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By Liping Gu, Gordon A. Irons

"A 1/3 scale ""thin-slice"" model of an electric arc furnace was developed so that gas could be injected to simulate foaming gas evolution. The influence of arc jets, oxygen lancing and bottom bubbling was also simulated. Liquid velocities were measured by a white light particle image velocimetry system. Numerical simulations of some of these effects were made using commercial CFD packages. Comparisons with measured results show that considerable care is required to select the appropriate model and to interpret the computational results.INTRODUCTIONDuring recent years electric arc furnaces (EAF) have captured a significant share of steel production, partially due to increased productivity through the introduction of advanced technology such as oxygen injection, slag foaming and long-arc operation, process automation and post-combustion. However, systematic analysis of the process and these effects on heat transfer and fluid flow in the furnace is still in its infancy. Most investigationsl1 6l have been restricted to a specific application such as oxygen lancing or bottom stirring. In addition, it is very difficult to make comparisons between these computed results and experimental/industrial results. In this work a 1/3-scale ""thin-slice"" model of Dofasco's 190 ton EAF was built. The fluid flow in the bath due to the arc jets, bottom stirring, oxygen lancing and CO evolution was simulated. The velocity distributions in the bath were measured using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) System. In addition, numerical simulations of bottom stirring and CO evolution were carried out using two commercial CFD packages (Fluent and Phoenics). The objective of this work is to validate the mathematical models so that they can be applied to the full-scale furnaces."

Jan 1, 1999

By Alex Mezei

Experimental rheology data are needed to produce design criteria for mass and energy transfer processes. Large throughput plants operate under continuous flow mode. The capital cost is determined by the accuracy of the rheology data used for design. The operating cost is dictated by the energy required to sustain the flowing conditions of various process slurries. Typically, rheology investigations are carried out during the final stages of metallurgical testwork, which is too late to set the design criteria for the pilot plant. This leads to increased testwork cost, and sometimes lowers confidence in the quality of the data produced. In addition, the engineering and feasibility studies are often delayed because of the lack of pertinent rheology data. One of the objectives of this paper is to emphasize the importance of timely planning and execution of the rheology study, which is shown to be a critical component of the overall testwork program. Various applications are discussed, including elaboration of process and equipment design criteria. In this paper, the emphasis is placed on gold and nickel laterite hydrometallurgy applications.

Jan 1, 2003

By Dan Adams

A number of gas-liquid processes require high intensity agitation systems to provide uniform blending and dispersion of reactants in order to achieve desired end products. Processes such as hydrogenation, fermentation, and minerals processing have used conventional down pumping or radial agitation systems with some success. In 1996, LIGHTNIN introduced the concept of Up-Pumping to the industrial marketplace as an improved mixing technology for these applications. For processes requiring gas-liquid mass transfer, such as those listed above, conventional mixing technology requires the use of gas introduction devices (sparges) below impellers. These devices can be a maintenance concern due to plugging and erosion in the presence of solids. Up-Pumping impeller systems are able to draw in a significant amount of gas from the headspace, much more so than conventional vortexing impellers designed for headspace gas incorporation. This paper will demonstrate the effectiveness of Up-Pumping impeller systems that have the potential to eliminate need for sparge devices entirely. It demonstrates the ability of Up-Pumpers to re-entrain gas for higher utilization compared with conventional impeller technology. This is significant in applications using costly gases such as enriched oxygen or hydrogen, reducing overall operating costs of production.

Jan 1, 2003

By Wei-feng Liu

On the basis of the brief introduction of the gold-antimony concentrate smelting process in China, some problems in the original process were analyzed and the corresponding improvements were introduced in this paper, such as the treatment of antimony matte, the refinement of gold-silver alloy, the concentrating gold from gold-antimony alloy, the treatment of soda slag. The roasting method that was used to treat the antimony matte was transferred to the ore dressing method. The solvent extraction was used to refine the gold-silver alloy instead of the electrolytic method. The technology of selective chlorination leaching under controlling potential was applied to concentrate gold from the gold-antimony alloy and gold-lead alloy instead of the electrolysis method. Soda slag was recovered by the second reducing smelting method substituting for the mixed-salt method of sodium arsenate. After those improvements, the process has been done smoothly; the direct recovery rate of metals has been greatly increased. Meanwhile the procedure

Jan 1, 2008

By Snehanshu Pal

"Concrete understanding of fluid dynamics properties inside basic oxygen furnace (LD converter) and hot-metal surface deformation due to impinging oxygen jet is important for optimization of reaction kinetics and maximization of productivity and refractory lining life. In this study various k-å turbulence models and volume of fluid (VOF) method have been used to model fluid flow and interaction of impinging oxygen jet with hot metal for an industrial scale top blown LD converter.RNG, standard and realizable k-å turbulence models are used to study velocity magnitude, stream function, turbulence intensity profiles. Turbulence kinetic energy, turbulence eddy dissipation, velocity magnitude and probable mixing time have been calculated in three locations inside the converter.The average rate of oxygen jet penetration, location of vortex formation, centre line and superficial velocity of impinging oxygen jet, probability of emulsifícation are studied by VOF method.These simulation studies provide better understanding of phenomena inside LD converterIntroductionComputational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling in the field of basic oxygen steelmaking can improve substantially the understanding of existing processes where investigation of liquid steel flow measurement is hardly possible due to the rough ambient circumstances. In order to reasonably predict gas stirring operations and emulsifícation, mass, momentum, energy transfer and dynamic interaction among ions, atoms, molecules in the bath, detailed information on flow patterns, fluid velocities, and turbulent properties is essential. Concrete understanding of bath fluid dynamics inside basic oxygen furnace is also important for optimization of reaction kinetics inside the bath and maximization of LD converter lining life."

Jan 1, 2012

By Kenji Monden

A simple technique is presented to evaluate optical property of biomimetic microlens array (BMA) as an antireflective surface on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sheet. The integration of these structures is done by a thermoforming process. We have only UV-VIS spectrophotometer for optical evaluation apparatus. The transmittance of the sheet is measured with angled sample holder. The 50 deg. transmittance of 270nm pitch BMA on PDMS sheet increases from 87 to 92% after the moth-eye structure is introduced. The transmittance of 350nm pitch BMA on PDMS sheet increases from 87 to 96% after the moth-eye structure is introduced. The transmittance increases with increasing pitch of BMA. The results obtained using UV-VIS spectrophotometer with handmade sample holder.

Jan 1, 2015

By Claudio Toro, Alex Moyano, Rodrigo Díaz, Hugo Jara, Carlos Caballero, Pedro Morales, Leandro Guzmán

"During 2007, Codelco-Chile carried out industrial tests to validate the Continuous Converting Process in the Teniente Converter of the Codelco Norte smelter.For planning and starting up the tests, a predictive, analytical and dynamic model was developed to support operational decisions. The dynamic model was developed using the METSIM® platform and dynamic data exchange (DDE) to operate smoothly with MS Excel®. The main feature of this real-time model was the on/off-line ability to work and gather data from either the smelter’s PI system® or database, and simulate the operation with or without scheduled events and controls.The main model development aspects, which include thermodynamics, metallurgical and kinetic considerations, slag-type and on-line mass and heat balances of the process, as well as the successful validation of the model, are presented and discussed in the present paper."

Jan 1, 2009

By Bradford C. Wesstrom, Omar Araujo

"Impurities from an electrolytic refinery are typically extracted from the electrolyte utilizing conventional electrowinning cells. These cells are arranged in series with cascading solution flow and are commonly referred to as liberator cells. The Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold El Paso Refinery has optimized the removal of arsenic in cascading liberator cells by utilizing two separate feed solutions. The primary feed solution is recycled liberator electrolyte and the secondary feed solution is ""neat"" tank house electrolyte. The secondary feed solution is added based on the voltage response across the individual cells utilizing independent variable frequency drive (VFD) pumps. When the voltage across a cell changes, a signal is sent to the VFD pump to maintain a cell voltage of 1.98 volts. By maintaining this voltage the copper content in each cell exits at 2-4 grams per liter. This safely optimizes the arsenic removal as copper arsenides on the liberator cathodes.IntroductionDuring the electrolytic refining of copper, impurities from the copper anode report both to the bottom of the electrolytic refining cell as slimes and to the electrolyte. The impurities which enter the electrolyte are arsenic, antimony, bismuth and nickel. The impurities that report to the electrolyte during the electrolysis process gradually increase. As these impurities increase, they are incorporated into the refined copper cathode. There are many processes that have been used to remove these impurities from refinery electrolytes. Some of them are listed as follows: solvent extraction, ion exchange, hydrogen sulfide reduction, bioreactor, adsorption onto a low - solubility metal-oxide hydrate, adsorption onto activated carbon and EMEW cells. The conventional process used by the copper refining industry for controlling the level of impurities in electrolyte involves multistage electrolytic cascading liberator cells. In these cascading liberator cells copper, arsenic, antimony and bismuth are removed as various mixed deposits from the electrolyte. Removal of these impurities is achieved through an increase in voltage resulting from the depletion of copper in the electrolyte through electrowinning. With this higher voltage, the Group Vb elements, arsenic, antimony and bismuth are deposited on the copper cathode and report as slimes to the bottom of the cells. Nickel is removed in a subsequent process."

Jan 1, 2012

By Satoshi Yamashita, Noboru Masuko

"Newly prepared bipolar membrane is promising to become a key material of an electrolyser for a production process of strong reducing solvent. This research is basic research for using bipolar membranes as electrolysers of reducing agents, Cr(II), TI(III) and V (II) on the laboratory scale. In this report, a bipolar membrane was tried with an electrolyser, reducing chromic chloride to chromous chloride. An analysis of mass balance demonstrates advantages of it over the former electrolyser equipped with an anion and/or. cation exchange membrane. The effects of current density and concentration of Cr(lll) on the reduction rate of Cr(II) and the current efficiency were examined No deterioration of the bipolar membrane resulted from the electrolytic reduction of Cr(III). IntroductionRecently, bipolar membrane that was the development subject for a long time in the industry of ion exchange membranes has met the stage of the practical application at last [l]. The expectation of the application to the hydrometallurgy field increases. We took up the manufacturing of the strong reducibility solvent as part of the application of bipolar membrane to hydrometallurgy technology. This laboratory has much experience in the electrolytic reduction of Cr (II) aqueous .solution such as chromous sulfateusing bipolar membrane were compared in theory to chromous chloride aqueous solution manufacturing of the strong reducibility solvent. The advantage of applying bipolar membrane by substituting ion exchange membrane is described, and the experimental result is reported."

Jan 1, 2000

By Zhenyang Wang, Yiran LIU, Xiangdong Xing, Jianliang Zhang, Zhengjian Liu

Basic characteristics of marine placer were systematically studied by chemical analyze, scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction in this paper. It could be found that the marine placer mainly consists of titanomagnetite and titanohematite. A series of experiments were performed to investigate reduction-magnetic separation for Fe and Ti from the marine placer. Effects of reduction temperature, reduction time, carbon ratio, magnetic density, and grinding fineness on the reduction-magnetic separation process were investigated. And the optimal process parameters were obtained as follows: the reduction temperature 1300, the reduction time 30 min, the carbon ratio 1.1, the magnetic density 50mT, and the grinding fineness of 0.074μm 86.34%. Under such conditions, the metallization rate, iron grade of magnetic substance and iron recovery reached to 94.23%, 97.19% and 90.28% respectively, and the titanium grade in non-magnetic substance and recovery of was 57.94% and 87.22% respectively. The effective separation of iron and titanium could be achieved in reduction-magnetic separation process.

Jan 1, 2015

By D. A. Horne, V. R. Daiga

Certain steel mill wastes contain significant amounts of zinc oxide due to the use of galvanized scrap during the steel making process. Typically electric arc furnace (EAF), and basic oxygen process (BOP) flue dusts contain 20 to 30% zinc oxide and 40 to 50% iron oxides, along with smaller quantities of lead and cadmium. These materials can be recovered from the flue dusts by using a proven rotary hearth furnace (RHF) process. By-products of the recycling operation include a crude zinc oxide fume, which is captured in a baghouse filtering system, and sponge iron that may be recycled into the steel making operation. Crude zinc oxide properties plus the operating experience from two commercial RHF installations utilizing MR&E's DRyIron™ Process will be presented.

Jan 1, 2000

By R. Padilla

Enargite (Cu3AsS4) occurs normally associated with copper sulfides, mainly chalcopyrite. When the enargite content in chalcopyrite concentrates is high, direct smelting of the concentrate presents problems related to environmental pollution and contamination of the final metallic copper. Leaching processes are viable alternatives to treat copper concentrates with high content of enargite. Consequently, in this paper, the pressure leaching of enargite in sulfuric acid-oxygen system is discussed. The leaching rate was studied in the range 160 to 220 °C and partial pressures of oxygen of 74 to 200 psi. The enargite dissolution increased substantially with temperature increase. Complete dissolution of enargite was obtained at 220°C, and 100 psi of oxygen pressure in 90 min. The shrinking core model controlled by surface reaction was used to analyze the kinetics of enargite dissolution. Activation energy of 70 kJ/mol was obtained for the temperature range 160 to 220 oC.

Jan 1, 2008

By Alexander I. Raitchenko

"An electroconductive viscous liquid may flow in laminar or turbulent regime under Lorentz-force generated by the intercrossed electric current and magnetic field. When there is a starting flat layer between hard and free boundaries with surface tension the spatial Lorentz-force can create a specific stationary regime of flow: the plane free surface will transform into the wavy one, and the movement in the depth will be not laminar and not turbulent, but this regime will be characterized by organized forms with indications of ""rolling of long cylindrical drops"". Wave-length is determined by the viscosity, the density, the surface tension, the average thickness of layer, and Lorentz-force. ·The limit of wavy regime is determined by most long of wave which is directly proportional to the critical value of specific flow and inversely proportional to the kinetic viscosity. The proper critical value of Reynolds number is determined by the dimensionless combination containing surface tension, density, viscosity, and Lorentz-force. The mentioned dimensio.nless combination in our case is some criterion substituting the known Kapitsa number for case of the thin viscous liquid layers under gravity. Spreading of admixture by mechanism of wavy regime is more rapid than by common diffusion or by laminar flow. The suggested conception can be a contribution into the theoretical basis for elaboration of some specific liquid metals technologies."

Jan 1, 1999

By Takashi Nagai, Hideaki Sasaki, Masafumi Maeda

"The production of solar cells is increasing dramatically and the shortage of polycrystalline silicon for these cells has become a serious problem, making development of a low-cost production process for solar grade silicon essential. An electron beam melting technique is known to be effective for the removal of phosphorus from molten silicon. Although the phosphorus is removed by preferential evaporation in this process, the rate of removal is not sufficient, and its improvement requires thermodynamic information on phosphorus in the molten silicon. In this research, the vapor pressure of phosphorus in equilibrium with a siliconphosphorus alloy was measured by double Knudsen cell mass spectrometry with a system blowing gas into the Knudsen cell. The activity of phosphorus in silicon, the Gibbs energy change of the dissolution of phosphorus in silicon, and other factors were estimated from the results. Using these data, we provided guidelines on how this process can be improved.IntroductionSolar energy is in great demand since it is inexhaustible and cleaner than that from conventional energy resources. Silicon is the material most widely used to convert solar energy into electricity. Figure 1 shows the recent production of solar cells. High purity silicon for solar cells, namely solar grade silicon (SOG-Si), has been commercially supplied mainly from off-grade high purity silicon in the semiconductor industry. However, production of solar cells has increased rapidly in recent years, and the shortage of SOG-Si has become a serious problem, so that a new processes which can produce SOG-Si economically are required.Directional solidification was applied to remove transition metal elements such as Fe or Ti by segregating them from the remaining melt. However, such solidification is useless for phosphorus because the segregation coefficient of phosphorus is nearly unity. Numerous approaches have been made in an attempt to produce a resource of low cost SOG-Si from metallurgical-grade silicon (MG-Si). [1,2]"

Jan 1, 2012

By F. J. Tavera

A study on the electro kinetics of lead carbonate, silica, and alumina, in aqueous media was carried out at different pH values. The behavior of potential was determined for these species in the pH range between 3 and 12. Homocoagulation of lead carbonate in aqueous media is analyzed at its isoelectrical point. Lead carbonate heterocoagulation is analyzed with silica, alumina, and silica ? alumina mixtures at low pH values. The experimental results are considered for their possible application to treat residual water polluted with lead.

Jan 1, 2006

By John O. Marsden

The past fifteen years have seen a number of important developments in copper hydrometallurgy, including the commercial application of biological heap leaching of secondary (chalcocite-dominant) copper ores, the commercial demonstration of chalcopyrite concentrate leaching technology using pressure leaching and biological processes, and the application of novel configurations of solution extraction circuits. Significant emphasis is now being placed on the development of effective stockpile leaching practices for primary ores (chalcopyrite and bornite-dominant mineralization). Some of these developments have been highly successful, and will pave the way for further development and commercialization. Others have been less successful. These developments are reviewed in the context of the metal price cycle and trends for the future are identified.

Jan 1, 2006

By P. P. Knight

The Parkes Process is an important step in the pyrometallurgical refining of lead bullion and it is estimated that more than 50% of the Free world's primary silver production is processed by this route. The metallurgical efficiency of the process can have a significant impact on the overall refining costs, particularly with regard to zinc consumption and the costs of working up the silver-rich crusts?. Several authors have used mathematical or graphical methods in order to calculate the minimum required zinc additions and to study the merits. of alternative. operating procedures, but these methods are of necessity very cumbersome and are only able to deal with relatively simple systems. The paper explains how a computer model was developed which simulates the Parkes Process accurately and can predict the effects of changes made in operating methods. Examples are given of some of the findings and their relevance to the practical conduct of the process is? discussed.

Jan 1, 1990

By V. K. Kalyani

The present paper discusses a three layer feed forward artificial neural network (ANN) model, trained using the error back propagation algorithm, has been established to simulate the column flotation circuit used for beneficiation of Sillimanite. Parameters such as superficial air velocity, wash water rate, froth height, % solid, feed velocity, sodium silicate and oleic cid are considered as process operating variables and % yield of Sillimanite is the output of the experiment. The results from the ANN modeling, involving the non linear relationship between inputs and outputs, indicate good agreement with experimental observations. The network model validates the experimentally observed trends. The optimal model parameters in terms of network weights have been estimated and can be used for computing parameters of the process over wide-ranging experimental conditions.

Jan 1, 2006

By David Forrest

In 1981, K. E. Drexler proposed using massively parallel nanomechanical systems to manufacture large atomically exact structures. As in macroscopic mechanical systems, they would contain components that serve traditional functions such as trusses for support, gears to transmit power, bearings for low-friction support of rotating surfaces, motors to supply torque, pipes and conveyor belts for material transport, and channels for coolant. Many of these components would only contain a few thousand atoms. Specific designs for these devices became available in the early 1990s, and a few working devices appeared in laboratories by the early 2000s. As advances continue, a thorough understanding of the operative transport phenomena will guide the intelligent design and construction of nanomechanical structures, devices, and systems. The familiar equations of continuum mechanics are generally inadequate to describe the flow of heat and mass in the proposed nanosystems. Boundary conditions often need to be described in terms of potential surfaces. Surfaces are not geometrically smooth, but periodic according to the locations of atomic nuclei. Friction occurs not due to the plastic deformation of asperities on mating surfaces, but to phenomena such as thermoelastic damping and phonon viscosity when atoms slide past each other. Electrostatic forces dominate over gravitational forces by orders of magnitude; there is no role here for natural convection. Structural components, no matter how stiff and strong, are in constant motion due to the thermal noise in the system. The fluids are described in terms of individual molecules in constant motion.

Jan 1, 2006

By Jouko Kallionen

Advanced Flotation Technology is the application driven design of flotation cells to achieve the optimum performance for each type and grind of flotation. This can be applied to roughers, scavengers, cleaners and specialty cells such as those to float hydrocyclone underflows in both primary and regrind circuits in order to reduce overgrinding. Standard, engineered, components are matched to provide mechanism design and cell dimensions for each case according to feed parameters and flotation type. Advances in process control have been achieved with high level controls and operator information data. This has gained a higher degree of understanding of cell operation and ore type being processed. Excellent results of this Advanced Flotation Technology in large scale porphyric copper ore have been achieved and designs through 7000 cu ft (200 m3) are currently available for high capacity concentrators. This paper will detail how flotation cells are more responsive to the exact requirements of the duty specified.

Jan 1, 1999