the other hand, the behavior of the melt depends on the activity and the reduction rate of ferrous oxides in the molten bath[9]. Because of the high concentration of ferrous oxides in slag and high reduction rate in the molten bath, the corrosion behavior and corrosion mechanism of the refractory lining by melt are an important factor in development of the technology of smelting reduction with iron bath. Up to now, improving refractory quality to anti-corrosion of melt and developing high quality and long term refractory used as the lining refractory materials in the molten bath of the final reduction furnace are also the most important questions for developing smelting reduction technology."

Jan 1, 2000

By Michele L. Bustamante, Gabrielle Gaustad

In recent years, t h e future supply of tellurium has been called into question due to the anticipated rapidly increasing demand from thin film cadmium telluride photovoltaics. Since tellurium is produced as a byproduct of other extractive processes – principally, the electrolytic refining of primary copper sulfide ore – it is important to explore the dynamics of the parent metal extraction and processing – in this case copper – when attempting to answer this question. This research explores the changing landscape of global copper production; introducing system diagramming and the concept of byproduct intensity (BPI) to illustrate concerning downward trends in tellurium supply potential. Upon closer inspection, it is concluding that, while a likely contributor to these downward trends, the increased use of non- traditional copper production techniques alone are not responsible; other factors include market substitution and incomplete data reporting. Additionally, a review of literature on tellurium recovery processing reveals a promising outlook for future supplies; highlighting potential for improvements in yield, which allow producers to make better use of what is available, even in the face of suppressed BPI.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. J. Collins

A hydrometallurgical process has been tested at the Sherritt Research Centre for separation of zinc, lead, copper and precious metal values from the zinc oxide fume leach residue stockpiled at the HBM&S operations in Flin Flon, Manitoba. Zinc is found primarily as zinc femte and sphalerite in the residue, lead as lead sulphate and jarosite, and copper as sulphide and jarositic compounds. Gypsum and siliceous gangue are significant diluents. The separation process includes hot acid, atmospheric and reducing (sulphur dioxide) leaching; zinc, copper and lead flotation; and atmospheric iron removal steps. Zinc is recovered to a high strength zinc sulphate solution and to a zinc sulphide concentrate suitable for feed to a roaster or to a zinc pressure leach plant; lead to a high grade lead sulphate concentrate suitable for feed to a lead smelter, and copper to a high grade copper sulphide concentrate suitable for feed to a copper smelter. Precious metals are divided between the zinc, lead and copper concentrates.

Jan 1, 1993

By Christopher Gammons

In developing countries throughout the world, gold ores are being processed by mercury amal-gamation, a technique long banned in the U.S. - unless a retort operation is used for mercury recovery - due to mercury toxicity and its effects on the environment. Amalgamation is a simple process that involves contacting a ground, slurried concentrate or ore with mercury in a slightly agitated vessel, usually for several hours, The amalgamated mercury is separated by gravity and then filtered through a fine cloth to collect the gold amalgam as a sponge, which is then fired to remove the final remnants of mercury and produce high quality gold. However, in Peru and other developing countries in South America and throughout the world, tailings are simply discarded into uncontrolled drainages and ponds and the sponge is fired in the open air. Clearly, in this case, environmental friendly and, to make matters worse, is typically conducted by family members of all ages without proper protection. Furthermore, the technique is inefficient, yielding approximately 50% gold recovery. For the past two years, faculty members from Montana Tech in Butte, MT, USA and the Universidad Nactonal del Altiplano in Puno, Peru have teamed to study the La Rinconada Mine Complex located in southern Peru approximately 100 kilometers north of Lake Titicaca and 25 kilometers west of Bolivia. The mining complex is over 5,000 meters above sea level and exists at the foot of a receding glacier in the Andes Mountains. A suite of soil and water samples collected in 2001 documented extensive Hg contamination in the Rinconada area [1]. The present paper summa¬rizes a follow-up investigation in July-2002, in which water samples were collected at numerous locations along the 200 km length of the Rio Ramis, from the Rinconada mine com¬plex to Lake Titicaca, In addition, we report new results of Hg analyses of fish from Lake Titi¬caca, The results of this study have relevance to safety and health concerns for the miners as well as people in downstream communities.

Jan 1, 2003

By Wenya Du, Qingbo Yu, Peng Li, Qin Qin

"A new heat recovery system is proposed. This system uses the endothermic heat of gasification reaction instead of sensible heat to recover the energy of molten blast furnace slag. The gasification technological parameter in molten blast furnace was calculated and the exergy of the system was analyzed. The gasification reactions were studied kinetically by the isothermal thermogravimetry using STA409PC thermal analyzer. The results showed that, according to different gasification agent, this system can produce syngas with different C-H ratio. The exergy efficiency of this system is high and its internal exergy loss rate is about 11%. This method can bring huge economic and environmental benefits which are important to the survival and sustainable development of iron-steel enterprises. The molten BF slag acts as not only thermal media but also good catalyst. The kinetic parameters on gasification reaction with different types of coal used differ from each other.IntroductionEnergy consumption in the iron-making process is about 50%~60% of the total energy input. The blast furnace is very important in the iron & steel process. So energy conservation and emission reduction about blast furnace is very important. In recent years, in order to recovery energy, many new technologies such as TRT (Top gas pressure Recovery Turbine) and CCPP (Combined Cycle Power Plant) were used in iron-making. But the energy of molten blast furnace (BF) slag has only been used limitedly so far.Molten BF (Blast Furnace) slag is the byproduct of iron-making at the high temperatures range from 1723 to 1923K, and has a large amount of sensible heat remaining. The yield of molten BF slag is about 300 kg per ton of pig iron. In conventional processes, molten BF slag is quenched rapidly using a large amount of water to produce a glassy-granulated slag. The quenching slag must be dried before it can be used in cement manufacture. During the process, a large amount of water was consumed and the energy of molten slag can not be recovered. At the same time, it causes environmental pollution problems. So the critical problems of the process are not only energy recovery of molten slag and reducing emission of H2S and SO2, but also guaranteeing the subsequent use value of slag. For this propose, many new technologies were investigated to recover the thermal energy of molten slag. The promising methods are dry granulation [1-4] and reforming of methane [5-9]. The method, utilization of reaction heat instead of latent heat and sensible heat, is quite attractive from viewpoints of energy storage without heat loss, and makes a connection to other industry. But both of them are in laboratory. In this paper, coal gasification in molten BF slag was used to recover the energy of molten BF slag. The gasification technological parameter in molten BF was calculated and the exergy of the system was analyzed. The gasification reactions were studied kinetically by the isothermal thermogravimetry using STA409PC thermal analyzer."

Jan 1, 2011

By Jean-François Boulanger

The production of rare earth elements from ore usually consists of three steps; the separation of a concentrate of REE bearing minerals; the cracking of the REE minerals to liberate the REE into an aqueous solution and separation of REE into individual elements. This paper describes the results of laboratory tests conducted on a carbonate-rich REE ore containing bastnaesite and monazite. The tests cover the whole processing sequence of beneficiation, preparation of the REE solution using a caustic leach followed by acid leach to break monazite and bastnaesite and liberate REE into an aqueous solution and the partial separation of the REE using solvent extraction. Details on the product quality and process performances (recovery and impurities removal) are given for each studied step. The paper also discusses the economic advantage of separating the REE rather than producing a mixed REO product to be sold to a refinery for REE separation. A mini-pilot plant version of the process is currently planned.

By Federico Chavez

The process for recovering lead from battery residues used in several Mexican Plants include lead blast furnace and rotary furnaces. The formers are basically fed with recycled batteries together with the necessary additives to produce metallic lead. One of the by-products generated in the blast furnace is a dust mainly formed by lead sulfide. The rotary furnace is used to recover lead .from lead batteries, dross from the refining-alloying process and the leady fines produced in the blast furnace. This paper describes thennodynamic analysis made to the rotary furnace process to understand the effect that each component of the system has upon the lead recovery. In order to enhance the process, the influence of iron chips composition and excess coke on slag viscosity is discussed. A computer optimization program . has been developed to design the furnace charge based on material and energy balances, .together with the thennodynamic equilibrium calculation.

Jan 1, 1995

By Ari I. Kogut

Impurity minerals in fluorspar ores and concentrates from a deposit in Southern Africa have been studied by reflected light, transmitted light, and cathodoluminescence microscopy. The principal impurities are quartz, calcite, aegirine, apatite, ankerite, magnetite, goethite, and synchysite [Ca(La,Ce,Nd)(C03l2Fj. Cathodoluminescence microscopy was found to be very useful in studying the character of the fluorite and especially for recognizing the presence of apatite and calcite impurities. Fluorite exhibits blue, calcite shows yellow, and apatite has white, light purple, and pink cathodoluminescence. The cathodoluminescent character of apatite varies with its geological environment and position in the orebody. The results of this microscopic study show that phosphorus present in flUorite concentrates occurs principally in binary locked apatite-fluorite particles. Successive fluorite cleaner concentrates contain progressively smaller amounts of locked apatite-fluorite particles. Free apatite has been effectively partitioned to the final tailings.

Jan 1, 1995

By Valdeci Paula Alvarenga, Sergio Luiz Costa, Itavahn Alves da Silva, Filipe Bueno Carvalho, Varadarajan Seshadri, Carlos Antonio da Silva

Use of fluorspar in steel refining operations is one of the environmental concerns and as such reduced consumption of this material or substitution of the same is one of the objectives. Industrial runs were carried out at Aperam Steel making convertor unit (Timóteo, MG, Brazil) using recycled/briquetted slag for partial or complete substitution of fluorspar. Samples were collected from the metal bath and slag after oxygen blowing to assess dephosphorization with several combinations of recycled/briquetted slag and fluorspar. The results showed that partial substitution of fluorspar by BOF slag briquettes did not affect the efficiency of dephosphorization. In general average Phosphorus content was reduced to 0.010% in the case of partial substitution compared to 0.016% in the regular refining procedure with no substitution. This replacement also resulted in 40% reduction of the fluorspar consumption in the converter

Jan 1, 2015

By Alessandro Navarra, Joël P. T. Kapusta

"The converting cost modeling software introduced by Ng et al. in 2005 [1] has been extended to consider the reprocessing of reverts and copper scrap. The original model evaluated the operational costs of a Peirce-Smith converter; algebraic relationships had been implemented with arrays (to represent matrices, vectors and scalar ratios). The new software brings flexibility to the underlying thermochemical balances, by using linked-lists instead of arrays. It is now possible to consider the blending of several feeds, including reverts and scrap.The software computes the length of the converting cycle from the Fe and S content of the charge together with the blowing rate; the times required for other operations (charging, skimming and idle time) are also accounted for. The costs of consumables such as flux, fuel, oxygen or compressed air are all evaluated. Downtime, labor, and materials for converter lining repairs are also considered. The software is easily extended to examine the costs of alternative operating strategies or injection technologies such as sonic single pipe injection and sonic shrouded injection. The potential cost benefits of alternative operating procedures and technologies are discussed through example calculations."

Jan 1, 2009

By Paula Ana Paiva

The high economic value and unique technological properties of the platinum-group metals (PGMs), plus their growing scarcity in the Earth’s crust, justify the crucial importance of developing recycling practices for PGMs end-of-life materials. Examples of top devices relying on the use of PGMs are automotive and industrial catalysts, and electrical and electronics equipment. This article critically describes the most recent research on the use of solvent extraction to recover one PGM, palladium, from spent catalysts. Some groups focus on the development of schemes involving commercial extractants, while others prefer to design specific molecules to efficiently and selectively recover palladium from these particular complex leaching solutions. Examples of commercial extractants proposed for the former schemes are Alamine® 308, TBP and LIX® 84I; while on the other hand, sulfur-containing diamides, thioamides, thiocarbamates, and dithioethers have recently been developed. Ionic liquids have to be mentioned too.