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By Nikhil Dhawan

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a collective name given to discarded electronic devices such as Television, Cellular Phones and Personal Computers. Among the heterogeneous metals present in the e-waste are the base metals: copper, aluminium, nickel, tin, zinc, iron and precious metals: gold, silver, palladium, platinum apart from several hazardous and halogens metals. Hence there is a need to recover these metals from electronic scrap by recycling and then re-use, which can meet large amount of metals demand. Hydrometallurgical processing was employed for the recovery of metals from television printed circuit board (TV PCB). Different lixiviants such as hydrochloric acid, Sulphuric acid, and nitric acid were used to understand the dissolution behavior of copper, iron and lead present in the TV PCB. Effect of increasing concentration of nitric acid was also studied. Selective recovery of tin over 95% in the form of tin oxide was precipitated. The precipitated tin oxide was identified by X-ray diffraction technique. Tin oxide of purity more than 99.9% was obtained.

Jan 1, 2009

By M. A. Barakat

"Adsorption of heavy metal ions specifically, Cu(II), Zn(II), Mn(II), and Cr(VI) from aqueous solution on synthetic 4A Zeolite was evaluated. The 4A zeolite was synthesized previously by dehydroxylation of low grade Kalabsha Kaolin at 800 °C, and reacted hydrothermally with 2-4 M NaOH solution at 100 °C for 2h. The adsorption capacity of the metal ions were found to be strongly dependent on pH and initial metal ion concentration. At the optimium conditions the adsorption capacity decreased in the order Cu(II) > Zn(II) > Mn(II) > Cr(VI) ions. Almost complete adsorption was achieved for both of Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions at pH > 6, while the adsorption capacity for both Mn(II) and Cr(VI) was 96, and 55.3 % at pH 11 and pH 3, respectively. The results also showed that the grain size of the 4A zeolite has a little effect on the adsorption capacity. The experimental data was compared with two adsorption isotherms, Langmuir and Freundlich isotheroms. The results showed a good agreement of the Langmuir plots with the experimental data.1. IntroductionSeveral industrial wastewater streams may contain heavy metals such as Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Co, Ni, Mn, etc. including the waste liquids generated by metal finishing or the mineral processing industries. Heavy metals are considered hazardous pollutants due to their toxicity, even at low concentration, and nonbiodegradability. Increasing level of heavy metals in natural water bodies poses a serious threat to all living species including humans. It is, therefore, essential to reduce the heavy metal concentration in effluents/wastewater before it is discharged into the water bodies [1]."

Jan 1, 2008

By Joël P. T. Kapusta

Although Peirce-Smith converting remains the workhorse in matte converting, the copper and nickel industries are still confronted with production hindrances such as tuyere blockage, excessive refractory wear and limits in the oxygen enrichment levels of the blast air. The knowledge acquired on high-pressure gas injection technology as well as the invention of the concentric tuyere for steelmaking led to the development of the Air Liquide Shrouded Injector (ALSI) technology for copper and nickel converting. Following a technology demonstration in 1997-98 with four shrouded injectors installed in a Peirce-Smith converter, Falconbridge Limited implemented ALSI Technology on a commercial scale in May 1999 as an integral part of its new Slag Make Converter at Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The paper presents the various aspects of commissioning ALSI Technology, as well as the operating changes and injector design modifications over the five years the shrouded injectors have been in operation.

Jan 1, 2005

By M. I. Brasileiro

The use of experimental design to the study of mixtures has found a wide range of applications, even in laboratory scale or in industrial development works. The aim of this work was to maximize granite sawing waste content in ceramic tiles using experimental design. Based on the raw materials, specific formulations were developed using the experimental design. The raw materials were mixed and sample bodies were produced using uniaxial pressing. The sample bodies were fired and characterized in terms of water absorption, mechanical strength and X-ray diffraction. Regression models were adjusted relating the water absorption and mechanical strength with the amount of raw materials. The results showed that the methodology of experimental design maximize the content of wastes incorporated in ceramic tiles formulations. Formulations containing up to 40% of waste can be used for the production of ceramic tiles.

Jan 1, 2009

By Cem Colakoglu

In this study, nickel containing iron alloys were produced by carbothermal reduction of lateritic nickel ores obtained from Manisa - Caldag region of Turkiye in order to investigate the reaction mechanism of nickel and cobalt. In the experiments, the lateritic ore containing 1.58 wt.% Ni and 0.12 wt.% Co was calcined in a semi-pilot scale rotary furnace at 1100°C for 1 hour. Then, a mixture of calcined ore and metallurgical coke was reacted in sintered alumina crucibles using a graphite resistance tube furnace at different time (0- 60 min) and temperature (1500-1600°C).

Jan 1, 2009

By Xiaodong Wang

A liquid metal flow generated by a magnetic field whose traveling direction is periodically reversed, the Reversed Traveling Magnetic Field (R-TMF) is studied. The modulation frequency ranges from 0 to 6 Hz. Ultrasonic Doppler velocimetry probes the generated fluid flow. Depending on the modulation frequency, a number of characteristic flow features are exhibited. A transition frequency (approximately 4 Hz) exists, above which the flow is no longer sensitive to the force modulation. Below this transition point, the amplitude of the velocity oscillation increases, and then below fm = 0.05 Hz, it saturates around a value close to that observed without any modulation. A theoretical model to obtain an analytical solution of electromagnetic force and to predict flow motion is developed, which is fairly in agreement with the experiments.

Jan 1, 2009

By Nan Wang

Based on the commercial computational fluid dynamics software, Fluent, the fluid flow and temperature field in an iron-bath reactor were simulated numerically, and the effects of top-blown and side-blown operating parameters on the mixing time of iron bath, distribution range of oxygen in top space, and post-combustion ratio were investigated. The simulated results showed that the mixing time of iron bath increased initially and then decreased with the increase of inclined degree and immersion depth of side-blown lance. The distribution range of oxygen became wider as pulling the top lance away from the iron bath. Furthermore, post-combustion ratio was reduced given the top lance was too close the bath. The simulation results provide theoretical base for the process optimization of iron-bath reactor and further development of new type iron-bath smelting reduction process.

Jan 1, 2009

By Katsuyoshi Kondoh

The utilization of silica particles originated in rice husks as reinforcements of magnesium composites was discussed. By using the solid state reaction of rice husk silica particles with magnesium powder, P/M magnesium based composites dispersed with the magnesium silicide (Mg2Si) and magnesium oxide (MgO) were fabricated. High-purity silica particles were originated from rice husks, one of the major agricultural wastes, via the citric acid leaching treatment and combustion in air. The effects of the silica particle characteristics such as size, crystalline and porous structures, on the reactivity of silica and magnesium to synthesize Mg2Si intermetallic were discussed. Amorphous silica was more useful for this reaction than crystalline one. The reactivity of rice husk silica was superior to that of the conventional mineral silica particles because of not only its amorphous structure but the larger specific surface area due to their pore structures. In the case of the green compact of the mixture of the rice husk silica and Mg powder, the silica particle size was not effective on the reactivity because the coarse particles were fractured into fine ones by cold compaction. The distribution of Mg2Si intermetallics of magnesium powder composites consolidated by SPS process was investigated by XRD and SEM-EDS analysis. Their mechanical and physical properties were also evaluated in detail.

Jan 1, 2009

By Taegong Ryu

A thermal plasma process was used to synthesize nanosized tungsten carbide -cobalt composite powder, in which ammonium paratungstate and cobalt oxide were reacted with a gas mixture containing CH4, H2 and Ar. The reduction and carburization of vaporized precursors produced nanosized tungsten carbide (WC1-x) - cobalt composite powder, which sometimes contained small amounts of W2C and/or W phase. The effects of gas composition, plasma torch power, and the flow rate of plasma gas on the product composition and grain size were investigated. The grain size of synthesized tungsten carbide powder was less than 20 nm. The synthesized composite powders were also subjected to a hydrogen heat treatment to fully carburize WC1-x, W2C, and W phases to the WC phase as well as to remove excess carbon in the product. Finally nanosized WC-Co composite powder of grain size less than 50 nm was obtained.

Jan 1, 2009

By Koji Matsubara, Yoshiaki Iguchi, Shoji Hayashi

Iron ore particles of a limonite iron ore were reduced completely with H2 at 1023K to 1273K in a fluidized bed. Then, at 973K, the formed iron was exposed to HrH2S mixtures (sulfur activity, as=0.5) for 3.6ks and carbidized with CO-H2-H2S· mixtures at 0.1 MPa. During the carbidization, the particles of about 150mg were sampled at every 600s interval. The sampled particles were analyzed by XRD and chemical analysis for C and S to evaluate the content of Fe3C, Fe5C2, Fe and free carbon. The reaction extent is defined as fo=Xfc3C +xFc5c2; x is the molar fraction of Fe in Fe3C. The carbidization curves can be fitted very well to -ln(l-f0)=g(pb T)t; g(p; T) is the carbidization rate, i.e. the carburization rate on the pore surface of reduced iron. The rate is found to be nearly proportional to the specific surface area of reduced iron, a P 0 , which decreases with increasing the reduction temperature. The value of a P 0 does not change by the carbidization and the stability of the iron carbide product in the atmosphere increases with the temperature.

Jan 1, 2000

By Ryo Sasai, Takeshi Itakura, Haruki Imaizumi, Hideaki Itoh

"Emission of industrial wastewater containing harmful oxoanions is one of the serious problems on account of its toxicity and the environmental pollution, especially caused by boric, phosphinic, arsenic and antimonic species. In this study, we developed a novel treatment technique of such polluted-water by hydrothermal mineralization. The treatment is “Geomimetic” method for precipitating oxoanions in aqueous media as natural ore resources by using hydrothermal treatment with calcium salts mineralizer. The treatment made it possible not only to detoxify the polluted-water, but also to recover the calcium minerals such as Ca2B2O5·H2O, Ca5(AsO4)3(OH), etc. Concentration of each ion in treated-water was lower than that of effluent standard in Japan. Moreover, the residual concentration of each ion was independent of the initial concentration, but it depends only on the solubility of the formed mineral under hydrothermal condition. Therefore, the hydrothermal treatment could be recommended as one of the treatment techniques of polluted-water.IntroductionVarious oxoanions such as boron and arsenic oxo-anions have high toxicity against human health and the environment. They are important resources, however, for plating or advanced material manufacturing industries[1-3], from which the wastewater containing these oxoanions is generated every day. An appropriate treatment is often required for industrial wastewaters to attain national effluent standards of Japan (NESJ, B: 10 mg/dm3, As: 0.1 mg/dm3). On the other hand, there is no production of arsenic and boric resources in Japan, and they are expected to be recycled. Therefore, the establishment of a system for the removal and recycling of arsenic and boron from wastewaters is of global significance.Several methods to remove them from aqueous media have been already reported by using adsorption[4], electro-coagulation[5], membrane separation[6-8] and biological techniques[9]. However, these methods have the following problems because of their stability in water. (1) Removal yield is low, especially for tri-valent arsenite ion (AsIIIO3 3-) and borate ion. (2) The applicable concentration range is narrow. In addition, the used adsorbents or collected residues after treatments are sill hazardous wastes, so that they must be treated by a proper method. But, it is very difficult to convert them to recyclable resources at most industrial plants. These problems are caused by the difficulty to recover these oxoanions as stable solid precipitates with low solubility in water. The establishment of recycling system of these hazardous compounds will be one of the world-important issues, especially, in Japan, which is poor in natural resources. On the other hand, compounds that contain high arsenic concentrations and are insoluble in water, are often found in natural minerals, for example, as haidinglite (Ca(AsO3OH)·(H2O) or Johnbaumite (Ca5(AsO4)3(OH)). This fact suggests that nature has an ability to produce insoluble As-bearing minerals. Similar phenomena can be found in case of boron, antimony, etc."

Jan 1, 2008

By A. Gibson

Most methods for the treatment of scrap printed circuit boards do not reclaim the components in working order as the boards are either fed to a copper smelter, to recover the valuable elements, or, simply landfilled. This work reports the dissolution of the solder in fluoroboric acid containing Ti4+ ions which was particularly selective for solder, allowing the components to be recovered. The solder was subsequently electrowon from the leachant. The boards were then shredded and the copper dissolved in ammonium sulfate and, then treated via solvent extraction to give an electrolyte suitable for electrowinning. The remainder of the metals were dissolved aqua regia, silver remained unattacked by the aqua regia, palladium precipitated as Pd(NH4)Cl6 in the presence of zinc and nickel, the gold was removed by solvent extraction and precipitated as nanoparticles. The aqua regia was then diluted and the zinc and nickel separated by solvent extraction.

Jan 1, 2009

By C. E. M. Meskers

End-of-life Electronic and Electrical Equipment, o_cially called WEEE, is unjustly regarded as mainly a waste management problem. What is structurally overlooked is the enormous resource impact of these devices. EEE rep- resents a tremendous metal resource, which should be uti- lized through e_ective recycling, which has a much lower environmental footprint than primary production. The actual amount of end-of-life EEE recycled today is embar- rassingly low since insu_cient EEE is collected and part of the collected EEE is exported to developing countries, where it is largely not entering o_cial recycling systems. To achieve a global recycling society issues like technol- ogy, economics, life cycle structure, stakeholder aware- ness and legislation have to be addressed in a global, co-operative manner so that sustainable closed product cycles can be obtained. Requirements for a "global re- cycling society" are de_ned to address today's reality of global ows of used consumer products, taking into ac- count the likely needs of the future.

Jan 1, 2009

By R. W. Smith

Living and killed organisms, particularly microorganisms, and extracellular products derived from the organisms are increasingly finding use in minerals engineering. Goals include both enhancement of mineral processing/11.ydrometallurgica,l operations and remediation of mineral industry wastes. Some of the applications, such as biologically assisted leaching of ?sulfide ores and bioxidation of refractory gold ores, are well established commercial ?processes used around the world. Others, such as the use. of organisms for the removal of heavy metal ions from dilute aqueous streams, are nearing commercial application. Many other uses of microorganisms and. their derivatives are potentially possible. These include use of microorganisms in flocculation or flotation of minerals., remediation of organics potentially discharged from mineral engineering operations, degradation of cyanide, the recovery of bitumen from heavy oil reservoirs and tar sands and the solubilisation of lignites and low rank coals. In order to fully exploit these many possible uses of organisms and their derivatives, extensive fundamental .and .applied research work exploring the fundamentals, potential and practicality of the various possible uses of microorganisms in mineral engineering should be vigorously pursued. ?

Jan 1, 1991

By Ramona Prillhofer

Salt slag is a waste product produced by the recycling of aluminum. In most European countries (e.g. Austria, Germany) the landfill disposal of this waste is forbidden because the slag contains soluble salts and these represent a potential source of pollution to the surface and groundwater. Additionally, consisting metal and some compounds in the salt slag can react with water and resulting from this, noxious gases are generated. The recovery of useful materials from these wastes is accordingly both environmentally necessary and economically feasible. This study describes a complete recycling-process for the salt slag, which includes a leaching-cristallization-process to obtain the oxidic residue, a pyrometallurgical-step to clear the oxidic residue and finally an extensive characterization of the achieved products. Due to the increasing price of raw materials, the utilization of the oxidic residue into commercial products has been investigated and application possibilities will be discussed.

Jan 1, 2009

By Pengfu Tan

Lead blast-furnace bullion cools to near its freezing point in an operation known as copper drossing or hot drossing usually contains 0.02-0.06% copper. The removal of this copper is usually carried out in a batch operation known as sulfur drossing. Sulfur is stirred into the bullion at temperatures near its freezing point, and the dross of copper and lead sulfides that floats to the surface is skimmed off manually. A thermodynamic model has been developed to simulate the copper drossing. The phase diagram of Pb-Cu-S system has been calculated, and the effects of the process parameters, such as temperature, copper content, and sulfur content, on the drossing process have been simulated and discussed.

Jan 1, 2006

By M. Bilal Khan

Thermal stress relief by means of a typical heat treatment cycle (660oC for one hr) is compared with the one achieved through vibratory stress relief at resonant and multiple resonant frequencies for the D-406 HSLA material. Our analysis of the data is based on the microhardness profiles measured for the entire length of scales, namely, base metal, heat affected zone (HAZ) and the weld bead itself. The profiles obtained using the two techniques mimic each other, for an equivalent 70% stress relief level. The data are further qualified by impact testing wherein the zone of interest is projected in the retention groove to provide impact by the pendulum striker in the Charpy mode. Higher equivalent energy absorption in the treated specimens confirms the efficacy of the vibratory method. The present work rectifies earlier anomaly where heat treatment has been reported at 310oC for the same material.

Jan 1, 2009

By G. M. Bond

Reduction of the emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO,, is currently the subject of extensive research. A novel strategy is put forward here, based on a biomimetic approach providing accelerated deposition into carbonate form for long-term sequestration. It offers the advantages of a process that: does not require concentration of CO, from flue gases; could potentially be used in an on-site scrubber to provide a plant-by-plant solution to reducing CO, emissions; is an environmentally benign procss with an environmentally benign product; and is based on readily available, low-cost reagents (except perhaps the catalyst).

Jan 1, 1999

By Hongyang Cao

The iron constituents selectively separated from the modified copper slags by magnetic separation and flotation.were studied. The results of magnetic separation for modified copper smelting slags show that the grinding size, current intensity and dispersant agent had great influence on grade, and recovery ratio of TFe in preparation concentrate; The results of flotation for magnetic concentrate show that the positive flotation of sodium oleate negatively upgrade the grade of magnetic concentrate, but the reverse flotation of lauryl amine and soluble starch are effective. The grade of TFe can reach 54% and the recovery ratio can reach about 90% in magnetic concentrate, when the grinding size is 45.8µm and the current intensity is 2.5A. The optimal effect is obtained by using lauryl amine as collector and soluble starch as depressant to reverse flotate magnetic concentrate, and the grade of TFe is upgraded 2.37%.

Jan 1, 2009

By A. G. Merma

In this work, the electrocoagulation technique was studied in order to treat chemically stabilized concentrated oil-water emulsions. This study was mainly focused on the effects of operating parameters such as initial pH, current density, reaction time, electrode distance and inlet concentration on the separation of oil as measured by the chemical oxygen demand -1(COD) method. The synthetic emulsion was prepared from Shell - Talpa 30 oil (3g.L-1) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (1.0 g.L), having a Zeta potential around -70 mv at pH 8.7. The process was carried out in an electrocoagulation cell with a set of four parallel monopolar electrodes. This set consisted of two aluminum plate anodes and two 316L stainless steel plate cathodes. Kinetic curves showed that the electrocoagulation process exhibits three phases: (1) an initial phase, where the COD did not decrease because the solution had not reached the minimum amount of dissolved aluminum required to cause the break-up of the emulsion, (2) a reactive phase during which COD decreased due to possible agglomeration of the precipitates and (3) a steady-state phase where the COD did not change. The results showed that the period to reach the reactive phase decreased as the current density increased and the pH values decreased.

Jan 1, 2009