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By Yutaka Shiraishi

Two methods were developed to measure the viscosity of the slag from the glassy to the liquid states in an ascending temperature process. The first method employs rotating parallel plates within which is placed a solid cylindrical sample in line with a sphere. The second method uses a tube which is pushed into a sample held in a rotating crucible. Both methods were tested using standard glasses, including boron trioxide and NBS standard glass #711. The main difference between these two methods is in sample preparation. Comparative measurements between two methods were performed using a sodium boro-disilicate glass containing 5%mol of alumina. The results showed good agreement in the mid-range of glassy viscosities, 105 to 107 Pa.s. In the liquid state, there were no significant differences between the two methods.

Jan 1, 2003

By K. R. Barrett

The cupellation of dore/lead bullion to recover precious metals is one of the oldest metallurgical processes known to man. In recent times this has been carried out in small reverberatory furnaces but the process suffers from a number of disadvantages. A new process has been developed at the Northfleet refinery of Britannia Refined Metals Ltd, which gives much improved performance. The process depends upon the injection of oxygen through a nitrogen shrouded lance at the bottom of the furnace. The lance is consumable and of unique design. Reaction rates are high giving short process time; fuel consumption is low; oxygen efficiency is high and dore recirculation is low. The new process has resulted in substantially lower operation costs.

Jan 1, 1989

By Travis Knight

Mixed uranium and refractory metal carbide systems have been proposed for space nuclear power and propulsion applications. Solid-core space nuclear reactors could be utilized for low- earth-orbit (LEO) to geosynchronous-earth-orbit (GEO) transfers, manned missions to the moon or mars, and orbiter missions to the outer planets. However, these high performance space nuclear reactors present some challenging materials engineering requirements for operating in a high temperature, high radiation, and hot hydrogen environment. Since the RoverNERVA programs were concluded in 1973, significant advances in ultrahigh temperature materials technology have been made which can be applied to the development of an advanced solid-core nuclear fuel. Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) was first studied in the U.S. beginning in the mid-1950's during the RoverNERVA programs. During that time, about 20 rocket reactors were built and tested. More recently, Russian nuclear rocket reactor tests with pseudo-ternary carbide nuclear fuels (U, Zr, Nb)C and (U, Zr, Ta)C have been operated at temperatures as high as 3300 K for one hour. This study examined the processing parameters for fabricating the pseudo-ternary carbide, (U, Zr, Nb)C.

Jan 1, 1999

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 Tom McCullough

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation and results derived from installing oxy-fuel burners in a l80 ton copper reverbatory melting furnace. Specific results will be discussed in the areas of melt chemistry, furnace modifications, productivity, process enhancements, and the combustion system capabilities.

Jan 1, 1996

By Huang Kai

Uniform needle-like and spherical nickel oxalate particles were prepared by the chelating precipitation process, which was based on the reaction of oxalate acid and the solution of ammonia nickel chloride. The molar ratio of ammonia to nickel ion in the mixed solution is essential to determine whether the spherical or needle-like particles are formed, which means actually the concentration of ammonia is the key to determine the growth mechanism. When oxalate acid is added in the form of solid, it may act as the nucleation interface for the eariy-precipitated substance and so induce the formation of spherical particles. The PVP agent can improve the dispersing degree of the needle-like particles and higher reacting temperature leads to larger particles. The composition of the needle-like particle consists of ammonium and nickel oxalate instead of the pure nickel oxalate.

Jan 1, 2003

By G. A. Brooks

Reactive ball milling has been proposed as a new route for producing carbides from oxides through carbothcrmic reduction. It is claimed that through milling oxide and graphite powders to the nanoscale, amorphous materials with very high reactivity are formed, that allows for easy transformation of the starting material to another in a subsequent thermal process. Thermodynamic analysis of this proposed process suggests that unless particle sizes are reduced to below 10nm, then reduction in size alone cannot explain a change in the stability of oxides. Even with nanometer scale powders, the products formed need to have a lower total surface energy than the reactants before a chemical change will occur. A model developed by Bhattacharya and Arzt for predicting localized temperature changes based on milling conditions suggest that temperarure rises less than 400 K will be achieved in laboratory conditions. The present calculations suggest that nanometer scale powders formed through high speed ball milling (>10 mls) may have undergone a process analogous to melting and quenching. Further work is required to fully distinguish these features.

Jan 1, 2003

By Mitsuru Tanahashi

In order to develop an effective process for the production of a solar-grade silicon (SOG-Si) from metallurgical-grade one (MG-Si), the oxidation removal of boron from molten MG-Si was investigated at 1773 K by the following two CaO-saturated CaO-CaF2 flux treatment processes. I) Boron removal by flux addition onto the molten MG-Si followed by oxygen gas injection into the melt (Two-stage connecting process). II) II) Boron removal by simultaneous injection of flux powders and oxygen gas into the molten MG-Si (Simultaneous injection process). These processes can establish the special condition of both high basicity of the flux and the high oxygen partial pressure at the boron removal reaction sites. Through these processes, especially by the simultaneous injection process using a flux powder injection equipment, the boron content in MG-Si can be efficiently reduced. The obtained results clarified that both processes should be conducted for a time period as short as possible by using as much flux as possible. By repeating the simultaneous injection process for 60 s three times under the optimum operating conditions determined in the present study, the boron content in MG-Si can be reduced from 14 to 4.7 mass ppm.

Jan 1, 2003

By F. Mucciardi

While flash smelting and converting are capturing a greater share of the market, injection through circular injectors will remain with us for the foreseeable future. The use of top lances for injection is a key feature in several processes (e.g. Mitsubishi, Ausmelt). Tuyeres, on the other hand, are incorporated into a number of processes (e.g. Noranda, Peirce-Smith). To date no lances or tuyeres are cooled by an external source. The reagent provides the bulk of the cooling. With limited cooling, it is normal to have substantial wear on the nozzles - especially in the case of lances. To overcome the issue of wear, a new patented injector (lance or tuyere) has been developed by Noranda and McGill University. This novel unit is based on heat pipe technology. It can operate for an extended period of time without wearing. Enhanced lance/tuyere life is achieved by operating the injector at a low enough temperature that promotes the formation of a thin frozen layer on the outer body of the unit. The vaporizing and condensing substance within the unit acts to cool' the high heat flux portions and dissipate the heat to areas of low heat flux outside the vessel. A fairly large number of tests have been conducted with a prototype unit. The tests have shown that the heat pipe lance is a viable unit. In this paper is detailed a test which illustrates how the lance functions when pure oxygen is injected into copper matte. In addition, the findings from a basic study of a heat pipe in high heat flux environments are also presented.

Jan 1, 1999

By Yong Zhao, Yan-hui Sun

Behaviors and evolutions of MgO·Al2O3 in non-oriented silicon steel during calcium treatment were investigated by thermodynamic calculations and high-temperature experiments. MgO·Al2O3 inclusions were the main type of inclusions before calcium treatment, which is also confirmed by the stability diagram of MgO/MgO·Al2O3/Al2O3 from thermodynamic calculations. After calcium treatment, the majority of original MgO·Al2O3 inclusions were mainly modified to CaO-MgO-Al2O3 system inclusions, this would be beneficial to improve castability and product quality of silicon steel. But there was no modification happening to some MgO·Al2O3 spinels which were directly surrounded by CaS inclusions. The content of Al2O3 occasionally existed a sudden increase besides a common decrease in the product layer of CaO·MgO·Al2O3. Then the evolution mechanisms of MgO·Al2O3 inclusions were proposed in present work. Thus, Al/Mg atom ratio had a significant influence on the modification of MgO·Al2O3 spinel.

Jan 1, 2016

By C. J. Lewis

This presentation concerns calcium oxide-better known as high calcium quick lime High calcium quicklime is produced by calcining high calcium limestone, mostly in the many rotary kilns located throughout the United States and Canada. This paper presents suggestions on the handling of lime based on field experience. The subjects covered are chemical analyses, transporta¬tion, lime storage, lime slaking to form a water slurry of calcium hydroxide solids, slurry transportation, slurry viscosity, and scaling of lime slurries. It is hoped that the comments on the foregoing areas will be of use to those designing or operating lime systems.

Jan 1, 1992

By Vince Newberry

Alcan Rolled Products at Oswego, New York, commissioned Recycle II during May of 1995. Recycle II is an advanced technology UBC recycling facility designed to meet the most stringent environmental standards enforced to date in the United States, particularly with respect to NO, and particulate emissions. This paper addresses the exacting requirements and strategies of Alcan's Recycle II project andThorpe Technologies' design considerations and solutions for the supply of environmentally favorable melting furnace and delacquering systems. The furnaces are equipped with low NOx regenerative burners and furnace pressure and hearth gas flow controls designed specifically for processing the hearth gases through baghouses. The delacquering system is a new generation Apros concurrent flow unit designed for low NOx emissions.

Jan 1, 1995

By Charles W. Kenney

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

Jan 1, 2003

By Sridhar Seetharuman

Sulfur and oxygen dissolved in nickel and cupronickel melts can be removed as gaseous oxides of sulfur by a vacuum treatment. Presented in this paper is a new matched thermochemical diagram that permits direct evaluation of the equilibrium partial pressure of SO, as a function of temperature over an alloy of specified composition. The matched thermochemical diagram consists of a central plot which shows the integral Gibbs' energy of mixing for the binary system S-O2, at different temperatures. The central plot is flanked on either side by terminal plots of the chemical potentials of oxygen and sulfur, as functions of temperature, for different alloy compositions. By projecting the chemical potentials of oxygen and sulfur from the terminal plots on to the central diagram, the equilibrium pressure of SO2,can be directly read on the nomograms on the central plot at different temperatures. The matched thermochemical diaerams are - useful in assuring the efficiency of vacuum refining.

Jan 1, 1993

By Dong-dong Liu, Jian-ping Niu, Qi Liu, Shu-sen Cheng

A numerical model was developed to simulate the three-dimensional heat transfer in the belly and lower shaft region of the blast furnace wall consisting of copper steel composite stave, packing and shell. The temperature distribution of copper steel composite stave without the slag layer or refractory lining was investigated and then compared with the copper stave. The results showed that copper steel composite stave can satisfy the requirement of overheatingfree and had an analogous heat transfer behavior as copper stave but more stable cooling intensity. This model had been validated by the good agreement between the computed and measured temperature in the thermal test.

Jan 1, 2015

"Recycling of solid wastes plays an important role in environmental protection. However, solid wastes are often contaminated with some undesired components so that many of these solid wastes are hardly economically recycled. Therefore, effective and efficient separation of undesired components from solid wastes becomes a crucial step for sustainable recycling of the solid wastes. There exist three general strategies of separation of undesired components from solid wastes: before-process separation, post-process separation and in-process separation. In this paper, different separation strategies are discussed in terms of energy requirement and availability, implementation complexity and additional need for environmental protection. It is concluded that of all separation strategies, in-process separation has the least energy requirement, the least implementation complexity and the minimum need for additional environmental protection.IntroductionIn industries, solid wastes almost come with every production process. Multi-million tons, if not billion tons, of solid wastes are being generated globally each year. These solid wastes are lowvalue materials in general, and often have very limited markets. As a matter of fact, many of these solid wastes have been stored on site or have been disposed of at landfills for many years, not only occupying lands, but also polluting environment. Therefore, effective and efficient recycling of solid wastes has been a very challengeable task and has played a very important role in environmental protection.One of the major barriers which hinder recycling of solid wastes is contamination of the solid wastes with some undesired components. These undesired components are components which are not wanted by production processes or applications where the solid wastes are consumed or recycled, since the undesired components often degrade qualities of the solid wastes, imposing negative effects on operations, facilities and product qualities of the production processes or applications. Sometimes, the undesired components may also pose severe environmental concerns. When undesired components are present in solid wastes at over-limit levels, the solid wastes tum to become destructive, useless and non-recyclable. Consequently, effective and efficient separation of undesired components from solid wastes becomes a crucial step for sustainable recycling of the solid wastes."

Jan 1, 2014

By R. J. Dippenaar, W. H. Van Niekerk

"An injectable lime-based desulphurization reagent for the treatment of liquid iron was developed. Firstly, selected lime based slags containing small quantities of CaF2 to increase fluidity, and Na20 to increase the basicity, have been evaluated on laboratory scale from a thermodynamic point of view. Subsequently, pilot plant and full scale industrial injection trials were conducted. It was found that lime-based slags, containing Na20 and CaF2, are able to desulphurize liquid iron efficiently. By the injection of a lime based reagent consisting of 60% lime, 25% soda ash and 15% fluorspar at a rate of 7 kg reagent/ton hot metal, the sulphur level in the metal (115kg) was reduced from 0,07% to 0,01 % within 5 minutes. The lime-based reagent developed in this study was successfully injected, both from a metallurgical and from a pneumatic point of view, on an industrial scale. The mathematical model utilised in this study, can be used successfully to predict the course and extent of desulphurization by lime-based slags. IntroductionMainly due to environmental difficulties encountered with pure soda ash, dry slag formation with CaC2 and high cost when Mg are used as desulphurizers, much incentive exists for the development of an inexpensive, environmentally friendlier desulphurization reagent. As a first step in the development of such a reagent, selected lime based slags containing small quantities of CaF2 to increase fluidity, and Na2O to increase the basicity, have been evaluated on laboratory scale from a thermodynamic point of view. This was followed by pilot plant injection experiments in which the kinetics of the relevant desulphurization reactions were evaluated. Finally, full scale industrial trials were conducted. All three phases of the investigation will be discussed with the major emphasis being placed on the kinetic study."

Jan 1, 1996

By Seshadri Seetharaman, Nurni N. Viswanathan, Haijuan Wang

"In order to make the stainless steel making process efficient and environment friendly, it is essential to minimize the loss of chromium to the slag phase. With a view to investigate the advantages of using CO2 to attain moderate oxygen partial pressures in the oxidant gas during the decarburizations of stainless steel, the present experiments were carried out to understand the oxidation kinetics of Fe-Cr alloys and Fe-V alloy with gas mixtures containing CO2. In the present work, the oxidation behavior of Fe-Cr and Fe-V was examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Various mixtures of O2 and CO2 were used as the oxidant gas and the oxidation rate was followed by the weight changes as a function of time.The experiments demonstrated that the oxidation rate is independent of temperature at present experimental situation, but has strongly related to the Cr-content of the alloy as well as the oxygen partial pressure in the oxidant gas mixture. The wetting of alumina by the iron drop and the change of the drop shape during the course of the oxidation were investigated by X-ray radiography."

Jan 1, 2010

By G. Brooks, J. Naser, M. A. Sattar

CFD models have been developed and numerical simulations have been carried out to predict the formation of foam in oxygen steelmaking. Foam was considered as a separate phase comprising a mixture of gas and liquid. Bubble break up and coalescence models have also been incorporated in a CFD model to predict the number density of individual bubble classes. A population balance equation was used to track the number density of each bubble class. Decarburization with heat generation from chemical reactions was integrated in the process. User subroutines were written in FORTRAN to incorporate the foam formation, the bubble break up and coalescence rate and decarburisation in the main program. The model predicted the foam height, bubble number density, velocity of phases, decarburization, and turbulence. The result from the model has been compared with available data from literature and found to be in reasonable agreement with the experimental and plant data.

Jan 1, 2014

By C. A. Pickles

At the present time, pyrometallurgical processes are employed for the recovery of lead from battery scrap. These processes have serious pollution problems, primarily due to the emfssion of sulphur dioxide and airborne lead in the form of dust and fume. In addition it is necessary to dispose of solid wastes and liquid effluents which contain lead and in some cases sodium sulfide-containing compounds. In this work an improved process was investigated for the recovery of lead from battery residue. This involved pelletization of the residue with sodium carbonate and moisture. Then, the pellets were melted without carbon and the .sodium sulphate salt was removed. Subsequently, the molten lead oxide was reduced with carbon. This process minimizes the sulphur dioxide emissions and leads to very low sulfide contents of the sodium sulfate salt

Jan 1, 1992