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By KNona Liddell

Many metal recovery processes Involve heterogeneous reactions In porous media accompanied by fluid flow and mass transfer. Modeling such systems Is difficult because of the number of rate processes Involved and is complicated even further by effects due to the structure of the porous medium. Data on even bulk properties of the medium are often severely limited or unavailable. For many such systems, a cell model may provide, an attractive alternative to models based on transport ,mechanisms in a differential volume. A cell model requires less input data and is computationally efficient. Identical residence time distributions can be obtained with models of both types, and both allow conversion and concentration profiles and histories to be calculated. The formulation and properties of cell models for metals recovery are described in detail.

Jan 1, 1996

By Alexander V. Derevyanko, Victor P. Popov, Alexander I. Raitchenko

"If an electric current flows along some electroconductive suspension in columnar form the solid particles are 'experienced thermal, mechanical, and electromagnetic influences.The objects were suspension Sn (liquid) - Ni-Cr-Mo-W alloy (solid particles). This is refractory alloy on the Ni base. The direct constant current (with density -106 A/m2 ) flowed through the named suspension during 180+300 sec. At the beginning of experiments samples were ones containing particles suspended uniformly in volume. Although density of solid particles was ~9x103 kg/m3 , i. e. higher than density of liquid Sn (-6.8x103 kg/m3 ), after end of this processing, the non-uniform distribution of particles in volume of samples was observed: concentration of Ni-alloy particles in lower part was smaller than their concentration in upper part of samples, and simultaneously their concentration is increased near outer surface. There was probably the natural convection of Benard-Rayleigh type which had carried, so lid particles upwards, and, in same time, there was the action of spatial Lorentz-forces directed to center forcing the radial movement.The knowledge of named phenomena can be useful for elaboration of technology of gradient dispersed materials and development of some materials science fields.IntroductionThe liquid metal with the electric current or under the alternating magnetic field is experienced compression. This action causes the pressure within metal and the change of the surface of the metal column (see, for example, [1-4]). One of results of such an electromagnetic compression is extraction of the foreign solid particles from a cylindrical liquid sample to surface in the radial directions. However, more complicated paths of the inclusions are observed under some conditions of electric treatment."

Jan 1, 1999

By Tarek M. Abd El Hamid, Suzane Ali

"Treatment of industrial waste materials is created serious problem in Egypt. Aluminium sludge is generated as a by-product from aluminium household industry which contains significantly high alumina content exceeding 90%. This by-product randomly disposed and creates serious environment problems to locate community. To develop the treatment process of this material, the recovery of high purity alumina and identify the potential application is being the primary objective, This paper represents the recovery process of alumina process waste sludge High purity alumina material <99.8% aluminium oxide with originate particle size 0.125-0.420mm and apparent density 0.39g/cm3 was obtained with a specific surface area 139m2/g. Alumina produced was modified by cerium oxide doped alumina. The catalytic activity and selectivity was investigated in conversion of iso-propanol via dehydrogenation reaction yielding only acetone indicating an excellent selectivity the dehydrogenation. The presence of 10% CeO2 increase in the catalytic activity of 82% for the originated alumina. Introduction Approximately 20 thousand tons of aluminium waste produced in Egypt in 2006 with increasing amounts expected in succeeding years. A part of this waste contains organics impurities which coexisted with aluminium waste as a result of manufacture final aluminium products, waste usually content <1 to 2 wt% of organic carbon. It's generally admitted that the organic species are present in the form of lubricant oils used in rolling and pressing equipments for aluminium sheet. Both industry and government face possible high-cost disposal problems that more magnified by large volume of waste produced. The alumina recovery leachable study conduct in this paper had the following objectives: 1- Develop a process that can provide an environmentally acceptable residue and also recover the available alumina. 2- Evaluate the alumina produced in terms of grade and catalytic application."

Jan 1, 2008

By Pertti Koukkari, Nagendra Tripathi, Karri Penttilä, Justin Salminen

A computational fluid dynamic model for a novel flash ironmaking process based on the direct gaseous reduction of iron oxide concentrates is presented. The model solves the threedimensional governing equations including both gas-phase and gas-solid reaction kinetics. The turbulence-chemistry interaction in the gas-phase is modeled by the eddy dissipation concept incorporating chemical kinetics. The particle cloud model is used to track the particle phase in a Lagrangian framework. A nucleation and growth kinetics rate expression is adopted to calculate the reduction rate of magnetite concentrate particles. Benchmark experiments reported in the literature for a nonreacting swirling gas jet and a nonpremixed hydrogen jet flame were simulated for validation. The model predictions showed good agreement with measurements in terms of gas velocity, gas temperature and species concentrations. The relevance of the computational model for the analysis of a bench reactor operation and the design of an industrialpilot plant is discussed.

Jan 1, 2014

By Emanuel Negrao Macedo, Edinaldo Cunha, Mauro Oliveira, Jose Antonio da Silva Souza

"This paper presents the study of the increasing addition influence of the bauxite waste in some properties of polymeric matrices composites reinforced with natural fiber: Curaua (Ananas Erectifolius smith). There were evaluated properties as density, tensile and flexural resistances. The high pH provided by the waste is used as hydrolysis agent, providing the pectin cement dissolution of the fiber bundles, and therefore, improving the mechanical adhesion in the fibermatrix interface and the increase of the fiber bundles aspect ratio. Furthermore, the content of silico-aluminous material in the waste provides increase in the composite abrasivity, which is destined to civil and naval construction. The fact of being a low-cost and highly available waste turns the red mud in a high potential material as polymeric composite filler.IntroductionRed mud is an insoluble residue, originated from the bauxite refining through the Bayer Process [1]. It is an Iron Oxide rich material [2] (substance responsible for the red brick color), it has a complex chemical composition [3], and its composition is highly dependent of the type of bauxite used in the process [4]. It has high alkalinity (pH= 10 - 12.5) and a very small solids size distribution (95% diameter< 44µm) [1], what turns the red mud a serious environmental pollutant.The utilization of fillers on composite materials is done after many necessities; however, one of the major necessities is the cost reduction [5]. Furthermore, mechanical and thermal properties of polymers usually are improved by the addition of inorganic fillers [6], being an example of this improvement the reduction of the flammability of polymer matrixes due to the addition of functional clays [7]. In this way, the red mud becomes potential filler for composites, since cheap and easily available fillers (like red mud) are a good option to reduce costs [8]."

Jan 1, 2013

By Sridhar Komarneni

"Microwave-hydrothermal processing is a novel technique which combines the conventional hydrothermal processing with microwave field and we previously showed for the first time, that ceramic powders can be rapidly produced by this technique. This review paper deals with the synthesis of unary oxides such as Fe203, Ti02, Zr02, etc., binary oxides such as BaTiO3, SrTiO 3, PbTiO 3, SrZrO 3, KNbO3, etc., and ternary oxides such as NaTi2 (PO4)3 and pyrochlore phases of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3, Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 etc. and metal powders such as Cu, Ni, etc. below 195°C. This method can be adopted to the synthesis of a large variety of powders by the appropriate control of pH, Eh, temperature/pressure and concentration of chemical species. The main advantages of this method compared to conventional hydrothermal processing are (a) it increases the kinetics of reaction by one to two orders of magnitude, and (b) it can lead to novel phases especially those with layered structures.IntroductionConventional hydrothermal processing is a well-established synthesis technique which has been extensively used in the preparation of fine ceramic powders [1-5], large single crystals [6-8] and massive cement blocks [9]. Technologically important ceramic powders such as BaTiO 3, Al203 etc. made by the hydrothermal process are now commercially available. Although there are numerous methods for materials synthesis, hydrothermal method is truly a low temperature and environmentally benign process. For example, ZrSi04 (Zircon) which is extensively used in ceramic industry can be prepared hydrothermally at 150·C [10] compared to sol-gel or solid-state method [11,12] which require a temperature of about 1000·C. The hydrothermal method is environmentally benign because hydrothermal reactions are carried out in closed systems at low temperatures and the contents can be recovered and recycled after cooling to the ambient conditions. One of the disadvantages with any low temperature processing method is slow kinetics. For this reason we have combined the hydrothermal method with microwaves to enhance kinetics and we named this method as ""Microwave-hydrothermal"" processing [13- 16]. Although the combination of microwave and hydrothermal techniques has been used in the past few years to dissolve all kinds of inorganic (e.g. alumino silicate rocks) and organic materials rapidly for chemical analysis, we were the first to show its potential value for the synthesis of various ceramic powders [13-16]. In this paper, I show that this novel method is applicable to the synthesis of all unary, binary and multinary oxides by the appropriate control of pH, Eh, temperature, pressure and concentration of chemical species. In addition, this method is also found to be useful for the preparation of metal powders."

Jan 1, 1994

By Mikiya Tanaka

Keywords: Solvent extraction, nickel, electroless plating, accelerating effect With the increasing importance of electroless nickel plating technology in many fields such as the electronic and automobile industries, the treatment of spent baths is becoming a serious problem. Although the spent baths are currently treated by a conventional precipitation method, a method with no sludge generation is desired. Previously, we proposed the solvent extraction recovery of nickel from the spent baths by means of solvent extraction using LIX84I as the extractant. However, a problem of this method was that the extraction and stripping of nickel were not fast enough to achieve high efficiencies when the continuous extractor was used. We have overcome this difficulty by finding that the addition of an acidic organophosphorous reagent in small amount into the organic phase markedly promotes the extraction and stripping rates of the nickel. Shaking-out tests using a separatory funnel at 240 spm revealed that the time to reach the equilibria is more than 60 min with only 20 vol% LIX84I, but is reduced to 10 min and 2.5 min by adding 2 vol% DP8R, respectively, during the extraction and the stripping with sulfuric acid.

Jan 1, 2004

"The pyrometallurgical method of recycling car batteries suffers from a potential for air pollution violations, which prompts the desire for a viable hydrometallurgicaJ alternative. Several Processes have been proposed, including leach-electrowinning routes using HBF4 and/or HzSiF6 based electrolytes, along with anodes of PbO2 on inert substrates.A study has been carried out to evaluate the proposed systems, with the intention of demonstrating a six month life of an electrolyte-anode combination. The work, which focused on the use of HzSiF6, has indicated that there was no acceptable anode, and has lead to the development of a technique to produce smooth, glassy, adherent coatings on graphite, and to the development of an anode composed of a series of copper cored graphite rods.The paper will present results on leaching and electrowinning experiments, as well as the description of a flowsheet for a pilot plant that will be used to produce one tone per day of refined lead from spent battery paste."

Jan 1, 1997

By Keith Cramer

As a leader in the development of metal extraction technology, Avecia continues to pioneer advancements for the processing of copper through leach, solvent extraction, and electrowinning of copper. From the initial patent of the second generation of oxime 5- nonylsalicylaldoxime in the 1970&apos;s; to the effective use of modifier technology; and development of computer assisted modeling programs, Avecia is driving SX technology to maximize extraction productivity. Keys to consider when advancing productivity are: 1) high quality, high performance products; 2) a responsive, partnering approach to technical service; and 3) tools to aid in the education of industry wide technical personnel with a view on continuous improvement. The focus of this paper is on the advancement of tools to aid in the education for optimization of processing copper through solvent extraction. One such tool is Avecia&apos;s own customized solvent extraction modeling program called MEUM. MEUM is currently used world wide to analyze plant operations, test ideas for improving operations, assist engineering companies in design, and to teach basic solvent extraction concepts. Recently MEUM has also been incorporated into a University setting. In the spring of 2000 Avecia worked with the University of Melbourne to integrate MEUM into their Mass Transport tutorial class. Students completed exercises to evaluate how operational changes affected a solvent extraction plant&apos;s performance. This paper introduces the basic functions of the program and discusses the successful implementation of MEUM into the University of Melbourne curriculum.

Jan 1, 2002

By Guanyong Shi, Zhihe Dou, Cong Wang, Ting'an Zhang, Hongyan Zhang

We prepared the CuCr alloy by thermit reduction-electromagnetic casting. But there are the defects such as stomata and oxide inclusions in CuCr alloy. In this paper, the existing state and distribution of inclusions and stomata in CuCr alloy are systematically analyzed. The alloy was characterized via SEM, EDS and metallographic microscope, in which the existing state and micro-structural defects of inclusions are analyzed. The results show that: there are three distinct areas: copper-rich areas, chromium-rich areas and the inclusion areas. Inclusions are mainly in the form of stomata and Al2O3 phase, mainly locating in the copper-rich phase and the interface area of chromium-rich phase and the copper-rich phase. Then, the composition of phases of the smelting slags and alloy were characterized via XRD. The results show that: the slag consists of Al2O3 and a little of Cr, the alloy consists of Cr, Cu and a little of Al2O3.

Jan 1, 2015

By Don Ibana

The use of solvent extraction (SX) in process metallurgy is particularly attractive as it is applicable to a wide range of solute concentration and pH, and it allows complete separation of chemically similar metals such as nickel and cobalt and the rare earths among others. It is therefore applicable to the processing of low grade and complex ores, which is increasing and expanding owing to the diminishing reserves of quality ores, and this has driven the increasing and expanding use of SX.The current SX technology, however, has inherent limitations owing to the use of mechanical agitation as it induces high shear mixing. Excessive shear produces very fine droplets, and while this favours mass transfer, it also leads to sluggish phase separation. High shear mixing is also known to favour crud formation. All these factors as well as high power and reagents consumptions contribute to poor process efficiency. Electrostatic solvent extraction (ESX) is similar to conventional SX except that mechanical agitation is replaced with electrostatic agitation. In direct contrast to mechanical agitation, it allows the production of very small droplets that can be made to maintain intense motion, which favours mass transfer, without affecting the phase separation. In addition, as it uses an electrostatic field, the power consumption is minimal. Hence, it promises to be a superior alternative to conventional SX mixing although an application of the technique is yet to be achieved.Our work to develop an application of the technique in process metallurgy has now established that electrostatic field has no effect on either the stability of the reagents or the chemistry of the process. A volumetric flowrate that is comparable to that of a conventional sieve plate pulse column is achievable. We have also established that electrostatic fields can be made to yield much narrower droplet size distributions than those of mechanically agitated contactors, and they allow better control of droplet motions, which include oscillation and linear motion and hence, mass transfer. These are significant advancements toward our goal and shall be discussed in this presentation.

By Carl W. Dalrymple

A wide variety of contaminants (heavy metals, suspended solids, colloids, oils, organics) have been successfully removed from wastewater using an electrocoagulation process. An innovative electrocoagulation system is described. This process involves a procedure which subjects dissolved and suspended wastewater contaminants to the simultaneous addition of metal ions in the presence of direct current. During the treatment process Ionic and other charged particles in the wastewater are neutralized with oppositely charged ions generating the coagulation of contaminants: The process Is called CURE, and&apos; presented here with application to wastewaters containing mainly heavy metals.

Jan 1, 1995

By T. Inami

The chlorine leach of the anode slime was studied in order to improve the treatment process at the Niihama Nickel Refinery. The anode slime originates from the nickel matte electrorefining and, contains 3-5% of nickel as sulfides. A comparative study has been conducted on the filter cake resulting from the sulfur filtration of the molten anode slime. The kinetic factors of the chlorine leach such as temperature, grain size were defined. Under the optimized condition, 70-80% of the nickel is recovered from the slime or filter cake. On the basis of these results, the chlorine leach process for the treatment of anode slime has been established. The leaching plant has been installed and successfully operated since 1986.

Jan 1, 1988

By Chr. Kersch

This project further develops supercritlcal fluid extraction as an industrial soil remediation process. Heavy metals are removed from sand using CO2, The effect of the type of complexing ligands, pressure and water content on the extraction efficiency is investigated.

Jan 1, 1999

By Marcela C. Santini, Luiz A. Teixeira

"Surface conditioning (also referred as etching) of plastics prior to metallization is generally conducted with sulfuric I chromic acid solutions. Although these baths perform well technically, the presence of Cr (VI) imposes serious operating problems of an environmental nature. The present work reports ·the results of a study of surface conditioning o(ABS using solutions based. on sulfuric acid, with hydrogen peroxide and/or nitric acid, replacing chromic acid, as oxidants. Process performance was evaluated by SEM and by the uniformity and adherence of electroless nickel coatings applied on selected conditioned samples. The results showed that the evaluated types of solutions could be optimized to perform as well as the chromic-based baths, with a much superior environmental quality.IntroductionMetallization of plastics is normally undertaken for either decorative or functional purposes. Through metallization, the specific properties of plastics such as light weight, design flexibility, and low-cost of manufacturing are enhanced by the addition of properties usually associated with metals. These include reflectiveness, abrasion resistance, electrical conductivity, and a variety of decorative effects (1).The available processes that can be used for metallization of plastics are vacuum metallization or vapoµr deposition; indirect metallization and plating (1). Plating can be sub-divided into electroless plating and electroplating. In electroless plating, metal ions in aqueous solution are deposited on the .activated plastic surface by oxi-reduction reactions without the aid of an external electric potential, forming a thin metallic layer. This electroless deposited film has two functions: (a) it provides an electrically conductive substrate that allows further coating by electroplating; and (b) provides a secure bond between the plastic substrate and the electroplated layer (1,2). In case the electroless metallic part requires an additional layer for finishing purposes, or just an increase in thickness, the part can be additionally electroplated with a· variety of metals - in most cases those are copper, nickel or chromium (3)."

Jan 1, 2000

By Kezhuan Gu

Data on the kinetics and thermodynamics of dephosphorization are analyzed in terms of the dynamic partition ratio, determined by a combination of slag thermodynamic properties and the balance of oxygen supply and consumption. A recently developed phosphate capacity correlation is combined with data on kinetics to quantify the most significant parameters in controlling the interfacial oxygen potential. The role of slag composition, entrained gas fraction and temperature are discussed in addition to metal carbon and sulfur content. It is demonstrated that the mass transport of oxygen in the slag is enhanced by factors increasing conductivity and inhibited by entrained gas. The mass transfer of phosphorus in the metal is described considering surface renewal induced by CO bubbles.

By O. G. Yeremin

The Joint Venture "Inter-S" jointly with the Gintsvetmet Institute have developed a technology for manufacturing of sulphoconcrete and sulphoasphalt. The sulphoconcrete manufacturing technology comprises preliminary production of modified sulphur, which is blended in liquid form at a temperature of 120°C with an inert material preheated to the same temperature. The second promising area for the use of sulphur is partial substitution of modified sulphur for more expensive bitumen. The sulphoasphalt manufacturing process comprises preliminary production of a sulphur and bitumen mixture with a sulphur content of 30% to 40%, which is then blended with inert materials using conventional techniques. Sulphoasphalt manufactured at a full-scale plant meets all requirements set to its strength properties for road paving. Technology has been developed for production of high-purity sulphur based on rectification of liquid sulphur in a packed column. A commercial-scale plant with a capacity of up to 15 tonnes per year for production of sulphur with an impurities level of about 110-6 % by mass has been put into operation.

Jan 1, 2006

By Miller, Geoffrey W.

The Ravensthorpe Nickel Project (RNP) flow sheet provides for the upgrading of Ni & Co in a size based beneficiation process prior to leaching. The upgrading effect on Ni and Co makes the beneticiation process a powerful addition to the flow sheet. Multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis based on 351 individual batch tests, 52 large scale composites and 21 pilot plant tests has been used to successfully model beneticiation product grade, recovery, upgrade and mass recovery. Statistically, 83% and 96% of the variability in nickel recovery and nickel product grade respectively was accounted for. Algorithms have been developed for Ni, Co, Mg, Al and Fe, which represents the revenue and operating cost factors for the process. The algorithms have subsequently been applied to the resource model, allowing prediction of elemental grade and recovery for the development of the mine schedules based upon these parameters and not head grades alone. This has allowed optimisation of the mine schedule for improvement to the project&apos;s NPV. Keywords: Ni Laterite, Prediction, Multiple Linear Regression, Beneficiation

Jan 1, 2004

By E. O. Stensholt

The Hybinette electrorefining process for production of cathode nickel was in use at Falconbridge Nikkelverk A/S, Norway, until 1975 when conversion to the new chlorine leach process was started. In 1978 the conversion to electrowinning had been completed, but further major improvements to the process have been made up to 1987. After a major expansion program in 1985 - 87 the refinery has a nickel capacity of 54 000 mt Ni/year. The main feed materials to the process are converter matte from the Falconbridge smelter in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and from the BCL smelter in Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana. A typical composition of the mixed feed to the refinery is: 40 - 45% Ni, 25 - 30% Cu, 20 - 22% S, 2 - 3% Fe and 1.0 - 1.5% Co. The matte is chlorine-leached in the first process step, nickel being dissolved selectively in a train of leach-cementation tanks. Essentially all copper and sulphur that was present in matte appears in the leach residue as CuS. In 1986 an autoclave treatment stage was added to the process to improve nickel extraction from the leach residue. The resulting strong nickel chloride solution is purified by the process steps (1) precipitation of iron and arsenic, (2) solvent extraction of cobalt and other minor elements and (3) precipitation of lead and the remaining impurities. The nickel solution is then fed to the tankhouse, where various nickel products are produced by electrowinning. The chlorine gas that is produced during the electrolysis is returned directly to the chlorine leaching tanks to dissolve more matte. After stripping from the loaded organic phase and solution purification cobalt is also produced by electrowinning. The copper sulphide leach residue, which contains some nickel, is dead- roasted in fluidized-bed roasters. The sulphur is recovered and sold as sulphuric acid. The calcine is leached in spent copper electrolyte, from which cathode copper is produced by electrowinning. Precious metals and the remaining base metals are recovered from the copper leach residue. The Falconbridge chlorine process is very versatile. It can accept a wide range of impurities in the feed and still produce metals of exceptional purity.

Jan 1, 1988

By B. Willit, J. Martin

"Continued emphasis on water and energy conservation with less operator attention has created a need for more sophisticated cooling tower controls. A joint Betz/ASARCO project has produced a computerized water parameter controller and automated pumpless feed unit. Interfacing the unit via radio modem to the operator control room computer allows real time system status monitoring. Incorporating SPC principles to monitor and regulate all pertinent parameters yielded enhanced water control. This paper described the system design and present the results of a six month trial.BackgroundReducing operating costs and better manpower utilization are two of the largest concerns confronting maintenance managers today. At the ASARCO plant in Amarillo, a trial has been initiated to prove that it is possible to accomplish both of these objectives by using automated cooling tower control. The system is being adapted from a unit that was designed for continuously operating cooling towers in refineries and power plants by Betz Equipment Systems Division, a subsidiary of Betz Laboratories, Inc. The System l3000™ is designed to continually monitor conditions in the cooling system and to provide adjustments to the chemical balance for corrosion and deposition control. At Asarco, the unit was installed on the Rodline cooling system which operates on an intermittent basis.The primary justification for this project is to reduce costs of the five cooling systems in the plant. Current procedures require an operator to make visual checks every two hours on the five cooling towers as well as run lab tests on the water to insure proper treatment levels. This manpower can be better utilized by controlling the towers and collecting all the data available at one central location, in this case, the boiler house."

Jan 1, 1989