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By Brommerm Tracey, Britt Elin Gihleengen, Elsa Olivetti, Hans Ole Riddervold, Randolph Kirchain, Geir Øyen

"Compositional uncertainty in secondary materials and variable processing conditions inhibits secondary material utilization in the production of aluminum alloys. Efforts to implement optimization models that direct batch planning have limited industrial presence due to factors such as the insensitivity of these optimization models to dynamic plant circumstances. This paper describes a chance constrained model formulation that generates lower cost, robust batch plans with significant flexibility towards changes in processing conditions. The principal attribute of the chance constrained formulation is its inherent mitigation of risk by diversifying the batch plan. This paper compares aluminum remelter batch planning using the chance constrained formulation with a traditional deterministic model and a manual batch planner. With the expectation that volatile material prices, restricted scrap material availability, and pressure by consumers and legislation for increased recycled raw material input will continue in the future, batch planning tools that inherently diversify a production portfolio will become increasingly advantageous for industrial aluminum remelters.IntroductionAluminum remelters must develop strategies to incorporate lower cost secondary materials into finished alloys to remain competitive amidst increasingly demanding market and regulatory conditions. Determining the optimal combination of incoming raw materials to produce an alloy that meets compositional specifications presents remelters with a complex problem that has driven the development of computational tools commonly referred to as batch planning or blending algorithms. The ubiquity of the ingredient or raw material blending problem in production has motivated ongoing development of batch planning algorithms since the classic nut-mix problem in the 1950's [1]. The most common model formulation for industrial aluminum remelters are deterministic, linear optimization programs [2]. These blending problems determine the optimal combination of raw materials by minimizing cost subject to constraints around demand, availability, and compositional specification. Despite extensive research and moderate computational requirements, batch planning algorithms are inconsistently used in industry. Insufficient incorporation of the complexity of real world remelting conditions into these models provides an obstacle for their implementation [3]. For example, many batch planning algorithms do not explicitly incorporate the impact of compositional variation of the raw materials on overall batch cost. Additionally, they do not allow for endogenous specification of tolerance to error in batch planning, so provide little flexibility where a batch planner would like to incorporate materials of greater uncertainty. Incomplete accounting for quality variability undervalues secondary materials leading to overly conservative use [ 4, 5]."

Jan 1, 2011

By John P. Hager

One possible approach for the recovery of mercury from acid plant blow-down sludge in smelters is the use of a vacuum retort reactor for the vaporization of the mercury with subsequent collection of metallic mercury in an attached condenser. An experimental study was undertaken to investigate the vaporization of mercury when present as a compound in the Hg-S-O and Hg-Se systems. A transpiration reactor was modified to operate under reduced pressure and with a continuous flow of inert sweep gas. A water-cooled cold finger was inserted into the exit end of the reactor to provide for the rapid quenching of the exit gases and the collection of the mercury. Rates of vaporization were measured at several temperatures for each compound and were generally found to be constant at a given temperature and reactor pressure. The results were used to determine the minimum operating temperature for 100% vaporization of the compound in 60 minutes. For Hg2SO4, HgSO4, and HgSO/2HgO the required temperatures. for a reactor pressure of 50 Torr. were determined to be 634°, 622°. and 603°C. respectively. For HgO, HgSe, and HgS the required temperatures were 557°. 451°. And 382°C. respectively. For HgS the rate of vaporization was also measured at a reactor pressure of 1 00 Torr. The rate of vaporization was found to be slower resulting in an increased vaporization temperature of 423°C. It was also determined that the mercury vapor present in the exit gas stream can back-react with the other gas species to a significant extent and can result in very little condensed metallic mercury. For the vaporization of both HgS and HgSe. the mercury vapor was found to have back-reacted to the extent that virtually none of the vaporized mercury was collected in metallic form. For the vaporization of Hg2S04? HgS04, and HgSO4*2HgO the amount of metallic mercury recovered varied from approximately 50% for HgS04*2HgO to approximately 10% for Hg2S04 and HgS04. Only for HgO was the recovered mercury in primarily elemental form. The application of the results to the operation of a vacuum retort and condenser system is discussed.

Jan 1, 2001

By Teruo Bitoh, Shogo Izumi

"The effect of B203 flux melting on the structure and the soft magnetic properties of the (Feo.1sBo.20Sio.os)96Nb4 bulk metallic glasses prepared by casting has been investigated. The ringshaped bulk specimens were prepared by the B203 flux melting and copper mold casting. It was confirmed that the flux melting promotes the precipitation of the a-Fe(-Si) and Fe2B phases in the central region of the specimens. The ring-shaped bulk specimens show a flat hysteresis curve, indicating a good linear relationship between the magnetic induction and the applied magnetic field. These results show that it is possible to develop a new soft magnetic material that exhibits constant permeability, which is necessary for producing inductors and choke coils.IntroductionSince the success of forming Fe-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with good soft magnetic properties, great attention has been developed to synthesis and properties of the BMGs [l, 2]. The BMGs have high glass-forming ability (GFA) and, therefore, they can be used to prepare bulk amorphous alloys with a thickness of the order of a few millimeters by casting. The soft magnetic properties of Fe-based BMGs are better than those of ordinary amorphous alloys; therefore, these BMGs have wider applications as soft magnetic materials [3-5]. It is often required for soft magnetic materials that the shape of the hysteresis curve is changed according to the demands of applications. For example, materials with ""flat hysteresis curves,"" which means the magnetic flux density (B) and the applied magnetic field (H) show a linear relationship up to rather high magnetic field, are necessary for producing inductors and choke coils. Flat hysteresis curves can be easily achieved by creating an air gap in the magnetic path. However, magnetic flux leakage generated in the air gap inhibits high-density packing of the electronic components. In order to achieve flat hysteresis curves without creating an air gap, Fe-based ordinary amorphous alloys are subjected to crystallization by annealing and transformed into thin surface layers of a-Fe; the crystallization results in the compression of the remained amorphous phase [6]. Another way to achieve flat hysteresis curves is the formation of secondary phase (such as Fe2B) that act as pinning site of magnetic domain wall displacements [7]."

Jan 1, 2013

By Riyad N. Ahmad-Bitar, Shadia J. Lkhmayies

"CdSi-xTex thin films were prepared by first producing CdS:In thin films by the spray pyrolysis (SP) technique and then annealing the films in the presence of Te vapor in nitrogen atmosphere. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) measurements showed that the films are polycrystalline with the wurtzite structure. Transmittance measurements were recorded at room temperature in the wavelength range 400-900 nm and used to deduce the absorbance. The first derivative of the absorbance was calculated and used to find the values of the bandgap energy, where more than one bandgap was obtained for each film. These results show that the films are inhomogeneous or the composition differs with location. The photoluminescence (PL) was recorded at T = 60 K and a deconvolution peak fit was performed for each spectrum. The results of the PL spectra are consistent with those obtained from the first derivative and confirm the inhomogeneity of the films.IntroductionPolycrystalline thin film CdS/CdTe solar cells are promising candidates for low cost and high efficiency photovoltaic applications. The CdS/CdTe interface plays an active role and a detailed knowledge of its properties is crucial for thorough understanding of the device. High efficiency devices have been obtained in spite of the large lattice mismatch (9. 7%) between hexagonal CdS and cubic CdTe. Interdiffusion at the CdS/CdTe interface is considered to affect the performance of the devices [1]. The formation of a mixed crystal or a graded layer at the interface causes a reduction in the lattice mismatch at the CdS/CdTe junction [2] and then a reduction in the number of interfacial states and recombination centers, thus enhancing the solar cell performance [3, 4].The objective of this work is to investigate the transmittance, photoluminescence (PL) and structure of CdSi-xTex thin films prepared by annealing the spray-deposited CdS:In thin films in the presence of tellurium vapor. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used for exploring the structure. Transmittance is used to deduce the absorbance where its first derivative was used to find the bandgap energy which varies with composition. The evolution of the PL spectra as functions of tellurium concentration was evident and it confirmed the inhomogeneities of the films."

Jan 1, 2011

By S. V. Ketov, V. P. Menushenkov, V. S. Shubakov

"The glass samples were obtained by melting of the oxides mixture SrO-Fe2O3-B2O3(Al2O3) at 1200-1250°C with subsequent quenching of the melt on quickly rotating steel roller. Submicronsized Sr(Fe,Al)12O19 particles were formed in glass-ceramic matrix during the crystallization aging of glass. The aging temperature Tag varied in the range 650-950°C. The submicron-sized hexaferrite powder was obtained by removing of the matrix phases using etching. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scamiing electron microscopy and magnetization measurements. The glass-ceramic material exhibits very high coercivity value up to 10 kOe. The samples of magnets were obtained by pressing of the hexaferrite powder at RT and subsequent aging in the range 900-1200°C. The aged samples exhibit coercivity value up to 8 kOe.IntroductionStrontium M-type hexaferrites have been widely used in technology and industry mainly for production of permanent magnets owing to their appropriate magnetic properties, chemical stability and low cost [1,2]. The SrFe12019-based compounds are characterized by high magnetocrystalline anisotropy and single easy magnetization axis. The highest coercivity is received for monodomain, defect-free single crystal particles with size D - 100 mn. Finely grained strontium hexaferrite prepared by chemical methods such as sol-gel pyrolysis and oxide glass crystallization exhibits high coercivity up to 6-8 kOe [3-5]. Owing to the partial substitution of Al for Fe in the strontium hexaferrite leading to the increase in the magnetic anisotropy field Ha=2Ki/M,, the increase in the coercivity may be received [6]. The notable results were achieved using the SrO-Fe2O3-AlzO3-B2O3 glass crystallization and formation of perfect submicron crystals of alumina-doped hexaferrite [ 6, 7]. The coercive force of glassceramics reached values of up to 10 kOe. Hexaferrite particles are well faceted and have the shape ofhexagonal bipyramids with truncated vertexes [7].In the present paper, we report results of our investigation into the SrO-Fe2O3-B2O3(Al2O3) glass crystallization, hexaferrite powders and permanent magnets, which were prepared by pressing submicron-sized hexaferrite powders at RT and subsequent sintering at 900-1200°C."

Jan 1, 2012

By Guozhu Ye, Mikael Lindvall

"Swedish iron ore contains about 0.1 %V. The vanadium is reduced to the hot metal in a blast furnace and oxidised to the slag in a converter. The high V-content, up to 5 % V, leads to a very limited external application of the steel slag in Sweden. Since 2004, MISTRA - the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research has together with the steel and mining industry in Sweden and Finland initiated and supported a long term project aiming at efficient recovery of vanadium in the slag, and at the same time a useful slag product with low V-content. The proposed concept consists of a reduction step and a phosphorus removal step. This paper will highlight some of the results with focus on the various metallurgical reactors used for slag reduction, including results from recently performed pilot trials using a DC furnace for cotreatment of metallurgical slags and other wastes.IntroductionToday, less than half of the produced LD-slag in Sweden is recycled to the blast furnace as a lime source and the rest is temporarily stored inside the steel plant. The steel slags cannot be used externally due to its content of vanadium and free lime. As the slag storage area is limited, this has become a problem for Swedish steel producers. The disposition of the slag is also a great waste of a valuable vanadium resource. The current potential value of vanadium in the discharged steel slag annually amounts to roughly US$ 100 million. Currently, Swerea MEFOS is conducting an 8-year vanadium recovery project called VILD (Vanadium in LD-slag) aiming at efficient recovery of vanadium and at the same time producing a useful slag product with low V-content. The project is financed by MISTRA - the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research and the steel and mining industry in Sweden and Finland. Various reactors and process options have been tested in the past 7 years, from 3 kg laboratory scale, 150 kg induction furnace, 3 MVA pilot DC furnace, 5 MVA pilot AC furnace, 5 tons Kaldo furnace, to full scale direct hot slag reduction in the industrial site (12 tons of slag). This paper will introduce the VILD-concept and review the experiences gained from these trials. The advantages and disadvantages of the different options will be discussed and concluded."

Jan 1, 2012

By Vladyslav P. Yakubovsky, Boris I. Bondarenko, Valentin A. Noskov, Vladyslav M. Sokolov

"Each of Ukrainian producers of ferronickel, stainless steel and synthetic diamonds has the same basic problem with recycling their fine Ni-containing secondary materials. The conditions for generation of them along with the correspondent properties were investigated in details. The new approaches for their recycling have been proposed. They are based on application of some pyrometallurgical processes that are used in Ukraine. The proper equipment is also available. It has been shown that the dust from laterite calcining process of ferronickel production should be efficiently recycled by sintering. The stainless steel dust should be smelted after briquetting as a charge addition to the Ni-containing discarded batteries in the elaborated furnace. The sludge after synthetic diamonds production should be pelletized and processed by liquid cast iron with application of induction magnetodynamic forces in the specific furnace.IntroductionThe object of the investigation is recycling the Ni-containing secondary fines in a form of dust and sludge. There are several generators of the fines in Ukraine. Namely they are Pobuzhye Integrated Ferronickel Mill; Electrometallurgical Works “Dneprospetsstal” with stainless steel plant as well as Poltava Diamond Plant that produces synthetic hard materials. Their businesses are the largest in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). However the status of handling with the fines is not perfect since the applied recycling technologies are low efficient. The landfilling option is often adopted for them. At the same in Ukraine there are some nontraditional pyrometallurgical recycling technologies and equipment that should be tried for application in smelting these secondary materials.Recycling the sludge of synthetic diamonds productionThe sludge of “Poltava diamond plant” from production of synthetic hard materials has a following chemical composition, %: iron oxide – 29.7; chromium oxide – 18.97; nickel – 4.27; manganese oxide – 15.2; sulphate – 3.85; natrium – 14.9. The content of moisture is 70-80%. The moisture quite quickly evaporates while keeping sludge out of doors. Sludge returns into the weak agglomerates. The sizing of the dried sludge particles presents the figures from 400 to 1000 µm. The moisture was extracted by sludge pressing. The content of the basic compounds of the moisture is, g/dm3: chromium oxide – 1.6; nickel – 0.001; manganese oxide – 0.002; lead – 0.005; sulphate – 13.6; natrium – 17.0."

Jan 1, 2008

By Roberto Giovanardi, Isabella Lancellotti, Luisa Barbieri, Ercole Soragni, Fernanda Andreola

"Recovery of precious metals (PMs) is a present topic, as they are used almost in every electronicelectric device. Gold is the second PM in order of consumption (following silver) and it is almost ubiquitary in electronics where it mainly finds application to produce bonding wires in integrated circuits and as a coating for contacts and connectors. Given this, discontinued electronic and, with a minor role, electric devices may represent a primary source of PMs as gold mines or jewelery wastes.At present the recovery of gold from such waste is generally accomplished by two strategies: by oxidative thermal treatment followed by metallurgical or chemical processes or by cyanide chemical etching; both techniques do not represent the optimum as the first one deserves a great amount of energy and non-combustible pollutant slag and fumes are produced, while the second procedure comports the use of a highly pollutant agent as cyanide.The aim of this work is the characterization of different electronics scraps to evaluate the gold concentration, and the selective recovery of this metal using enviromentally-friendly techniques. In particular, a new process was developed in order to overcome such environmental and efficiency issues. The process reaches the goal of detach the gold film from the substrate by selective leaching of the supporting metal.IntroductionThe treatment of waste from electrical and electronic equipments is a current topic as their role in modern life is increasing. The disposal of such waste represents both an environmental and an economical concern due to the vast amount of both precious and non precious metals.The use of precious metals (PM) in this field is of primary importance given PM’s unique properties, which give to each of them a specific and irreplaceable role. Silver is the most used, with a demand of over 5000 tonnes per year, mainly for switches and contacts in electric appliances. Gold is the second PM in order of consumption (over 250 tonnes per year and 8% of the total demand) and it is almost ubiquitous in electronics where it finds application to produce bonding wires in integrated circuits and as a coating for contacts and connectors. It is also used as solder in integrated circuits (in alloy with tin) or for wide coatings where it ensures protection against corrosion. Palladium, platinum, rhodium and iridium follow in order of consumption [1- 3]."

Jan 1, 2008

By Jean Igor Margem, Rômulo Loiola, Sergio N. Monteiro, Foluke S. de Assis, Frederico M. Margem

"Fibers extracted from the ramie plant have been traditionally used in textile and are now being considered as polymeric composite reinforcement owing to their superior strength. Recently the mechanical behavior of ramie fiber reinforced polyester composites was investigated but no significant improvement was found. Therefore, the objective of this work was to carry out a similar investigation by changing the type of polymeric matrix. Specimens with up to 30% in volume of ramie fibers incorporated into epoxy were bend-tested until fracture. The results showed a moderate improvement with a tendency of decreasing stress for higher amounts of ramie fibers due to the weak interface developed with the epoxy matrix.IntroductionThe engineering application of natural fibers extracted from cellulose-containing vegetables, also recognized as lignocellulosic fibers, is presently considered an environmentally correct alternative to replace more expensive, non recyclable and energy-intensive synthetic fibers [1-3]. In fact, composites reinforced with traditional fibers such as coconut, sisal, jute, hemp, etc ... are already on the market in substitution for common glass fiber automobile components [4-6]. Even less known fibers like curaua from the Amazon region are being industrially used [7]. Economical and environmental reasons sustain a promising future trend for natural fiber composites. In comparison with the less expensive glass fiber among energy-intensive synthetics, lignocellulosic fibers are approximately five times cheaper. For the current situation of our planet, natural fibers are regarded as ""green"" environmentally friendly materials. They are abundant, renewable, biodegradable, and recyclable, above all, neutral with respect to carbon dioxide emission, associated with global warming.Several relatively unknown lignocellulosic fibers such as piassava [8], sponge gourd [9], sugar cane bagasse [10], buriti [11] and ramie [12], with simple and limited applications, or just byproducts, are now being investigated for their potential as composite reinforcement. This could widen the offer of new lignocellulosic fibers for composite reinforcement. The banana fiber, in particular, has a tensile strength around 700 MPa [13], which is comparable to the strongest lignocellulosic fibers used as composite reinforcement.In addition to polyester, the epoxy is another relatively strong polymer used as composite matrix. Therefore, the objective of the present work was to assess the mechanical properties obtained by flexural test, for epoxy composites reinforced with different amounts of banana fibers."

Jan 1, 2013

By Ejike Emmanuel, Nwoye Chukwuka, Ogwuegbu Martin, Asuwaji Ayuk, Onyedika Gerald

"Microwave pre-treatment of cassiterite ore prior to leaching was carried out in an attempt to obtain high grade of Sn02 and to conserve the total energy expended during processing. Microwave treatment was selected due to the presence of associated minerals which behaves differently to microwave energy. Studies in this work showed that microwave pretreatment of cassiterite ore can be applied to increase the recovery of tin oxide within 5 minutes of leaching. Microwave treatment of the ore resulted in mineral liberation at all particle sizes. Tin oxide was separated from the major impurities via leaching in potassium hydroxide solution and precipitation, resulting in 98% Sn02 at pH 7.IntroductionIn the nineties, the available techniques used for ore processing and analysis in Nigeria was the solution methods of either alkaline fusion or acid digestion [1,2]. A process in which cassiterite is made acid soluble by reduction to SnO2 , which stabilizes by glass formation and the tin was extracted by leaching the glass with sulphuric acid, followed by electrowinning was reported [3,4]. In another study, Baba et al [5] studied the dissolution kinetics of a Nigerian casiterite ore in hydrochloric acid solution. The effects of acid concentration,temperature, particle size and stirring speed were examined. It was found that the dissolution rates of cassiterite depends on hydrogen ion concentration, H+, stirring speed and ore particle dimensions. These were believed to report low data due to incomplete solubilization of the ore minerals in aqeous medium [6]. Analytical chemists have used microwave heating devices routinely for the dissolution of metals, minerals and various chemical products in chemical analysis [7,8]. It offers faster heating rate and consequently faster dissolution rate than conventional heating. The principle of the dissolution of analytical samples has been applied to the leaching of various minerals contained in an ore or concentrate sample. Some researchers [9, 10] conducted microwave assisted leaching of laterite ores containing oxides of nickel, cobalt, and iron. The metals of these mineral components were converted into their chlorides by microwave heating (1200 W, 2450 MHz, Nz atmosphere) a mixture of the ore and ammonium chloride between l 77°C and 312° C for 4-5 min, followed by water leaching at 80° C for 30 min. Nickel and cobalt extractions were 70% and 85%, and respectively, and are comparable with roasting at 300°C in a conventional rotary kiln for 2 hours."

Jan 1, 2013

By Girley Ferreira Rodrigues, Crocce Denise Romano Espinosa, Victor Bridi Telles, Eduardo Junca, Jorge Alberto Soares Tenorio

"Steel sector is responsible for the generation of solid waste, liquid and gaseous effluents. The Solid waste are mainly composed of slag, dust, sludge and scrap. The industry generates approximately 650kg of solid waste per tonne of steel. Approximately 10% of this waste is in the form of dust and mud. The basic oxygen furnace dust is a waste generate by steel sector. Each tonne of produced steel generates 10 to 20 kg dust. Thus, the aim of this paper is study the reduction of pellets made with BOF dust using hydrogen and study kinetic during the reduction. The tests were performed in a netzsch thermobalance to obtain the data of lost mass. This loss mass is coming from iron oxides present in the BOF dust.IntroductionThe generation of solid waste is a problem for many companies in the steel sector. The main solid wastes generated are slag, dust, sludge and scrap [1]. Beyond solid waste liquid and gaseous effluents are also generated.The basic oxygen furnace is responsible for 60% of all steel produced. This sector is the second largest generator of solid waste from an integrated steel mill, contributing with 27% of solid waste generated in a plant ( 5-7 million tons of waste generated annually worldwide) [2,3,4]."

Jan 1, 2013

The entrainment of copper matte in the slag during the slag skimming stage of a Peirce-Smith converter was studied with a dam break model. Experiments were carried out with a range of fluid pairs where the lighter fluid was allowed to overflow a weir and the amount of entrained heavier fluid measured. The resulting entrainment is measured as the ratio of the heavy to light fluid withdrawn. The fluids include oil-water, water- glycerol and salt solutions-water pairs to cover a wide range of densities and viscosities. It was found that the Richardson number, Ri, correlates the entrainment well. For the case of the liquid-liquid interface initially at the same height as the weir, the entrainment was found to vary with Ri-1/3. The transient flow was simulated with a volume of fluid (VOF) code written in-house and used a stairstep approach to represent flow obstacles. The code was validated against the experimental results with good agreement for the variation of the heights of the two fluid with time. The simulation showed that the prevailing mechanism for entrainment is due to a pressure differential created across the liquid in the converter during pouring resulting in the heavier liquid being rotated upwards and over the weir.

Jan 1, 1999

By He De-wen

The increasing population and living standard in urban areas, have been accompanied with the growing quantity and composition complexity of rubbish, which are causing well-known social effects of pollution, while rubbish (solid waste) is a recyclable resource. To convert rubbish into useful materials, the essential measure is to carry out sorted collection of rubbish. The preconditions of implementing sorted collection are presented in the paper. 1 Characteristics of rubbish composition and amounts of recyclable contents are basic condition to implement sorted collection. 2 The existing available technologies of recycling, economic benefit from recycling, and disposal scheme of residual rubbish are restrained condition for sorted collection. 3 Public understanding and support to sorted collection are the key to success. 4 The government policies to be favorable for sorted collection is the pledge of success. 5 The establishment of a steady solid waste recycling market is also a guarantee to implement sorted collection continuously. 6 To establish management system of rubbish recycling as soon as possible. Further, the methods and procedure of sorted collection are discussed in detail and beneficial comments and theoretical basis to promote sorted collection of rubbish in urban area are presented; it will contribute reference value to municipal solid waste management.

Jan 1, 2006

By E. J. Peuraniemi

Recently commissioned Kennecott-Outokumpu flash converting was developed to replace the approved but environmentally outdated Peirce-Smith -converting to satisfy the globally tightening emission regulations. In the present study, dust formation and reaction mechanisms of two copper mattes with different experimental parameters were studied in lean suspension conditions. Both mattes had very high copper content of approximately 75 wt% and low iron content of 4.5 wt% and 1.2 wt% Fe. A laboratory scale, vertical laminar-flow furnace with a low feeding rate was used to simulate the phenomena taking place in the reaction shaft of a flash converter. Experimental conditions included temperature of 1300 °C with reaction gas oxygen contents of 20 vol%, 50 vol%, and 75 vol%. In the experiments, sieved particle fractions were fed to the furnace and sampled after short reaction time intervals by quenching them into a water film. Collected particles were analysed chemically for their main elements to define their removal rates. Also, optical and scanning electron microscopy with EDS-analyser were applied to determine phenomena occurring during reactions. Kinetics of oxidation as well as ignition of particles are discussed. Changes in particle morphology, size, and composition are reviewed to describe dust formation and reaction mechanisms.

Jan 1, 1999

By H. Y. Cheng

A pulse column solvent extraction system was evaluated as an alternative to mixer-settlers for the separation and purification of rare earths. The column tested had an inside diameter of 44.5 mm and had 36 sieve plates with a free area of 25%. Pulsing was provided pneumatically using a solenoid valve controlled by a timer so that both pulse amplitude and frequency could be varied. Feed to the column was a mixed rare earth chloride solution containing 10 g RE L-1. The extractant was 5% Ionquest® 801 in Shellsol 2037 diluent. Hydraulic performance of the pulse column was excellent with no propensity towards stable emulsions or crud formation under normal operating conditions. The column was operated in organic-continuous mode with flow rates chosen so that yttrium and the heavy rare earths were extracted with high efficiency while the light rare earths were rejected. Yttrium extraction varied from 83 to 99.2%. Concentration profiles were measured in both the aqueous and organic phases, and, from this data, the height of a transfer unit (HTU), the mass transfer coefficient (Kxa) and the continuous-phase axial dispersion coefficient (Ey) were computed. The HTU ranged from 17-92 an which is within the range of values reported for other (non rare earth) pulse column systems.

Jan 1, 1992

By Matthias Frommer, Carl-Peter Reipl, Reinhard Flende

"Today there is a growing demand for strip of superior steels with specifically tailored technological properties. Especially strips of high-strength, micro-alloyed steel grades applied to manufacture longitudinally and spiral-welded pipes are a growth market. Tubes are generally required to have high strength and sufficient toughness values and thus favour specific hot strip microstructures. The correlation of chemical analysis, process parameters and mechanical properties with microstructural features is still a challenging task. During the last decades, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) have become useful tools for the characterization of complex microstructures. The EBSD data provides an immense variety of post-processing possibilities, e.g. related to grains, grain boundaries, misorientations or texture. This paper highlights the results of an advanced analysis of microstructures representing industrial produced hot-rolled strips and presents an approach to define and quantify some essential microstructural parameters.IntroductionHigh-strength microalloyed steels have been used for the production of welded pipes for more than 30 years. However, the alloy design of pipeline grades is being continuously modified and the process technology optimized because of the increasing high strength-toughness combination requirement for pipeline steels. Compact strip production (CSP®) technology is an upcoming promising route for the production of high-quality pipeline steel grades [1]."

Jan 1, 2012

By V. A. Bryukvin

It has been found that by superimposing symmetric alternating current over the process, the rate of nickel and cobalt leaching from metallized products with copper sulfate solutions increases by a factor of 1.5 to 2.0 and the apparent activation energy of the process investigated is reduced from 12 down to 6.6 kcal/mole. It appears especially attractive to use alternating current for anodic dissolution (oxidation) of metallic scrap of refractory metals and their alloys in ammonia electrolytes permits production of high-grade commercial products in the form of respective ammonium salts using a short and virtually reagent-free process flowsheet. Similar approaches can be applied also for electrochemical processing of nickel and copper scrap in sulfuric acid media with subsequent recovery of pure sulfate salts or electrolytic processing. Electrochemical technology for recycling of tungsten-cobalt (WC 15) and tungsten-rhenium (WR 20) alloys has been also investigated. In the former case, anodic oxidation of carbide alloy was carried out in nitric acid electrolyte with production of pure tungstic acid. The research conducted has indicated that the physicochemical effect of alternating current results in a lower activation energy of electrode reactions due to changes in the mechanisms of the electrode reactions themselves.

Jan 1, 2006

By John B. Dale

A primary objective of copper mining, smelting and refining operations is the cost- effective, efficient, and environmentally-acceptable control of the level of various metal ions throughout the processing and effluent treatment flowsheets. Effective ionic control maximizes product and by-product quality, allows for broad flexibility in sourcing impurity laden ores, minimizes capital and operating costs, and can achieve zero discharge operations. In order to meet increasingly stringent cost, environmental and product quality requirements, separation technologies are needed that can selectively remove and recover deleterious or valuable ions. Ideally, the subsequently obtained salts or metals can be recycled in the process, disposed of in an environmentally acceptable manner, or sold as valuable by-products. The use of MRT, a highly selective separations technology, has been demonstrated to be a cost effective, efficient, and environmentally- sound treatment for a wide range of cations and anions that are commonly found in copper electrorefining and electrowinning circuits, as well as in environmental treatment operations. These include heavy and transition metals, precious metals, halides and alkali/alkaline earths. This paper will review a number of areas of interest including: recovery and refining of platinum group metals from copper anode slimes, recovery of copper from acid mine drainage streams, extraction of Bi, Sb and C1 from copper electrorefining and electrowinning circuits.

Jan 1, 1999

By T. V. Jayaraman, D. Das, B. Mallesham, A. R. James

The PNN-PZT xPb(Ni0.3Nb0.67)03-(1-x)Pb(Zr0.31 Ti0 69)03 (0.2=x=0.6) based relaxor-ferroelectric material was synthesized by colurnbite precursor (NiNb206) method via conventional solid state reaction. Homogeneous mixture of required oxides and precursor was calcined at 850°C for 4 hrs to obtain phase pure perovskite. Pellets of PNN-PZT ceramics were sintered at 1100oC for 4 hrs. Phase pure perovskite structure was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction analysis. From the X-ray diffraction analysis it is also confirmed that there is a structural transformation from the rhombohedral to tetragonal with increase in PZT content and existence of morphotrophic phase boundary (MPB) at x = 0.5 composition. The morphology and microstructure of the sintered pellets were observed using the scanning electron microscope. P-E loop measurement shows the high remnant polarization (19.12 µC/cm2) and low coercive field (6.89 kV/cm) at MPB compared to all other compositions. The electromechanical planar coupling coefficient (kp) was measured through the resonance and anti-resonance method using the LCR meter. The piezoelectric strain coefficient (d33) measured directly using the d33-meter. At x = 0.5 composition the highest value of d33 = 398 pC/N is obtained.

Jan 1, 2012

By Santhanam Ramesh

"The shell (exoskeleton) waste of shellfish such as shrimps and crabs is the raw material in the extraction of chitosan, a polymer. Chitosan has several medicinal values such as reduction in cholesterol, urea and creatine in the blood. It is estimated that about 40000 tonnes of chitosan may be obtained from all chitin yielding invertebrate sources of India and a foreign exchange of 600 million US$ could be earned annually. Awareness has to be created among sea food processors to put up plants to convert shellfish wastes into chitosan. Similarly pharmaceutical industries may use chitosan in the development of new drugs. Types of training and awareness programmes to be organized for entrepreneurs, sea food processors and pharamacists are discussed in this paper.IntroductionIndia earns annually foreign exchange to the tune of 0.8 million US$ by exporting processed marine crustacean shellfish resources such as shrimps, crabs and lobsters (Figure 1) through 300 sea food processing industries. At present, only a small quantity of shell wastes (exoskeleton) generated from the above is utilized as an ingredient in fish feeds and hence much of the wastes are disposed off either as land fill or by direct dumping in sea. These wastes containing primarily chitin could be the major raw material for the production of a proteinaceous byproduct viz. chitosan, a highly valued pharmaceutically important source"

Jan 1, 2008