Search Documents

By Myung Bae Kim, Yong Hack Lee, Woll Seung Lee

The Slag Fumer is the first Ausmelt furnace system adopted at the Onsan Refinery of Korea Zinc. This plant continuously treats the QSL lead smelting slag in the molten state. It has developed progressively since its first commissioning in October 1992 and has generated a confidence that it can produce an environmentally acceptable slag for use in cement manufacture and recover the zinc and lead in the slag as a fume oxide. This paper provides the operating experiences accumulated during the last eight years of operation, a summary of problems and solutions, and the current status of the operation.

Jan 1, 2000

By Krishna Kumar

"Growth of electronics waste (e-waste) and lack of appropriate disposal mechanism are the great concern for developing countries like India. The domestic generation of e-waste in India is rapidly growing with the development. The imported substance is also substantially contributing to the e-waste inventory. Recycling of e-waste is mainly carried out in unorganized units in India. The primitive recycling technique used by the unorganized sector is a great threat to the environment and the health of the operators involved in these profession. Therefore, improvement of technology used by these units towards a cost effective, environmental friendly alternative could be the solution to the present crisis. Few initiatives of recycling have, however, come up in recent years in organized units. The precious metals are still recycled in the developed countries. This report discusses the inventory, technology status, legal legislative and existing practices of e-waste management in India.1. INTRODUCTIONInnovation, research and development in the field of electronics and information and communication technology (ICT) lead to convenient, independent human life. Consumption of electronics and hardware products has enhanced by manifold. Electronics and hardware sectors have, thus, become the fastest growing sector in the world. Faster obsolescence of these products is forcing users to replace products with an advanced technology. Life cycles of these products are few years. Discarded electronics products are, therefore, accumulating alarmingly in our society. Electronics waste (e-waste) is a crisis not only due to its volume but also for presence of its toxic ingredients, like heavy metals (e.g. lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium) and flame retardants such as poly brominated biphenyles and poly brominated diphenyles ether. These substances create potential occupational and environmental health hazardous."

Jan 1, 2011

By P. R. Seidl, R. C. C. Ribeiro, J. C. G. Correia

"More than 95% of asphalt pavement materials consist of aggregates. The highway and construction industries consume a huge amount of aggregates annually causing considerable energy and environmental losses. The aggregates are usually produced from neighborhood aggregate quarries or form natural aggregate sources. The use of marble and granite wastes from quarries as aggregates might help meet the increasing demands and slow down any detrimental effects on the environment. Chemical and physical results showed that the use of marble and granite wastes from quarries in the asphalt production is quite fusible. Consequently, granite sawmills would perform a clean technology. This technology would also have an economical impact by not spending on basalt extraction.IntroductionThe granite fines generated from sawmills of ornamental rocks comes as a great problem and it lacks undeletable solutions. This problem involves the preservation of the environmental and constitutes one of the subjects more critical the point of view of social beneficiation of the population. The Cachoeiro de Itapemirim County, Espírito Santo State, Brazil is an example, of this problem. In this area, the granite and marble fines generation is around 15.000 ton/year.The problems generated by these residues affect with more emphasis the animals, such as the cattle, which inhaled the water content fines of granite and this residue accumulate in their lungs. Other great problem observed is the sanded of the river and the reduction of aquatic life.This problem is beginning to be set out due to performance of Center of Mineral Technology (CETEM), and of several other organisms of Rio de Janeiro State, aiding the sawmills owner’s. This help consists of teaching the best procedure of discard the residues and studies for its use, for instance the production of mortars, tiles, bricks and road pavements [1]."

Jan 1, 2008

Environmental and public concerns and the banned use of cyanide for the recovery of gold in some parts of the world have heightened the search for an alternative lixiviant to cyanide. Thiosulfate appears to be the most promising alternative to cyanide due to thiosulfate being non-toxic, relatively cheap compared to cyanide and generally gold recoveries are similar to those of cyanide. The most widely researched thiosulfate process is one where copper ions and ammonia are added to the solution. This paper reviews the leaching of gold in thiosulfate solutions and the contributions of the research at Monash University to the understanding of the gold oxidation reaction in thiosulfate solutions, the solution chemistry when copper ions, ammonia and oxygen are present, the influence of the changing solution chemistry on the gold leach kinetics, and the application of thiosulfate in the leaching of gold from ores. It is clearly shown that the gold oxidation rate is hindered in thiosulfate solutions. In the presence of copper ions the gold oxidation rate though is significantly enhanced and thus is why copper(II) is more effective than other oxidants in the thiosulfate leach system. The copper-ammonia-thiosulfate leach solution chemistry is shown to be very complex, especially in the presence of oxygen as the rate of thiosulfate oxidation increases and the majority of the copper ions are not maintained in the copper(II) oxidation state. The thiosulfate oxidation rate must also be maintained low as an intermediate thiosulfate oxidation product hinders gold leaching. In optimising the recovery of gold from ores with copper-ammonia-thiosulfate leach solutions it is important to evaluate and minimise any negative effect an ore may have on the leach solution chemistry and hence gold leaching.

Jan 1, 2003

By Tarek M. Abd El Hamid, Suzane Ali

"Treatment of industrial waste materials is created serious problem in Egypt. Aluminium sludge is generated as a by-product from aluminium household industry which contains significantly high alumina content exceeding 90%. This by-product randomly disposed and creates serious environment problems to locate community. To develop the treatment process of this material, the recovery of high purity alumina and identify the potential application is being the primary objective, This paper represents the recovery process of alumina process waste sludge High purity alumina material <99.8% aluminium oxide with originate particle size 0.125-0.420mm and apparent density 0.39g/cm3 was obtained with a specific surface area 139m2/g. Alumina produced was modified by cerium oxide doped alumina. The catalytic activity and selectivity was investigated in conversion of iso-propanol via dehydrogenation reaction yielding only acetone indicating an excellent selectivity the dehydrogenation. The presence of 10% CeO2 increase in the catalytic activity of 82% for the originated alumina. Introduction Approximately 20 thousand tons of aluminium waste produced in Egypt in 2006 with increasing amounts expected in succeeding years. A part of this waste contains organics impurities which coexisted with aluminium waste as a result of manufacture final aluminium products, waste usually content <1 to 2 wt% of organic carbon. It's generally admitted that the organic species are present in the form of lubricant oils used in rolling and pressing equipments for aluminium sheet. Both industry and government face possible high-cost disposal problems that more magnified by large volume of waste produced. The alumina recovery leachable study conduct in this paper had the following objectives: 1- Develop a process that can provide an environmentally acceptable residue and also recover the available alumina. 2- Evaluate the alumina produced in terms of grade and catalytic application."

Jan 1, 2008

By Takahiko Okura

"It is said that the energy and resources crisis will come before long because the lifetime of known deposits of crude oil and common metals such as Pb, Zn, Cu is estimated to be less than 50 years. Establishing the sustainable society by means of resources-recycling has become an absolute necessity.The non-ferrous metals industry in Japan has been involved in the resource- recycling business for many years, along with the introduction and enforcement of various legislations to preserve the environment and natural resources. Including process-linkage during various manufacturing activities, the non-ferrous metals industry, the iron-making and cement industries are treating considerable amounts of recycled materials and wastes, in an environmentally-sound and economic manner.The Mining and Materials Processing Institute of Japan has submitted “The present and issues in Japanese non-ferrous metals and recycling industries.”The topic of the paper is to highlight the actual conditions within the resources-recycling structures and the present issues.IntroductionGlobalization has been changing the world, introducing the spike of energy and metals price. In addition, the preservation of the environment has also been strongly facing the crisis and many people have been aggrieved by both shortage and the increment in the price of the meals.In the world of metals, even though their reserves are coming depleted, the production rates are increasing, and then the industry has to enhance their productivity under stricter environmental regulations. The Japanese industry experimented the same scenario some 40 years ago, facing big pollution problems, but concurred them and enhanced the technology to overcome the more severe regulations. It will be fruitful to present the current situation in the Japanese industry for the world. The present issues are also presented."

Jan 1, 2008

By David Dreisinger

The pressure oxidation of pyrite is an important hydrometallurgical technology, especially in the total oxidation of refractory gold ores and concentrates (gold is locked in the pyrite structure preventing direct cyanide recovery). It has been noticed in some commercial applications and benchscale studies that the leaching of pyrite may be slow and apparently can be inhibited by the presence of molten elemental sulfur in the leach pulp. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Ortho-Phenylene-Diamine (OPD) could be used as a surfactant or dispersant for sulfur in the pressure oxidation of pyrite. OPD has previously been shown to be useful for pressure leaching of zinc and copper sulfides at 150 C.In this work, the interfacial chemistry of sulfur was studied at temperatures of up to 190 C in the presence and absence of OPD and other surfactants. The contact angle between molten sulfur and pyrite was also measured. Finally, the impact of OPD on the kinetics of pyrite oxidation was measured in bench-scale pressure oxidation experiments. The essential finding of this study was that OPD lowers the interfacial tension between molten sulfur and acid solutions and increases the contact angle (reduces wetting) between molten sulfur and pyrite. The work of adhesion between sulfur and pyrite was reduced by more than an order of magnitude in the presence of OPD. In bench scale tests, addition of OPD was found to significantly accelerate the rate of oxidation of pyrite. Conveniently, it was found that OPD was also fully degraded during high temperature oxidation processes. No residual OPD was detected in solution or solid samples from the leach testing. OPD is recommended as a sulfur dispersant in the pressure oxidation of pyrite and/or elemental sulfur containing feeds.

Jan 1, 2003

By Gordon Holcomb, George R. St. Pierre, Robert A. Rapp

Carbon/Carbon composites offer promise as high-temperature structural materials. A primary limitation on their application is the need to provide protection against oxidation in hot oxidizing environments. Silicon carbide conversion coatings have been shown to provide extended protection at temperatures of 1600°C. SiC coated C/C components have been used in several aerospace applications. In the present paper, the preparation of carbon fibers and their treatment during subsequent processing into coated components are discussed with particular emphasis on the processing variables that can result in improved oxidation resistance. In particular, the influence of substrate inhibitors and selective sealants for cracks in coated C/C components are analysed.

Jan 1, 1988

By Milind Deo, Neale R. Neelameggham

The mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapor - called Soda [as in carbonated water] can be converted to easily stored transportation fuels. Earlier papers on Soda- fuel metallurgy noted that this conversion is endothermic requiring energy. Reduced state metallic elements - preferably the alkali, alkaline earth elements, or aluminum can act as oxygen carriers. Availability of such a combination in commonly land fille waste materials is shown. Plant based wastes which are normally composted form a better-controlled reagent. The energy required for the reaction can come from solar energy. This paper describes possible reactor designs, which can accommodate this conversion effectively using carbon dioxide recovered from flue gases.

Jan 1, 2008

By Kang-In Rhee

Nonferrous metal recycling not only provides energy saving and environmental benefits but also is a significant factor in the supply of various types of metals used in our society. Recycling plays an important role in establishing the sustainability of materials. The total amount of recycled nonferrous metals by weight accounts for less than 5% but their value is larger than 50% compared to ferrous metal recycling which consists of about half of the total metal recycling in weight. This paper describes trends and typical achievements in nonferrous metal recycling and overviews the present and future of nonferrous metal recycling technology and business in Korea.

Jan 1, 2006

By James A. Sommers

Combustion of niobium nitride powder in a stream of oxygen results in several niobium oxide phases, depending upon reaction parameters. Under rapid oxygen flow, the oxidation produces a molten mass which coalesces into droplets of ca. 2 mm dimension and effectively quenches to leave NbO2 and other lower oxides of niobium, despite the ambient atmosphere of oxygen. A preliminary survey of reaction parameters which govern the split between reduced and oxidized products is presented. This technique offers novel synthesis means for binary oxides when mixtures of NbN and other materials are combusted together, since the niobium moiety is generated in a molten state.

Jan 1, 1995

By Qian Fu

Although chlorine fluxing to remove magnesium has been widely practiced in the aluminum industry for many years, there appear to have been few fundamental studies of the kinetics and transport phenomena involved. The paper describes such a study in which the rates of reaction of individual argon/chlorine bubbles with aluminum/magnesium melts were measured. The detachment of bubbles from a submerged nozzle, at variable depth in the melt, was detected by a microphone and the arrival of the bubble at the top surface by conductivity probes. Analysis of exit gases and mass balances yielded the overall progress of reaction. Experimental results are interpreted in terms of heterogeneous reaction kinetics and mass transport to the bubble-melt interface,

Jan 1, 1996

By G. F. Archer

Selenium and tellurium, trace metals found in copper smelting, report to blister copper during smelting. Winning these metals from anode slimes, the primary commercial source, is discussed. At Asarco&apos;s Amarillo Copper Refinery, slimes treatment segregates selenium and tellurium to a water-soluble soda slag. Aqueous precipitation of tellurium oxide and selenium by sulfur dioxide is valence dependent. Se+6 and Te+6, which constitute a portion of total selenium and tellurium, are not susceptible to this base case treatment. "Secondary Selenium" is formed from these hexavalent species. We describe a process whereby simultaneous oxidation of selenium and tellurium effects a separation. Process conditions for separating selenium dioxide, and efficiency of fume capture are examined.

Jan 1, 1995

By Jin Liu

The mechanism and rate of carbon reduction of each of the phases that are formed in the flash flame, i.e. sulfide (matte) and oxysulfide, was investigated. Graphite-slag reduction was conducted for comparison purposes. The objective of these tests was to measure the rate of solid graphite reduction of respectively matte, oxysulfide, slag, and matte+slag mixture at different temperatures. More in particular, these tests were expected to permit understanding and explaining the reduction mechanism of each material by comparing the respective reaction rates, product reaction gas compositions and CO/CO2 ratios, reduced material assays, activation energies, and other relevant parameters. Direct visual inspection of the test crucibles would provide additional information.

Jan 1, 2006

By Asok Kumar Das

"In steel making ferroalloys occupies a commanding role for production of varied quality of steel. Ferroalloys enable alloying elements such as chromium, silicon, manganese, vanadium etc to be safely and economically introduced into metallurgical processes thus giving certain desirable properties of the alloyed metal. Their importance grew with the progress of the steel metallurgy which implied more diversified alloying elements, in better controlled quantities, in purer steel. The ferroalloy industry became a key supplier to the steel industry. Production of ferroalloys generally involves the use of Electric Arc furnace(EAF) into which raw materials(e.g. various metal ores, quartz, coke, lime etc ) with relatively fluctuating physical compositions are loaded. Due to this, one of the major environmental impacts of producing ferroalloys is the emission of dust and fume from the smelting process. INTRODUCTIONFerro Alloys are essential ingredients used for refining, de-oxidation, desulphurization and alloying addition in the production of different types of steel and hence Ferro Alloy industry forms a back bone of iron and steel in the world. Indian ferro alloy industry is more than 45 years old. It produces most of the bulk ferro alloys and a large number of special ferro alloys. The present installed capacity of the Indian ferro alloy industry is sufficient to meet the requirement of existing level of indigenous steel production of about 46 million tonnes. Revised National Steel Policy – 2008 envisages production of more than 100 million tonnes of steel by the year 2011-12, at proportionate annual growth rate per annum. The focus of the policy is to achieve global competitiveness not only in terms of cost, quality and product-mix but also in terms of global benchmarks of efficiency and productivity. In order to achieve the objectives of National Steel Policy and also to meet the requirement of ferro alloys, the Indian Ferro Alloy Industry has to gear up in terms of enhancement in production capacity, sourcing of raw materials, up gradation of technology, improvement in productivity, automation / mechanization, customer satisfaction etc."

Jan 1, 2008

By Chu Yong Cheng

Synergists can be used in solvent extraction to improve the selectivity of extractants for metals. Research work carried out by the SX group at the AJ Parker Cooperative Research Centre for Hydrometallurgy / CSIRO Minerals has shown that the pH isotherm of nickel with Versatic 10 was significantly lowered by the addition of the synergist Acorga CLX50. The paper discusses how this synergistic shift can be used to alleviate a gypsum formation problem at Bulong nickel laterite operation in Western Australia. Metal pH isotherms were obtained with Versatic 10 and synergist CLX50 using synthetic leach solutions. In terms of pH50, the extraction order of the metals with 0.5 M Versatic 10 alone was Cu > Zn > Ni > Co > Mn > Ca > Mg, whilst the extraction order with Versatic 10 and 20% by volume CLX50 was Cu > Ni Zn > Co > Mn > Ca > Mg with the pH50 (Mn-Co) significantlyincreased. This is significant because the isotherms of valuable metals Ni, Cu, Co and Zn shift more towards low pH than those of the waste metals Mn, Mg and Ca, resulting in a possible good separation of Ni, Cu, Co and Zn from Mn, Mg and Ca. The use of intermediate precipitation, solids/liquid separation and re-leach in the three Western Australian nickel plants make these processes complicated and costly in capital and operation. The research work carried by the SX groupat the AJ Parker Centre has led to the development of direct SX (DSX) processes to recover nickel and cobalt from leach solutions using synergistic organic systems. Semi-continuous tests with a BHP Billiton pilot plant leach solution showed that Ni and Co together with Zn and Cu were separated from the major impurities, Mn, Mg, Ca, and Cl, in the first SX circuit. The co-extracted impurities were easily scrubbed. After stripping, Ni and Co together with Zn and Cu were concentrated, resulting in a much smaller second SX circuit in the down stream processes.

Jan 1, 2003

By Tarasankar DebRoy

Professor Robertson’s recognized research on metallurgical thermodynamics and kinetics for over 40 years facilitated the emergence of rigorous quantitative understanding of many complex metallurgical processes. The author had the opportunity to work with Professor Robertson on liquid metals in the 1970s. This paper is intended to review the advances in the quantitative understanding of welding processes and weld metal attributes in recent decades. Over this period, phenomenological models have been developed to better understand and control various welding processes and the structure and properties of welded materials. Numerical models and animations of melting, solidification and the evolution of micro and macro-structural features will be presented to critically examine their impact on the practice of welding and the underlying science.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. W. Perez

In the treatment of process effluents containing metal ions, it is sometimes desired to remove all of the heave metal ions while at other time it is, desired to remove one heavy metal ion from another, selectively. Ion and precipitate flotation processes were evaluated to perform these functions using the copper-iron aqueous system as a model. Because preliminary foam fractionation experiments proved to be relatively inefficient, most of this work has focused on precipitate flotation using both hydroxide and sulfide precipitation. Test results indicate that by proper control of reagents and operating conditions, it is possible to substantially reduce the froth volume over that achieved with foam fractionation and to separate copper from iron selectively. Mechanisms for collector attachment to precipitates were studied.

Jan 1, 1992

By W. Petruk

The silver-rich cobalt-nickel arsenides ores of the Cobalt area in Ontario, Canada were mined for silver from about 1904 to 1985. The ores contained about 8 oz to 100 oz Aglt and about 1 wt% Ni and 2 wt% Co. They were processed by gravitational techniques, screening and flotation to produce separate silver and Fe-Co-Ni arsenide concentrates. The silver concentrate was smelted, and in some cases the arsenide concentrate was sold to custom smelters which recovered silver and other metals. The ores display a wide variety of textures and contain many minor and trace elements. This paper presents an evaluation of mineral characteristics that have a bearing on extractive metallurgy and smelting of this type of ore.

Jan 1, 1993

By V. V. Kutumbarao, M. T. Nimje, G. Balasubramanian

Wastes from the aluminium industry such as red mud from the alumina refinery, fly ash from the captive power plant and spent pot lining from the smelter, have been successfully converted into glass-ceramic products. The process involves addition of a small quantity of glass former along with traces of nucleating agents to aid crystallization, to a specific mixture ofred mud, fly ash and spent pot lining, followed by melting at around 1300°C and vitrification by cooling. The resultant glass is then converted into a glass- ceramic by a suitable heat treatment at around 700 - 750°C. The glass-ceramic products show excellent wear resistance, besides possessing an aesthetic appearance. The major application foreseen for such products is as decorative tiles in the building industry.

Jan 1, 2000