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By H. R. Babitzke, H. Kato, R. E. Siemens

An investigation was made to provide further information for evaluating columbium- hafnium alloys for use as high - temperature structural materials . The columbium- hafnium system was investigated between 700 ° and 2,400 ° C by melting point , thermal analysis , X - ray diffraction , electrical resistivity , and metallographic techniques . The equilibrium diagram is the beta isomorphous type , with columbium tending to stabilize the beta phase . Addition of 60 atomic percent columbium stabilizes the beta phase at 700 ° C. The allotropic transformation temperature of hafnium is 1,750 ° ± 20 ° C. A minimum melting point occurs near 75 atomic percent hafnium .

Jan 1, 1964

By А. V. Aksenov, S. G. Rybkin, А. Y. Senchenko

For gold plants in Russia, it is very complicated and costly to use cyanide leaching for efficient processing of gold refractory ores, where gold is closely associated with sulphide minerals and the significant amount of natural carbonaceous matter present. Oxidative roasting of gold refractory concentrates is a well-known method, making it possible to obtain a high recovery rate of precious metals to a target product. The use of oxidative roasting is limited in general by the expense of capturing and neutralising the harmful components of roasted gas, mainly sulphur (SO2, SO3) and arsenic (As2O3) oxides. This paper addresses testing and development of an optimised technology to process gold refractory gravity and flotation concentrates by means of oxidative roasting which stabilises arsenic as calcium arsenate. The process involves roasting of a gravity or flotation refractory ore concentrate in a mixture with lime and calcium chloride, with a supply of oxygen, and at 600-700°С. During the roasting a carbonaceous matter of the concentrate burns out and sulphide components transform into harmless calcium sulphate (CaSO4) and calcium arsenate (Ca3(AsO4)2), and iron passes into the form of hematite (Fe2O3). After disintegration, the roasting cinder is concentrated on a table to obtain a high-grade gravity concentrate and gravity tailings. The high-grade gravity concentrate is subject to smelting in a mixture with fluxing agents, which results in alloyed gold and slag. The gravity tailings are ground and reported to cyanide leaching. In the case of a flotation concentrate, the roast cinder is ground to minus 30 μm and subject to sorption cyanide leaching. High gold recovery (90-95%) of the target product and environmental safety are typical of the improved technology under consideration. Two national patents were granted for the methods developed to treat refractory concentrates bearing precious metals. Keywords: Gold concentrates, oxidative roasting, cinder, cyanide leaching, smelting, alloyed gold

Jan 1, 2020

By Bo Hyun Kim, Mark K. Larson

Fault-slip bursts induced by mining activities can result in severe damage to nearby mine development. In general, engineers designing rock support in burst-prone mines not only need to consider stress redistribution resulting from excavation, but also dynamic loading that results from seismic waves generated by large mininginduced fault-slip events. In this study, we simulated dynamic waves in sedimentary rock from a blasting source and from a mining-induced-seismicity source using a Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC) model with discrete fracture networks (DFNs). Our purpose was to investigate the stability of openings and the adequacy of existing support systems at an underground limestone mine in South Korea. A baseline model with only static loading was also simulated, which verified observed stability under such conditions. The results indicate that the current support system of shotcrete lining is likely to work well under dynamic loading caused by blasting. However, when the dynamic source was a far-field fault-slip event, the dynamic loading exceeded the support capacity of the shotcrete lining. Thus, if a mine is operating in ground with an elevated risk of mininginduced fault slip, mine engineers should consider seismic wave propagation and ground motion distribution from a remote, mining-induced fault-slip event to determine a suitable support design.

Jul 1, 2023

By S. Phillipson

The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Roof Control Division (RCD) evaluated the use of Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data to identify fracture traces on Earth’s surface. Results were compared to the analysis method employed by RCD for 30 years, which relies on LANDSAT-TM Band 4. SRTM elevation models are expected to provide a direct representation of bedrock surface, while LANDSAT-TM Band 4 represents reflected near-infrared radiation as an indication of moisture content and is only a proxy for possible structures. Three areas in southwestern Pennsylvania were chosen for ground-truthing lineaments derived from both methods, following a series of desktop comparisons in six areas of the contiguous U.S. Field studies that identified numerous instances in which SRTM lineaments corresponded with joints at the projected location, and were oriented within 10° of joint strike, indicating that those SRTM lineaments represented the structural grain of the area. In some cases, lineaments were associated with individual joint zones. Photo-lineaments derived from the existing LANDSAT-TM methodology appear to offer a higher coincidence with expected trends of joints on a regional scale when performing the desktop comparisons, while field observations indicated that SRTM-derived lineaments had a higher association with individual geologic structures in the case study field area. It appears that both methods can identify the structural grain of an area, and that both tend to identify linear segments of valleys where erosion has preferentially occurred along joint zones or other structures.

Jul 1, 2023

By V. A. Myazin, M. V. Korneykova, A. V. Svetlov, V. G. Minenko, D. V. Makarov, A. L. Samusev

The paper discusses the treatment problem of mine (waste) water for enterprises of the Russian Arctic. The wide range of relevant pollutants, financial resources, the availability of land for the construction of a treatment plant, waste generated during the treatment process are some of the factors controlling current and future process design solutions. All mining operations have adopted water treatment and water quality monitoring solutions, however there is no single approach to the problem and each industry participant operates within the scope of its available resources. The range of existing and emerging methods is extensive — from using constructed wetlands for the deposition of mineral nitrogen compounds in settling ponds, reagent deposition and chemical coagulation in exhausted mine workings, and filtering dams on the surface to retrofitting existing mine drainage treatment plants with the adoption of the electrochemical coagulation process. Methods of wastewater treatment from heavy metals, oil products, and nitrogen compounds are demonstrated in the example of two industrial facilities in the Murmansk region. It was found that the use of electrochemical coagulation provides effective treatment of mine water from NO3, NO2, Ni, Fetotal and petroleum hydrocarbons (the degree of purification from 50.5-99.7%), the use of phytotreatment system provides wastewater treatment from ammonium ions and nitrite ions by 53-84%, nitrate ions - by 22%. Keywords: Industrial water treatment, treatment flowcharts, settling ponds, constructed wetlands, reagent sedimentation, chemical coagulation, electrochemical coagulation

Jan 1, 2020

By M. Bryson, G. Marap, M. Ntlhane, M. D. Hlahane

This study investigated flotation of phosphate from a low-medium grade 8-12% P2O5, 65-73% SiO2 sedimentary phosphate ore from Kropz Elandsfontein (herein referred to as Elandsfontein) in South Africa. Quantitative evaluation of minerals by scanning electron microscopy (QEMSCAN) was used to determine apatite grain size distribution, liberation and mineral association in the F2 horizon sample. The mineralogy indicated that apatite was liberated and for the Elandsfontein plant to operate at the design throughput, the flotation feed has to be milled to a coarse grind ranging between 300 μm and 425 μm. Reverse flotation process routes using varying reagent dosages, and flotation feed top sizes that could possibly yield a final product of 31% P2O5,10% SiO2 at a reasonable +70% P2O5 recovery were investigated. Based on the results, a split circuit of coarse (-300+212μm) flotation and fine (-212+20μm) flotation, was mostly preferred as compared to treating the whole ore. A final combined concentrate of 31% P2O5 and 10% SiO2 with P2O5 recovery of 84% could be produced from the reverse split circuit. The robustness of reverse flotation for both coarse and fine fractions was further investigated. Reverse flotation of the fines fraction was found to be robust and produced a final product of 31% P2O5. It was however more challenging to achieve the required product grade and recoveries on the coarser fraction (-425+212μm), suggesting that reverse circuit was not adequately robust at fractions coarser than 300μm. Keywords: Phosphate, sedimentary, reverse flotation, particle size

Jan 1, 2020

By Moylan T, Stewart D

A case study examining the procedures and financial benefits of introducing dump leaching to augment the Mt Gibson Gold Project CIP operations is discussed. Metallurgical testwork, followed by pilot dump leach operations, confirmed that gold recoveries of greater than 60 per cent could be achieved by dump leaching Mt Gibson laterite ore. Capital and operating costs were determined. Pit optimisation using the Whittle FOUR-D optimisation program calculated an optimum cutover grade between CIP and dump leaching for one orebody. The resultant recalculation of reserves based on CIP and dump leach operating costs showed that reserves for that orebody could be increased from 329 000 tonnes at 1.9 g/t An, to 1 488 000 tonnes at 1.2 gh An. NPV for the CIP only option of $1.4 m, was increased to $4.0 m for the combined CIP/dump leach option. This technique can be applied to existing gold projects and to new Developments.

Jan 1, 1992

By André de Albuquerque Vicente

O valor do PREN da liga pode levar a uma previsão equivocada da resistência à corrosão por pite pois, caso haja um desbalanceamento das frações volumétricas da ferrita d e da austenita, as composições químicas das fases poderão ser muito diferentes daquela da liga. Neste caso o PREN de uma das fases pode ficar abaixo do PREN da liga. Caracterizou-se três chapas de aços inoxidáveis duplex laminados com diferentes PRENs: UNS S32304 (Lean Duplex), UNS S31803 (Duplex) e UNS S32750 (Super Duplex). Várias técnicas complementares de análise microestrutural foram utilizadas, tais como de espectrometria de emissão ótica, microscopia óptica e microscopia eletrônica de varredura com EDS acoplado. Realizaram-se análises metalográficas quantitativas para a determinação das frações volumétricas de ferrita d e da austenita e análises químicas semi-quantitativas das fases presentes utilizando-se um MEV com EDS acoplado.

Oct 30, 2017

By Rudi César Comiotto Modena, Gabriel de Castro Moreira, Diego Machado Marques

The definition of geological/geostatistical domains is the first step in building a mineral resource model. A suitable division for these domains requires some prior knowledge about the deposit geology and can be supported by a careful statistical analysis. It is crucial that data with similar characteristics are grouped together, to avoid the mixing of statistical populations, defining the so-called stationary domains. In order to assist in this definition, two unsupervised clustering algorithms were applied: Otsu and K-means. The first one is widely used in image segmentation and it is based on the exhaustive search of the data to determine the best threshold for separating them. K-means is one of the most used techniques in machine learning, and it is based on the iterative analysis of the statistical distribution. Clustering algorithms may present some shortcomings when applied to geological data, since they are based on pure statistical analysis, not considering spatial distribution or data location. Choosing the most appropriate number of domains can also be challenging. Some methods for defining the best number of groups are presented, based on the analysis of variances between/inside groups, supported by indicators variography in order to verify this definition.

Oct 3, 2019

By Isabella Leite Ferraz, André Luiz Vasconcellos da Costa e Silva, Andreza Freire Marques, Fernando Paulucio Quinelato

Adições de cálcio são usadas para a modificação de inclusões não-metálicas em aços com demanda de propriedades isotrópicas, boa lingotabilidade e limpeza interna. Entretanto, o cálcio tem elevada pressão de vapor, baixa solubilidade no aço líquido e elevado custo. Embora a maneira mais efetiva, atualmente, de adicionar cálcio seja através da injeção de arames de ligas CaSi ou CaFe, o momento da adição, na rota de elaboração na metalurgia secundária tem importância no rendimento e eficiência do cálcio. Neste trabalho, são discutidas e comparadas três rotas de processamento de aços desoxidados ao alumínio na metalurgia secundária (forno panela (FP) e/ou vácuo (RH): FP-injeção de Ca-Lingotamento, FP-injeção de Ca-RH-Lingotamento, FP-RH-injeção de Ca-Lingotamento). Cada rota apresenta vantagens e limitações de processo. Foram avaliadas corridas processadas pelas três rotas visando identificar o efeito da rota sobre o rendimento do cálcio e sobre a limpeza interna do produto. As comparações foram realizadas através de cálculos por termodinâmica computacional, empregando a análise química e a temperatura de lingotamento. As vantagens e desvantagens observadas para cada rota são discutidas e comentadas.

Oct 1, 2019

By Claudio Cesar da Costar

O Alto Forno 1 da ArcelorMittal Tubarão, operou entre 30 de novembro de 1983 e 18 de abril de 2012, produzindo 93.915 Mt. Durante esta campanha, inúmeras melhorias foram implementadas para aumentar sua longevidade mantendo o volume e custo de produção. O Alto Forno 1 da AMT é reconhecido como recordista tanto em volume de produção quanto em tempo de operação para uma única campanha. Durante sua reforma, foram empregadas as técnicas de reforma em grandes blocos, as quais foram trocados todo o cadinho, corpo e topo do Alto Forno, trazendo recursos tecnológicos possibilitando obter melhores resultados durante a segunda campanha. Após a reforma, o Alto Forno 1 continua apresentando bons resultados em termos de produtividade, consumo de combustíveis e índices de trabalho, colocando-o entre um dos Altos Fornos com melhores resultados do grupo ArcelorMittal.

Aug 16, 2017

By Rodolfo Arnaldo Montecinos de Almeida

As escórias de forno elétrico a arco (FEA) têm diversas funções, entre elas a melhoria da eficiência energética através do fenômeno da espumação. Por isso o estudo das escórias é de suma importância nos FEA’s. Um dos fatores que determina a qualidade da espumação e a sua eficácia é presença de partículas sólidas na escória. A saturação de MgO é extremamente importante, pois além de garantir partículas sólidas garante também a compatibilidade química para minimizar o consumo do refratário. Neste trabalho, foi feito o estudo da saturação de MgO para escórias no sistema CaO-SiO2-FeO-MgO-Al2O3, onde avaliou-se a influência que a basicidade binária, os teores de FeO e do Al2O3 tem sobre o mesmo. Foram feitos diagramas ternários, onde viu-se as diferenças que os teores de Al2O3 tem sobre os campos líquidos e as demais fases presentes. Foram feitos os diagramas de saturação isotérmicos (ISD’s) encontrando os mesmos pontos de dupla saturação quando comparados com os diagramas ternários. Fez-se uma validação dos ISD comparando a posição de diferentes corridas com a energia elétrica consumida. Quanto mais próxima a corrida está da linha de saturação menor será seu consumo energético.

Aug 16, 2017

By Antonio Lourenço Batista de Souza

Neste trabalho, foi desenvolvido um modelo de elementos finitos para simular o primeiro passe da laminação de tiras a quente de aços C-Mn, durante a etapa de acabamento, via DEFORMTM3D. As dimensões e condições de processo foram obtidas a partir de dados industriais descritos na literatura. Utilizando-se o modelo termomecânico, foram feitas análises de sensibilidade por meio de alterações no fator de atrito e coeficiente de transferência de calor por condução, uma vez que não há um conhecimento preciso dos valores destes parâmetros para o processo simulado. Com isto, foram analisadas as alterações que a mudança destes parâmetros podem causar na carga e temperatura de laminação, perfil de deformação, fração recristalizada e tamanho de grão. O aumento do atrito provoca um aumento na carga de laminação, na homogeneidade do perfil de deformação e menor tamanho de grão. O aumento no coeficiente de transferência de calor, diminui a temperatura superficial da tira, o tamanho de grão e gera um aumento na carga de laminação. Assim, neste estudo foi mostrado a eficácia do modelo em predizer o comportamento do aço no processo de laminação a quente.

Aug 16, 2017

By Michel Rodrigues Leite

A origem do enxofre no aço está relacionada com a utilização do coque para a produção de ferro-gusa. Para a maioria dos aços são requeridos baixos teores de enxofre porque este elemento afeta a isotropia das propriedades mecânicas, notadamente a tenacidade. Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar o impacto do teor de enxofre dos carvões metalúrgicos no seu valor em uso. Valor em uso é o preço máximo que uma determinada empresa está disposta a pagar por um material de substituição, sem deteriorar os resultados econômicos. A dessulfuração de ferrogusa e o impacto do teor de enxofre dos carvões no seu valor em uso foram avaliados considerando utilização de escórias sintéticas. Os resultados mostraram que para 4 das 5 condições avaliadas os valores em uso dos carvões foram maiores que a referência do mercado. Considerando o preço do carvão de referência igual a 120,00 $/t o valor em uso referência do mercado, assumindo 0,10% de enxofre adicional no carvão é de 118,80 $/t. Nas simulações de dessulfuração com escória sintética os valores em uso foram estimados entre 118,55 $/t e 119,34 $/t.

Aug 16, 2017

By Rhelman Rossano Urzêdo Queiroz

Amostras de um aço Dual Phase, não deformadas e deformadas à temperatura ambiente e em condições de envelhecimento dinâmico foram examinadas por microscopia eletrônica de transmissão, visando analisar modificações na subestrutura de deslocações na faixa de temperaturas em que ocorre o fenômeno. Observaram-se mudanças significativas no padrão de distribuição das deslocações que evoluiu de uma distribuição uniforme, no material deformado à temperatura ambiente, para uma distribuição em forma de linhas alongadas a 200°C e 300°C, culminando em uma subestrutura complexa com elevada densidade de deslocações a 350°C. A 400°C, a distribuição uniforme foi novamente verificada. As imagens obtidas não indicaram a ocorrência de formação de carbonetos de transição ou precipitação na martensita durante a deformação nas temperaturas em que foram observados os efeitos de envelhecimento dinâmico.

Aug 7, 2018

By João Domingos Guimarães de Athayde Junior, Luiz Fernando Andrade de Castro, Willian Facundes, Marlon José dos Anjos Silva

O aumento da demanda por aços com baixos teores de enxofre tem levado algumas indústrias siderúrgicas a estudar formas de otimizar o tratamento de dessulfuração no aço, visando reduzir o consumo de agentes dessulfurantes, o teor de enxofre e o tempo de tratamento no refino secundário. Neste trabalho, foi analisada a evolução do enxofre durante o tratamento de dessulfuração de duas classes de aço no forno panela, nas 30 corridas experimentais utilizou-se uma mistura micropulverizada contendo cal e fluorita. Após avaliação dos resultados e das condições termodinâmicas e cinéticas, foram desenvolvidas equações para cálculo da mistura a ser injetada em função do teor de enxofre inicial e objetivado. O uso da mistura proposta no processo resultou na redução de 1,1 kg/t de mistura micropulverizada, 0,22 kg/t de alumínio, 3,3 kWh/t de energia, 0,034 kg/t de eletrodo e 2 minutos de tratamento.

Oct 1, 2019

By F. D. Rodriguez, J. Ramirez Cuellar, J. Salinas Reyes, C. Gómez-de-la Garza

The Pickling Line and Tandem Continuous Mill (PLTCM) at Ternium Pesquería Facility with a Five Stands, Six High configuration started in 2013. Manufactured by PRIMETALS, to produce steel to exposed automotive market, Turnkey project, with supervision of best practices from Nippon Steel. The main equipment that the process has are; Laser welding machine, 3 loopers, Scale Breaker, jet Pickling tanks, Inspection Station and COGNEX System Side Trimmer (flying width change), Type of Mill: UCMW(S) Carrousel, 2 Tension Reels. The principals goals are, Simulate production programs, validate materials for thin thicknesses before processing, low Re-welds, optimization use Cognex, good performance in Thickness, flatness and productivity.

Oct 1, 2019

By S. Michael, T. E. Moongo

Electrowinning consumes a substantial amount of electrical energy, and owing to the ever-increasing unit cost of electrical power there is a need to improve current efficiency in the process. This research was carried out to design a continuous quality improvement framework for improving electrowinning current efficiency by applying statistical process control (SPC) on an online industrial copper electrowinning operation. A sequential mixed research methodology was applied and a statistical software package utilized for analysing data. It was concluded that metallurgical short-circuits (hotspots) had the most significant effect on current efficiency. Bringing hotspots under statistical control resulted in a 5.40% improvement in current efficiency, which is equivalent to approximately 74 t of 99.999% pure grade A copper cathode production over a period of 1.5 months.

Jan 1, 2021

By Alexandre Gonçalves Andrade, Crisley Dellaqua Pacheco, Gabriel Miranda Teixeira, Aline Maria Santoro Nasaré, Tatiane Ferreira Alvarenga

Diffuse emissions are that directly related to particulate matter suspended from civil structures, materials disposed in conveyor belts carried out by wind, stack e reclaimers operations and that one where dust collectors are not able to act correctly. Vale implemented in the last years a unique system capable to measure this kind of dust, called RAMPs (Dust Monitoring Automatic Network), which creates an analytical net in Tubarao industrial site, located in Vitória, ES. In order to prevent diffuse emissions in Tubarao’s pellets stockyard, it was proposed and developed a predictive model based on operational and climate variables available on the site, using big data and advanced analytics tools. The models developed shows to be adherent to the real emissions rates measured by the RAMPs and proved to be an efficient tool to predict emissions over the internal target with 4 hours of precedence.

Oct 1, 2019

By Humberto Tronconi Coelho

The use of friction dampers are wide proposed for a variety of mechanical systems for which it is not possible to apply viscoelastic materials, fluid based dampers or others viscous dampers. An important example is the application of friction dampers in aircraft engines to reduce the blades vibration amplitudes. In most cases, friction dampers have been studied in a passive way, however, a significant improvement can be achieved by controlling the normal force in the contact region. The aim of this paper is to study four control strategies for friction dampers based on three different hysteresis cycles. The first control strategy maximizes the energy removal in each harmonic oscillation cycle, by calculating the optimum normal force based on the last displacement peak. The second control strategy combines the first one with the maximum energy removal strategy used in the smart spring devices. Finally, is presented the strategy which homogenously modulates the friction force. Numerical studies were performed with these four strategies defining the performance metrics. The best control strategy was applied experimentally. The experimental test rig was fully identified and its parameters were used for numerical simulations. The obtained results have shown the good performance for the friction damper and selected strategy, also, the agreement between numerical and experimental results.

Jul 31, 2018