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By Shunhong Huang

Thirty-five soils were sampled from three sites at different distances from chromium slag heap of a Iron-alloy factory, namely, nine from site A located under the chromium slag and eighteen from Site B in the vicinity of the factory and eight from site C far from the factory. The contents of total Cr in these soils from site A, B and C were 1666.0±1310.9 mg? kg - 1,1136.2±1844.6 mg? kg - 1 ,300.4 ±165.1 mg? kg ? 1, respectively. The contents of water soluble Cr were 59.3±77.57 mg? kg ? 1,0.6 ±0.3 mg? kg - 1 ,0.5±0.3 mg? kg - 1 , respectively. In order to evaluate soil health, the activities of four soil enzymes (catalase, polyphenol oxidase, dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatases) were analyzed. The results have shown that dehydrogenase activity was greatly depressed by conditions in the heavy chromium-contaminated sites. Negative correlation was observed between dehydrogenase activity and the distance from the chromium slag heap, however, the activities of catalase, polyphenol oxidase, alkaline phosphatases in soils from the three sampling sites mentioned above did not differ significantly. The result imply that of dehydrogenase activity could be used as an indicator for the chromium pollution level in the area of Iron-Alloy factory and for the stability level of the soil ecosystem.

Jan 1, 2008

By Paul L. Wichlacz

A mathematical model of growth and ferrous iron oxidation for attached bacteria was applied to rotating biological contactor (RBC) units treating acidic mine drainage. The model describes attached bacterial growth as a saturation function, where the rate of substrate utilization is determined by a maximum substrate oxidation rate constant, a half saturation constant, and the concentration of substrate within the RBC. The maximum oxidation rate constant was proportional to flow rate and the substrate concentration in the reactor varied with influent substrate concentration. The model was tested at three separate sites and with three different size RBC units. The ability of the model to predict the rate of iron oxidation under all test conditions was significant. The accuracy of the model was found to be affected by unit size and vary with specific test site.

Jan 1, 1985

By Jose Antonio Silva Souza, Emanuel Negrao Macedo, Iara Ferreira Santos, Otacilio Dias, Luis C. A. Venancio

"The Bayer process alumina production generates 0.7 to 2.0 ton of bauxite residue (BR) and an average of 1.0 ton of C02 per ton of alumina produced. The direct reaction of exhaust gases to reduce the alkalinity of the BR may allow a triple gain: improve the storage conditions, open a range of new applications for BR and sequester from 16 to 102 kg of C02 per ton of alumina. This paper shows the measurement of C02 captured during a pilot scale reaction of a suspension of BR in water with flue gas, produced from direct oil burning. Three different types of reactors were used: one spray tower and two packed columns. The inlet and exhaust gases were analyzed using electrochemical and non dispersive infrared sensors. The pH of the suspension was monitored during and after the reaction to evaluate the buffer effect.IntroductionAlumina is mainly produced from refining bauxite using the Bayer process. This process consists of extracting the aluminum oxide through its dissolution in caustic soda and the separation of insoluble residues. The remaining bauxite residue (BR) although not particularly toxic, poses risks to the environment due to the large volume and its reactivity. According to the latest technology it is stacked on sealed deposits specially constructed. To date the vast majority of the bauxite residue that has been produced was stored and were not incorporated into any existing production processes to significant amount with exception to some extent of the sintering process residue at Russia and China [l]. On the other hand, a strategic goal was set in 2010 by the Bauxite and Alumina Committee of the International Aluminium Institute (formed by the majority of the industries) to reuse 20% of BR in 2025 [2]. China has established the same objective for 2015[1].This paper is a sequel of two others presented at TMS 2010/2012 [3-4] and describes:• A pilot plant assembled for testing the carbonation process of BR with gaseous effluents similar of the refining process.• The methodology used to measure the amount of C02 captured during the carbonation process.• The results of the carbonation process, the C02 capture and the buffering effect of the pH.This process is studied in order to consume minimal power and use the effluent as efficiently as possible in different reactors from low cost to ultra high performance. The process is designed for minimizing the power consumption and equipment investment."

Jan 1, 2013

By James Douglas

A century ago the AIME meeting of 1899 was held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco California in September. For his presidential address, James Douglas presented this paper which is reprinted in full with the kind permission of the AIME. It presents an interesting comparison relating to events and circumstances in the metallurgical industries at the close of last century. Being on the eve of a new century ourselves, the Editors of this volume of the COPPER 99-COBRE 99 Proceedings considered this paper would be of general interest, hence it is included here. Douglas believed in effective interchange of technical experiences and ideas. He considered the extreme secrecy surrounding the copper works at Swansea, Wales, the world center of copper only years before the time his paper was delivered, as one key reason for its decline, (and eventual closure of all copper plants there). In his paper, the pace of developments in various sectors such as transportation (railroads, the dominant means of I transportation at the time), the iron and steel and copper industries were examined, in much the same way as one might do but on the high technology of today. James Douglas was born in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada and spent his early life there. Forced to move to the United States for family and financial reasons, he went on to become a pioneer in the new Arizona copper industry, and with luck and good judgement with his interest in the new mining properties he also became very wealthy. Douglas was an accomplished mining and metallurgical engineer. He was the first President of Phelps Dodge and helped transform the small trading company of Anson Phelps and William Dodge into a mining giant.

Jan 1, 1999

By V. Blet

Rare earth elements (REE) are regarded today as highly critical raw materials but currently lack suitable recycling processes. A combined hydro- and pyrometallurgical process aimed at REE recovery from used NdFeB permanent magnets was recently developed by the CEA. The process integrates the physico-chemical treatment of magnets, followed by a solvent extraction step for the recovery and intra-REE separation using a selective extractant. A subsequent pyrometallurgical treatment via molten chloride salt electrolysis allowed the isolation of pure Dy metal. Technical-economic assessment and life-cycle analysis were also conducted. Following this first successful demonstration, a new project aimed at the recovery of REE from end-of-life nickel-metal-hydride batteries is currently being developed in association with industrial and academic partners. The project aims at evaluating from an experimental and economic perspective different processes converging at the production of value-added products such as cermet materials for catalytic applications, purified REO concentrates, or metallic alloys.

By Hu Long

Pyrite, as the host mineral in refractory gold ores and concentrates, has been treated by pressure oxidation in sulfuric acid solutions at temperatures above 180°C to liberate gold prior to cyanidation since the 1980's. However, no data is available on the kinetics of pyrite during acid pressure oxidation over the temperature range of 180 to 230°C which is the range employed by most commercial plants. The dissolution of pyrite (FeS,) in sulfuric acid solution under oxygen pressure was investigated at temperatures ranging from 170 to 230°C. The effects of temperature, particle size, agitation speed, oxygen partial pressure, and pulp density were evaluated. The effects of foreign ion addition and the concentration of sulfuric acid were also examined. The apparent activation energy was estimated to be 42.6 kJ/mol in the temperature range 170 to 230°C. The reaction orders with respect to particle size and oxygen partial pressure were found to be -1.5 and 0.5 at 210°C, respectively. Experimental evidence suggests that the kinetics are limited by the surface chemical reaction initially, and then also to some extent by the diffusion of ferrous ions away from the particle surface.

Jan 1, 1999

By Norbert Patzeh

The demand for nickel is growing and will continue to do so for the foreseeable, future. This will make the construction of new leaching and smelting plants necessary. This paper described a number of possible alternative processes. The first projects with new technology are currently undergoing trials and feasibility studies. Experience from other industrial sectors and from existing plants is being incorporated into these investigations. The question is, to what extent the old nickel producing concepts will continue to be applied in the future. Keywords: Latcritc, rotary kiln, cyclonc rcactor, dust processing

Jan 1, 2004

By W. L. Dalmijn

Glass recycling in the Netherlands 'has grown fr.om 10.000 to 300.000 tonnes per annum. The various advantages and problems of the glass cycle with reference to the state of the art in the Netherlands is given. Special attention is given to new technologies for the automated sorting of cullet with detection systems. In Western Europe the recycling of glass has, become a success story. Because of this, the percentage of ,glass cullet used in ,glass furnaces has increased. To meet the quality demands of the glass industry, automated sorting for the removal of stones, non-ferrous metals and other impurities ,had to be developed and incorporated in glass recycling plants. ;In Holland, Germany and other countries, the amount of glass collected has reached a level that colour-sorting becomes necessary to avoid market saturation with mixed cullet. Recently, two systems for colour-sorting have been developed and tested for the separation of bottles and culletin the size .range of 20 -50 mm. With the increased capacity of the new glass recycling plants, 120,000 -200,000 tpy, the quality systems have also to be improved and automated. These quality control systems are based on tile automated sorting technology developed earlier. for the glass recycling plants. The data obtained are automatically processed and printed. The sampling system and its relation to the theory of Gy will be described. Results of both developments in glass, recycling plants will be described.

Jan 1, 1995

By Florian Kongoli

Converters have been playing an important role in the extraction and processing of metals ever since the first type of converter was invented about 100 years ago. Historically their operation has been mainly based on the experience of talented operators rather than on strict control and optimization technologies. However, in the new realities of unavoidable necessity to increase productivity and in the conditions of diversification of primary materials from various geographical areas, improving control and optimization techniques have become indispensable. In this paper a review of the authors? previous work in terms of improving control and optimization of converter operational practices related to magnetite content and precipitation, slag and metal blows, problematic and dangerous elements such as As, Sb etc. has been described by highlighting the advantages that the new control and optimization methods and tools bring to everyday converter practices. Several examples are given and future work is underlined

Jan 1, 2005

By Xu Weimin

The existing copper electrorefining tankhouse of Jinchuan Nonferrous Metals Complex (JNC) was commissioned in 1986 for refining blister copper anodes. Blister copper is produced by reverberating chalcocite separated from converter high grade nickel-copper matter by means of flotation. Special chemical analysis of the anodes shows, a composition of 93.02 - 95.72 % copper, 3.0 - 4.96 % nickel and 0.5 - 1.23 % sulfur. The wide range of composition makes the electrorefining process fairly different from others throughout the world. The initial nickel content of 20 ppm and sulfur 40 ppm or more in copper cathodes are reduced to 8.5 ppm and 11 ppm respectively. Since 1986 the tankhouse has undergone significant evolutionary modifications and implementations to ameliorate cathodes quality desirably. The important fact is that the N-additive was utilized through many studies and pilot and field trials successfully. While our primary purpose is to improve chemical quality of the cathodes, tankhouse capacity is increased considerably and the process is perfected satisfactorily. The tankhouse is described with special emphasis on JINCHUAN PROCESS. The upgrading of our product by the utilization of the N-additive is highlighted. The other aspects of the tankhouse including spent electrolyte treatment and by product nickel sulfate manufacturing are briefed as well. Key words: JINCHUAN PROCESS, anode, cathode, electrolyte, electrorefining, N-additive.

Jan 1, 1993

By Tam Tran

Over the last decade, halide (chloride, bromide and iodide) systems have been evaluated as alternative lixiviants for the processing of gold to replace cyanidation which has been widely used in commercial practice. This paper first reviews the development of processes promoted by Kaljas Ltd / Lachlan Resources (Australia) and Great Lakes Corp (USA) using different bromide/bromine systems in the early 1990's. Several research groups subsequently evaluated the use of iodide/iodine and chloride/chlorine for gold extraction, showing similar characteristics of gold/silver dissolution and recovery. A critique is :given on the advantages and the ,shortfalls of halide systems as alternative lixiviants. The stability of gold? halide complexes is discussed, based on practical experience and thermodynamic modelling of their speciation, The iodide system provides the most stable gold / silver complex for easier handling. However, the cost of iodide inhibits its application for are processing. In this critique, emphasis is given on the cheapest system, which involves the use of chloride for leaching (in conjunction with an appropriate oxidant). However the chloride-base leachant has a major drawback which is related to the unstable nature of gold chloride in a reducing environment.

Jan 1, 1998

By A. Shemi

Tungsten carbide scrap (WC–Co) is material generated from the tungsten carbide manufacturing process and worn out or used carbide parts from industry. Tungsten (W) ores contain about 3 wt% WO3 and their W concentrates about 10– 75 wt% WO3. Tungsten carbide scrap typically contains 40–95 wt% W. The high intrinsic value of W and the fact that the least valuable scrap contains more W than the average tungsten ore makes tungsten carbide scrap a worthy material for re-use. This study has investigated the selective dissolution of the cobalt (Co) binder phase, and recovery of tungsten monocarbide (WC) and Co using an acid leach process. The Co component was selectively leached leaving the WC solid particles intact. Further investigation using a complexing agent-aided acid leach process that takes advantage of organic chelating agents that form a soluble tungsten complex in place of the passive insoluble tungsten oxide is envisaged. The optimal dissolution of the Co binder phase using an inorganic acid in conjunction with an organic complexing agent is a novel approach with the potential of reduced leaching times and possibility of regenerating the unreacted organic acid.

By Martin E. Nelson

Several heavy metal separation techniques are currently being developed for soil remediation at various Department of Defense and Department of Energy (DOE) Facilities. The majority of these techniques involve a wet process using water, PH modifiers or other compounds. The United States Naval Academy (USNA) has developed a dry process for heavy metal separation. The process uses air classification technology to concentrate the metal contaminant into a fraction of the soil. The advantages of this dry process are that it creates no contaminated by product and uses commercially available technology. The USNA process is based on using a Gayco-Reliance air classifier. Tests have been conducted with the system at the Naval Academy and the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR). The USNA tests used soil from the Nevada Test Site mixed with bismuth at a concentration of 500-1000 ppm. The UNR tests used soil from four DOE sites mixed with uranium oxides and plutonium at an activity level of 100-700 pCi per gram. Concentration of activities and volume reduction percentages are presented for the various soils and contaminants tested.

Jan 1, 1995

By Michael Sheedy

Recoflo® ion exchange technology utilizes fine mesh resin beads, a fully packed resin bed, and counter-current regeneration. These unique features help to improve exchange kinetics, reduce regenerant consumption, and increase the concentration of strip solutions. Commercially, Recoflo technology has been extensively used in the following areas: the separation of strong mineral acids from dissolved metal salts, the purification, removal and recycle of dissolved metals in the surface finishing industries, and the production of high purity water. In the mining and metallurgical industries Recoflo ion exchange systems have been installed to treat a copper refinery bleed stream at Falconbridge's Kidd Creek plant and to treat a nickel and cobalt bearing ammonium sulfate effluent stream at another primary metal producer's facility. In the first application an APU® Recoflo system is used to separate the sulfuric acid at 200g/L from the dissolved copper and nickel sulfate salts at 80 g/L. The absorbed sulfuric acid is recovered from the resin by elution with water and is then returned to the refinery electrolyte circuit. In the second application a chelating ion exchange resin is used to remove nickel and cobalt at 0.01 - 3.0 g/L from process streams containing 120 - 240 g/L ammonium sulfate. This Recoflo system has been designed to reduce the nickel and cobalt levels to 0.001 - 0.002 g/L while recovering cobalt and nickel at concentrations up to 30 g/L and 15 g/L respectively. Case studies for both these metallurgical applications and other Recoflo processes are presented in this paper.

Jan 1, 1998

By A. C. Mollison

In November of 1983 a fire inside the autoclave caused the curtailment of operation of the Kidd Creek pressure leaching facility. Subsequent repairs and recommissioning of the autoclave in 1984 allowed Kidd Creek to increase its production of zinc as originally planned. This paper describes the operation of this process from 1984 to 1988 and details major mechanical work carried out on the vessel in 1.988:

Jan 1, 1990

By Wenzhou Yu, Cong Zhang, Wenhui Ma, Gang Wang, Kuixian Wei

"A novel technique was successfully developed for nickel further purification by vacuum directional solidification. The removal effect of impurities in nickel was studied based on theoretical analysis and experiments. High removal efficiency of impurities in nickel can be realized according to theoretical analysis. The experimental results show that the vacuum directional solidification treatment could increase the nickel purity from 99.96% to 99.996%. Since vacuum directional solidification could effectively remove the impurities from nickel with low contamination and low cost, it is a potential route to obtain high-purity nickel for commercial application.IntroductionNickel is widely used in metallurgy, machinery, petroleum industry, chemical industry, construction industry, light industry, and other industries for its ductility, medium hardness, ferromagnetism and high chemical activity. Nickel-based alloy is an important material for the key parts of aircraft, tanks, submarines, radars, nuclear reactors and aerospace fields [1-5]. Generally, nickel contains Si, P, S, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sn, Sb, Pb, Bi, Al, Mn, Mg and other impurity elements, which may hinder the commercial application of nickel. Therefore, it is necessary to refine the crude nickel for the high purity nickel."

Jan 1, 2014

By Wilhelm Brandstätter, Johannes Steiner, Alois Triessnig, Christian Redl

"The results of numerical simulations of bubble detachment from an orifice in a horizontal plate submerged in liquid are presented. The bubbles are created by forcing gas through this orifice into stagnant liquid. The simulations are performed with a two-dimensional incompressible Lattice Boltzmann (LB) scheme. In previous works the same problem was investigated by two-phase simulations in which surface tension effects were considered by an interaction potential formulation between the phases. In contrast, in the present work a volume of fluid (VOF) model consisting of a carrier fluid and a passively advected scalar function for the calculation of gravitational and surface tension forces, respectively, is used. The aims of this study are to examine the applicability of the one-phase LB method to the numerical analysis of bubble formation and to verify the theoretical and experimental predictions of the dependencies of the departure diameter on gravitational forces, surface forces and wettability effects. To this purpose the simulations were performed at different values of gravitational acceleration g, surface tension coefficient s and contact angle ß. Nonlinear fits to the data yield functional dependencies which are in good agreement with the predictions. IntroductionBubble formation behavior is an extensively studied subject, especially in chemical engineering, power industries and metallurgical processing. Knowledge of the underlying physics of bubble motion is, for example, required for the design of chemical reaction towers and agitation tanks. Another important application is the argon gas injection through the wall of the tundish nozzle into liquid steel stream to deter clogging with solid inclusions. Argon bubble motion and its effect on flow depends greatly on different parameters, e.g. gas flow rate and size of the bubbles. Thus, if these bubbles are not managed properly, they can become encapsulated upon solidification and result in undesirable impurities in the material [1, 2]."

Jan 1, 2004

By Jorge Alberto Soares Tenório, Flávia Paulucci Cianga Silvas, Bianca Medeiros, Denise Crocce Romano Espinosa, Ivo André Homrich Schneider, Daniella Cardoso Buzzi, José Roberto de Oliveira

"AMD is one of the main problems associated with mining activities and the techniques used in their treatment may be the biosorption. The aim of this work was to study the rice husk as a biosorbent for the AMD treatment keeping constant: pH (2.6), biomass concentration (1g.L-1), temperature (25°C) and agitation (175rpm). And varying the contact time of 5, 20, 60 and 240 minutes. Rice husk samples will be characterized before and after the biosorptives tests through analysis of SEM and IR. The micrographs indicate the occurrence of micro-precipitation and changes in biomass physical structure. Since the infrared spectra indicate changes in functional groups present in the biomass before and after the biosorptives tests. AMD synthetic solutions will be analyzed by ICP in order to quantify the metals concentration captured by biomassIntroductionThe preoccupation for the environment has led the industry in general, to treat their waste. As the only industrial activity is increasing, the pollutants generated must undergo treatment processes aimed at reducing pollution, and therefore, less aggression ecosystems.In mining there is waste water with accumulation of heavy metals, and these are harmful to health of living beings, thus being one of those industries responsible for some pollution of the environment. These wastewater in contact with oxygen to generate an acidic water is called acid mine drainage (AMD). This aqueous solution has a pH below 3 and varieties of dissolved metals. When this solution comes in contact with water, generates a series of environmental problems, so there is a need to recover the metals present in the DAM."

Jan 1, 2012

By B. Mishra

Several reactive metal purification processes using molten salts generate effluent from which significant quantities of metal can be recovered prior to discardinglrecycling the salt. A Salt-scrub [SS] process has been applied where the reactive metals are recovered as a metal-gallium alloy by calciothermic reduction of the metal compounds. The SS alloy compositions were produced by mixing, pressing and sintering the metal-powders. Measurement of metal recovery has been studied for cerium, silver, tin and lead. The process has been optimized for variables such as the metal quantity per kg of effluent salt, amount of excess calcium over stoichiometry, stirring rate and time and holding time at reduction temperature. Over ninety-seven percent metal recovery has been obtained under optimized conditions. The development of an alloy for efficient Salt Scrub processing reduces a major contaminated waste disposal problem as well as recovering the valuable reactive metal. Surrogate metals have been used in this work to study the behavior of plutonium.

Jan 1, 1994

By A. Bilodeau

A new hydrometallurgical process for the production of refined gold and the recovery of palladium and platinum from silver anode slimes has recently been developed and installed at the, CCR Division of Noranda Inc. The process, which facilitates the production of gold of >99.99% purity in the face of increasing palladium receipts comprises; leaching silver anode slimes with hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide at 95°C to solubilize gold, palladium, platinum and base metals while simultaneously rejecting silver as insoluble silver chloride; precipitating gold from the leach solu¬tion with sulphur dioxide gas in two stages to produce a first-stage high purity gold product and a second stage impure gold which is recycled to the leach; washing, melting and casting of the pure gold; precipitation of a palladium-platinum concentrate from the gold-free solution by reduction with sodium formate at pH 4 and 95°C; and neutralization of the palladium precipitation effluent to pH 10 with lime. The results of laboratory and pilot plant studies leading to the adop¬tion of this process are discussed, and data are presented for each of the unit operations. Details of the engineering of the commercial plant are given, and plant start-up experience is described.

Jan 1, 1987