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By C Samuelsson, Q Shu, A Lennartsson, F Gyakwaa, A Andersson, J Isaksson

The physico-chemical property, viscosity, is essential for pyrometallurgical processes and influences the settling rate of valuable metal droplets in slag, affecting the metal recovery. The copper slag from smelting furnaces typically contains between 1 and 2 wt per cent Cu, which equals to or is higher than in most sulfidic copper ores mined today, meaning the slag is a valuable resource for copper extraction. A low viscosity is desirable for slag-cleaning through a settling furnace where entrained droplets settle under gravity. One approach to control the viscosity is through the slag composition. The literature has limited data on the correlation between viscosity, slag structure, and optical basicity of iron silicate slag with FeO/SiO2, CaO, and Al2O3 as factors. Therefore, the present study evaluated the influence of these factors on viscosity and correlations with slag structure and optical basicity. The FeO/SiO2 ratio (at%/at%) and the CaO and Al2O3 content were altered in two levels, resulting in a two-level full factorial design with three factors. The study was done by synthesising FeO–SiO2–Al2O3–CaO–MgO–Cr2O3 melts, followed by water granulation. The melt structure of the samples was analysed with the help of Raman Spectroscopy. The viscosity was then estimated with a high-temperature rheometer using a Mo spindle and crucible. The results showed a correlation between the optical basicity, FeO/SiO2 ratio, and viscosity, where a high optical basicity and FeO/SiO2 ratio were beneficial for achieving a low melt viscosity.

Jun 19, 2024

By K. Gharibi, A. Dehghani, S. Farrokhpay, M. Aghajanloo, M. Ostadrahimi

The effect of flotation operational parameters on froth stability and froth recovery was studied. Froth stability was measured using a special column. To determine the froth recovery, the froth height change model and froth height exponential model were used. It was found that since the interactions between the pulp and froth zones affect the time of froth formation, the exponential model is more suitable than the froth height change method for determining the froth recovery. The results showed that superficial air velocity and collector dosage have, respectively, the highest and lowest effect on the froth recovery, while froth recovery decreases sharply with increasing froth height.

Jan 1, 2021

By T. Emery, D. Sweet, J. Bourgeois, M. Gomez, B. Seymour, J. Feiler

For traditional underhand cut-and-fill mining operations, it can be challenging to design a suitable cemented paste backfill (CPB) mix that can meet the necessary strength requirements and yet maintain its ductility. In deep underground metal mines, the CPB must achieve a high enough strength to be competent under high stress conditions while also remaining ductile enough to withstand high strain from squeezing ground as underhand mining continues under backfilled stopes. To eliminate ground falls that result in injuries and fatalities, researchers from the Spokane Mining Research Division (SMRD) of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have partnered with Aerix Industries, a producer of concrete additives, to study the effects of foaming agents on the strength and ductility of CPB. This laboratory study examines the impact of various amounts of foam additive on the strength and ductility of CPB mix designs, using binder and tailings provided by Hecla Limited from the Lucky Friday Mine

Mar 2, 2022

Small-scale flotation tests have been conducted to examine the effect of froth stability on the column flotation of finely pulverized coal. The results of this study demonstrate that the upgrading of coal in a column flotation cell can be significantly improved when froth stability is properly controlled through the manipulation of appropriate operating variables. Several important correlations have been established from the test data. These relationships should prove useful for the design and ore ration of column flotation cells for fine coal processing.

Jan 1, 1991

By Kallioinen J

This paper discusses different possibilities to enhance coarse particle flotation using forth manipulation and improved flotation cell design. Experiments were carried out in laboratory, pilot and industrial scale ranging from 0.0015 to 100 m3/axle. During the work it could be shown that the conventional idea of one single flotation cell type for both fine, immediate and coarse flotation of coarse and fine particles need different impeller tip speeds and a different froth control objective for effective operation. For optimal operation for coarse feeds the tip speed must be reduced and the froth vertical velocity must be increased to compensate the respective drainage velocity and also the water film thickness must be taken care of. Turbulent eddies below the froth interface should be suppressed. The paper discusses the effects of different froth manipulation variables like froth vertical velocity and froth residence time to the recovery and selectivity. A function has been developed, between the residence time of the froth and the flotation cell's ability to produce an improved concentrate grade as a function of different operating and froth manipulation variables.

Jan 1, 1993

By Onuralp Yucel, Ahmet Turan, Murat Alkan, Hasan Ozer

SHS (Self-propagating High-temperature Synthesis) is one of the important methods to synthesize B4C powders. The process contains the reaction of boron oxide powders (B2O3) with magnesium reducing agent and carbon black carburizer. SHS products are leached in HCl media to purify synthesized B4C powders in the following step. In the present study, effects of various functional additives (KClO3, KHSO4, MgSO4.7H2O, NaCl, MgO and Na2SO4) in the SHS stage were carried out. Various proportions of the additives were mixed with the initial SHS charge mixtures. Two different molar ratios were employed in the initial SHS mixtures as 1:3:0.8 B2O3:Mg:C and 1:2.5:0.8 B2O3:Mg:C. After the SHS step, HCl leaching process was applied to the SHS products. Filter cakes were dried and characterized by using X-Ray Diffraction Spectroscopy, BET and chemical analysis techniques.

Jan 1, 2015

By Göksel Hızlı, Selim Ertürk, Ayşegül Bilen, Raşit Sezer, Cüneyt Arslan

The carbothermic reduction of celestite is the first step in producing many strontium products. The way materials move in the rotary kiln has an essential effect on the carbothermic reduction efficiency as well as the temperature. In this study, the reduction of celestite ore and excess carbon blend in a laboratory-scale rotary kiln was investigated. In the experiments carried out at three different temperatures, the rotational speed and slope of the furnace tube were altered, and their effects on the reaction efficiency were examined. The leachability of the reduced powders and the content of the unburned coke indicated the optimal parameters for the reaction.When the speed was increased to 10 rpm, the powders weremoremobile in the stack and could react more easily with the furnace atmosphere. According to the results, celestite can be reduced by carbon at temperatures of 1000–1200 °C, at rates of between 5% and 75%. The maximumreaction yield (75%) was obtained with a slope of 2° and a rotational speed of 6 rpm at 1100 °C.

May 7, 2020

By X. X. Wu, Q. Zhang, R. H. Fan, Y. J. Feng, J. D. Liu, P. Z. Zhao

In the present study, AA6016 automotive sheets with different grain size were fabricated through changing fabricating parameters, and the effects of grain size on the bendability were studied by bending test and optical microscopy. The results showed that the sheet with coarse grains exhibited poor bendability, and some micro-cracks were revealed at the surface of the bending samples. While the sheet with fine grains exhibited good bendability, and the bending samples showed smooth surface. Shear bands on the cross section of bending samples were observed. It was found that samples with coarse grains had more shear bands. These shear bands distributed in bundles, which facilitated the formation of continuous neckings and micro-cracks. However samples with fine grains had less shear bands, which distributed uniformly. The decrease of grain size could not only hinder the formation of shear bands, but also improve the homogeneity of its distribution during bending. On the other hand, refining grains could increase the amount of grain boundaries, which impede the propagation of shear bands. Hence the decrease of grain size could hinder the formation of continuous neckings and micro-cracks during bending, resulting in the significant improvement of the bendability.

Jan 1, 2015

By F. Dehghani, B. Rezaie, T. Ghosh, A. Sachan

Comminution is an integral part of the mineral extraction process. However, the influence of the comminution method (ball and rod mills) on silica and magnetite particle shapes has not been substantially investigated. Shape parameters for fractions of -250+212, -150+125, and -106+75 μm sizes were examined utilizing a scanning electron microscope and a Clemex vision PE image analysis system. The silica particles displayed higher elongation and flatness parameter values for rod mill products, but roundness and relative width parameter values of rod mill products are less than that of the ball mill products. Magnetite particle elongation and flatness parameter values of ball mill products in fraction sizes of -250+212 and -106+75 μm are larger than rod mill products, but roundness and relative width parameter values of ball mill products are smaller than rod-mill products, but for the -150+125 μm size range the result is converse. Furthermore, particle elongation and flatness increased with decreasing particle sizes of silica, whereas, roundness and relative width decreased for both Ball and Rod Mills. In case of magnetite, ball mill products displayed an increase of flatness and particle elongations with decreasing particle sizes but flatness increased and roundness and relative width decreased. Similarly for rod mills, magnetite fractions of -150+125 μm were found to have the largest values of elongation and flatness. INTRODUCTION Comminution alters the size and shape, causes lattice distortion, changes chemical composition, surface area, surface-free energy, and polymorphic transformation of all materials. The quantity and quality of such changes depend on specifications of the material feedstock, the type of mill being utilized, the specific energy input, ambient temperature, and environmental pressure [1]. The shape difference between the milled products depends on different grinding mechanisms and the respective breakage principles that these mechanisms depend on [2, 3]. With decreasing particle sizes, the nature of the particle surface become crucial [1]. The influence of the breakage technique has been found to be non-trivial and heavily dependent on the type of grinding mill used for particle size reduction [4]. Shape is an important industrial parameter for predicting particle behavior in downstream processes. The shape parameter affects the way particles burn, compact, are recovered, flow in fluids, sinter, float, agglomerate, fluidize, interact with pulmonary tissue, cut, abrade, react with chemicals, form structural materials, and retain and permit fluids to flow [5, 6]. The distribution of particle sizes and shapes are important for mining, civil and chemical, pharmaceutical, and various other industries with interest in the population modeling of atmospheric dusts, smoke, and grit [1, 3, 6]. The shape parameter not only affects the chemical, physical, surface properties of particles but is also important for downstream processes [5, 6]. Image analysis has been found to provide detailed information about size and shape of the particles and can be used for the control of product quality [4].

Jan 1, 2019

By Amy B. Cerato

The application of this study is to use helical anchors as a foundation system for small wind tower (1 ? 10 kW) guyed cables. Helical anchors are currently used to anchor guyed cables of telecommunication and electric towers. However, the increased dynamic vibrations a wind turbine adds to the tower and foundation system under working loads, as well as extreme environmental conditions (e.g., straight line winds, ice load or sudden furling shocks), require additional knowledge about the behavior of helical anchors. These field conditions were simulated in this study by instrumenting a working tower with load cells and 3-axis accelerometers to gather data on wind speed and tower response. These tower responses were then transmitted to the helical anchors through an extensive, large-scale testing program that included monitoring the performance of the helical anchor foundation under dynamic loads, subject to natural variations in both wind regimes, precipitation (water level) and variations in helical anchor geometry. This paper specifically discusses the effects of helical anchor geometry on helical anchor performance under long-term dynamic loads.

Jan 1, 2008

Effects of High Pressure Grinding Rolls on Platinum-Bearing Ores and the Flotation Response as Compared to the Conventional Ball Mill Three major PGM ore types from the Bushveld Complex of South Africa: Merensky, UG2 and Platreef were comminuted with the use of the high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR). The influence of the feed characteristics and the various operational and design features of the HPGR on energy consumption, throughput, mineral liberation and PGM flotation recovery were investigated. The test work variables included two feed top sizes of 12 mm and 6 mm, specific grinding forces ranging between 3 - 7.5N/ mm2 and zero gaps of 1.5 mm and 3 mm. The results show that the influence of the HPGR operational and design features on energy consumption, throughput, mineral liberation and PGM recovery are ore dependent. The size reduction-specific energy relationships show that the most energy efficient utilisation of the HPGR for Platreef ore was at the lower specific grinding force of 3N/mm2 and the zero gap at 3 mm. For Merensky and UG2 ore on the other hand, the most energy efficient operation was at the higher specific grinding force of 7.5N/mm2 and the zero gap of 1.5 mm. At a specific energy input of 3 kWh/t, reduction ratios (F50/P50) of 6.5, 3.8 and 10 were obtained for Merensky, UG2 and Platreef, respectively for feed top sizes of 12mm. Further application of the HPGR as a pregrinding stage to a ball mill showed a 25 - 30 per cent increase in throughput for Merensky and UG2 ore. Batch flotation tests performed on selected samples appear to indicate that ore comminuted with the ball mill had superior grades compared with that ground with the HPGR. However, Merensky and UG2 ore comminuted at different HPGR operating conditions showed distinctions in PGM recovery. Platreef on the other hand did not appear to show any differences. Therefore, this study highlights the significance of ore type and operating variables in HPGR applications with regards to energy efficiency, throughput and PGM recovery.

Sep 13, 2010

By H. Cho

There is an indication that high-pressure roller milling promotes selective liberation due to preferential breakage along the mineral boundaries. A study was undertaken to compare the degree of liberation obtained by high-pressure roller milling with that of conventional ball milling. Coals with different HGI's were ground in a high-pressure roller mill and a ball mill to produce products with similar size distributions. The products were then subjected to float-sink separations to determine the degree of liberation. Also, the relative cleanabilities were compared by separating the ground products by froth flotation. The results from this study are presented in the paper.

Jan 1, 1994

By A. Villanueva

The effect of High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR), as a preceding stage to a conventional ball mill circuit at PT Freeport Indonesia?s C1/C2 concentrators, has been studied in terms of downstream grinding efficiency and circuit performance. When milling the product from the HPGR, mill capacity increased by 21% for the same product grind size, when compared to processing similar ore from a conventional crushing circuit. This achievement is a result of several reasons, among them: reduction in feed size (F80), fines generation beyond the proportional reduction in F80, reduction in ore hardness induced by HPGR comminution mechanism, optimization of the recycle system of the HPGR and ball string optimization in the ball mill circuit given the new feed to the mill.

Jan 1, 2012

Effects of Hydrated Mg2+ on KCl Flotation

Sep 13, 2010

By B. Damjanac, S. Maxwell, D. Chorney, M. Grob, F. Zhang, J. Hazzard

"A hybrid discrete-continuum numerical scheme is developed to study the behavior of hydraulic fractures crossing natural fractures. The fully coupled hybrid scheme utilizes a discrete element model for a core domain, within which the hydraulic fracture propagates and interacts with natural fractures, and a surrounding continuum domain to better approximate boundary effects. The results show that the behavior of hydraulic fractures crossing natural fractures is affected by a combination of factors. Nevertheless, three fundamental crossing scenarios can be identified from all of the simulations: no crossing, partial crossing, and direct crossing. Each crossing scenario has a distinct injection pressure history which may suggest guidelines for interpreting field hydraulic fracture injection data. Additionally, the capability for these models to generate synthetic microseismicity makes them appealing for the integration of microseismic field data with the reservoir geomechanics for ultimately providing a practical engineering tool for improvement of well completion and stimulation. The model is capable of examining and verifying four different shear deformation mechanisms associated with a propagating hydraulic fracture. The natural fracture can fail solely due to the stress perturbation of the passing hydraulic fracture or it can fail due to a combination of stress and pore pressure changes across different types of interaction scenarios. The simulations also illustrate that the level of fracturing complexity increases as the number and extent of the natural fractures increase. INTRODUCTIONAlthough hydraulic fracturing technique has been applied extensively as a reservoir stimulation technique in the oil and gas industry for over 60 years (Economides & Nolte, 2000), it is one of the key factors promoting the shale gas boom in the past decade (King, 2010; International Energy Agency, 2014). The hydraulic fracturing of shales can be differentiated from hydraulic fracturing of conventional reservoirs by the fact that shale formations often have a pre-existing discrete fracture networks which greatly impact the hydraulic fracture propagation. Based upon field production data as well as microseismic observations, it is believed that so called “fracture complexity” may result from interactions between a created hydraulic fracture and pre-existing natural fractures and planes of weakness (Warpinski, 2009; Maxwell & Cipolla, 2011)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Chuanguang Bi, Wenbin Dai, Hongtao Wang, Mansheng Chu, Zhenggen Liu

Coke oven gas (COG) injection is considered as one of feasible measures to reduce carbon emission of BF. The effects of COG injection on the reduction of iron-bearing burdens were numerically simulated by means of multi-fluid BF model, which revealed that with increasing COG injection rate, solid temperature gradually decrease, in-furnace H2 concentration increases, the reduction of magnetite and wustite by H2 is evidently accelerated, the reaction rate of wustite by H2 reduction is enhanced and the reduction degree of mixed burdens is strengthened. Under this hydrogen-enriched condition, metallurgical properties of iron-bearing burdens were experimentally investigated. The GB/T13242-91 test results showed that with increasing COG injection rate, the reduction swelling index of oxidized pellets decreases while the reduction ratio of pellets increases. The softening-melting tests suggested that softening interval of mixed burdens increases from 163.6 to 228.3 °C while melting interval decreases from 147.3 to 92.4 °C. The cohesive zone moves downwards and becomes narrow. The permeability of mixed burdens is improved. In terms of metallurgical properties of iron-bearing burdens, COG injection benefits to improve BF performance.

Mar 1, 2017

By Q. Li

"The precursor of In2O3 was prepared by hydrolysis precipitation/hydrothermal method using In(NO3)3 solution as the feed material and ammonium hydroxide as the neutralizing agent. The crystallinity, morphology and particle size of the products were characterized by SEM, XRD, BET and LPSA. The results showed that the hydrolysis product consists of an aggregate of cubic In(OH)3 particles with a short rod morphology. In the hydrothermal process, the structure, morphology and size of the particles changes through the mechanisms of Ostwald ripening and phase transition, respectively. When the hydrothermal temperature was less than 280 ?, the Ostwald ripening process took place, which changed the morphology of the particles from short rods to cuboids through dissolution-recrystallization. When the hydrothermal temperature was higher than 280 ?, the processes of Ostwald ripening and phase transition took place successively. Firstly, the morphology of the particles changed from short rods to cuboids through Ostwald ripening, and then, the phase transition from cubic In(OH)3 to orthorhombic InOOH occurred and the morphology of the particles changed from cuboids to polyhedron. INTRODUCTIONDue to its excellent electrical conductivity and optical transparency, indium tin oxide (ITO) film has been wildly used in flat-panel display, solar cell, antistatic coating and EMI shielding (Medvedovski et al., 2008). Indium oxide powder is one of the fundamental materials for preparing ITO film. Along with the development of ITO targets of both high density and large size, high quality indium oxide powders, such as single phase, nano-size, spherical morphology and mono-disperse, have been in high demand (Nakashima and Kumahara, 2002; Betz et al., 2006; Kim et al., 2007). The main preparation methods for indium tin oxide or indium oxide powders include chemical precipitation (Nam et al., 2001; Xu and Yu, 2007), melt atomizing-combustion (Chen et al., 2000) and spray pyrolysis (Ogi et al., 2009). Among them, chemical precipitation has been preferred, since it is simple, easy to control and suitable for industrial scale-up. In chemical precipitation method, indium oxide powders were prepared through the following steps: firstly, indium hydrate precursor was precipitated from an indium salt solution by neutralization using an alkali, such as ammonia; and then, indium oxide (In2O3) powders can be obtained from the precursor through calcination (Li et al., 2006), or solvothermal method (Lee and Choi, 2005), or hydrothermal processing/roasting (Xu et al., 2005; Chen and Li, 2007), respectively. However, the indium oxide powders obtained by direct roasting are polycrystalline, dispersable with a wide size distribution (Liao, 2006). The disadvantages of the solvothermal method are high cost, complicated after-treatment processes, as well as bad performances of the powders (Udawatte and Yanagisawa, 2000). Therefore, among three methods of obtaining indium oxide from the hydrolysis precursor, the hydrothermal process/roasting method is the most feasible to synthesize high quality In2O3 powder with uniform crystallinity and size (Kim et al., 2002; Zhu et al., 2004; Xu et al., 2005; Xu et al., 2005; Chen and Li, 2007; Seetha et al., 2009). However, current research on hydrothermal process-roasting method has been limited to the synthesis of a certain ITO or In2O3 powders under specific conditions. A systematic study on the phase transition, as well as the change of the morphology and size of the particles in the hydrothermal process is still missing. In this paper, the effects of hydrothermal processing on the mineralogy, morphology and size of products were investigated. The results showed that the evolution of crystal structure, morphology and size in the hydrothermal process was affected through the mechanisms of Ostwald ripening and phase transition successively. These results are novel and have guidance for improving the hydrothermal process for In2O3"

Jan 1, 2012

By Philip Bucky

THE term "longwall mining" is best known to coal men, although modifications of the method are continually being used in other fields. Longwall mining is of interest today because it makes for greater mecha-nization and better supervision at the working face, and therefore lower production costs and increased safety. It is an approach to the factory system of production, the high efficiency of which as compared to that in mines is well known. There is available an accumulation of experience regarding this work but coordination of experience is lacking and this series of experiments was undertaken to help serve this purpose. Model experiments were used for reasons of safety, cost and time, and because it has been previously shown1,2,3 that a scalar model built of the same material as the prototype will behave in a manner similar to that of the prototype, with time effects the same, if the effective weight of the model is increased in the same proportion as its linear dimensions are decreased. This is accomplished by substituting a centrifugal for the gravitational field; i.e., placing the model in a centrifuge and controlling the strength of the centrifugal field by varying the rate of rotation. Many factors affect the behavior of the geologic material overlying a bed, therefore results and conclusions contained in this paper apply only to the conditions presented herein.

Jan 1, 1938

By Daniel W. H. Su

The importance of incorporating fundamental principles of rock material response and failure mechanics into a pillar strength design model has been demonstrated. To accurately assess pillar strength, a model should account not only for the characteristics of the coal, but also for those of the surrounding strata. The interactions between the pillar and the surrounding roof and floor dictate ultimate pillar strength. Confinement, or the lack thereof, provided by roof and floor frictional end-constraint is one of the most significant factors in the strength of very wide pillars. The best conditions for end-constraint occur with ideally strong roof and floor. In this paper, it will be shown that weak roof and floor may decrease the ultimate pillar strength by as much as 30% compared to ideal conditions. Field observations confirm this pillar strength reduction in the presence of weak roof and floor. Furthermore, rock partings within the coal have a variable effect on pillar strength, depending on the parting strength. A competent shale parting within the coal reduces the effective pillar height, thus increasing the ultimate pillar strength; a weak claystone parting slightly decreases the strength. Imposed load distribution also has a significant effect on pillar strength, such that asymmetric pillar loading, similar to that observed in pillars adjacent to high extraction mining, reduces the ultimate pillar strength below that of equivalent pillars subject to uniform load distributions.

Jan 1, 1997

By B. Briggs

Over the past 15 years, the tunneling industry has pushed towards a higher degree of mechanization in nearly every phase of construction. The overall objective of the mechanization was to increase production and the level of safety in tunnel operations. However, the overall complexity of some systems have been a hindrance to a seamless transition to the newer technologies as increased maintenance requirements and re-training of skilled workers has altered the benefit curve for some innovations.

Jan 1, 2010