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By D. Berman, A. Brodt

"Delivery of all volume of mined mass on the terrestrial surface results not only in irrational power expenses on moving of huge volumes of dead rock as a part of initial raw materials (especially vertically) on long distances, but also necessities of storing tailings in open-air. Thus, in bowels of earth, huge volumes of the developed space are formed. However, the nature doesn't suffer emptiness. As consequence, through the process of underground mining works, in earth bowels starts intensive development of rocks dislocation processes involving subsidence of terrestrial surface, and with it, begins irreparable damage every objects which are on that territory. Highly effective new methods of underground concentration of the various minerals, which deliveries of only target component on terrestrial surface integrally connected with transport process in stream and subsequent deliveries to destination in continuous mode by the long distance hydrotransport, allow not only to eliminate a construction of concentrating factories on the surface, but also storing of tailings of concentration process on open-air preventing dislocation of rocks, thanks to operative placing tails in the underground developed space. Surely, the main problem in the development of such gravity dressing technology is the problem of finding the optimal formula for the heavy liquid that will fill such system in close connection with the procedure of its full regeneration. The requirements for such liquid are being non-toxic and cheap. This question was solved successfully."

Jan 1, 2014

By Timothy D. Gardner, Christopher Mark

Coal mines in the Illinois Basin have not engaged in pillar recovery for many decades. In large part, this is due to the exceptionally weak nature of much of the roof in the region. But, as room-and-pillar mining is conducted at greater depths, and larger pillars become necessary, recovering them becomes more attractive. Recently a western Kentucky coal mine became the first in recent times to successfully employ full pillar recovery. This paper describes the many challenges that were overcome during the process. From the beginning, the focus was on protecting the miners from roof instability, using cable bolts, mesh, mobile roof supports (MRS), and engineered final stumps. Two short test panels were extracted first, and the results were used to adjust the support pattern and mining sequence. Further adjustments were made based on subsequent experience. To date, seven panels have been recovered without a ground fall injury.

Jul 1, 2023

By D Gagnon, P Bouchard, F Vanier, E Soares de Lima Filho, J El-Haddad, M Sabsabi, G J. Wilkie, A Beauchesne, A Hamel, A Blouin, T Vaillancourt, F Boismenu, A Harhira, A Plugatyr, C Padioleau

Quantitative mineralogy is an established discipline in the geosciences and is aimed at providing mineral grade and texture information for geological and mineral processing applications. The two core technologies underpinning Quantitative Mineralogical Analysis (QMA) are Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in combination with Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). Technologies such as QEMSCAN and MLA are now routinely used to optimise the performance of large-scale mineral processing plants in the base and precious metal sectors. One of the major disadvantages of the QMA methods used today is extensive sample preparation requirements which make application of this technique to real-time mineralogical characterization not feasible. A breakthrough has been achieved by the National Research Council Canada in collaboration with CRC ORE by developing a novel Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) based technology capable of real-time mineralogical characterization of process streams without sample preparation. The potential applications of this technology include, but not limited to, in-pit muck piles, underground draw points, cross-belt analysis as well as slurries. This paper describes the development of the LIBS-based technology from a proof-of-concept (TRL2) to the construction of a prototype sensor and its validation in a simulated environment (TRL5). Future work is being planned to test and further validate the LIBS sensor on a mine-site which will progress the technology to its next readiness level (TRL6).

Nov 10, 2020

By Christian F. Baiz

A new agenda has risen. Born out of governments' policies and world economies, the years ahead will carry with them reduced growth. For inflation dependent and capital intensive industries, such as metals and mining, as well as most other natural resource industries, a period of long-term contraction in outmoded and costly capacity will evolve. This will be supplanted by new, lower cost capacity in some cases, but only if the total cost of production, including cash operating and debt service costs comes in at or below current market conditions. The industrial outlook can be characterized as bearish. As one major U.S. bank economist put it, mining companies planning their five-year forecast from 1984 out, should take the current market conditions and straight-line them to the end of the decade. With low growth and low inflation, the real price of metals will remain flat or slightly declining. As a result, capital funding will be problematic. The low cost producer, that is one with low cash costs and low principal and interest costs per unit of production, will succeed.

Jan 1, 1984

By Phillip Crowson

The annual surveys of corporate exploration expenditures carried out by Metals Economics Group (MEG) show that estimated total spending rose to a record $13.2 billion in 2008 ($14.4 billion including expenditure on uranium exploration). This compares with the previous peak of $5.2 billion in 1997. MEG does not adjust its figures for the effects of inflation but recognizes that the substantial increase in budgets of recent years has not been reflected in a proportionate rise in actual activity on the ground (MEG, 2009). In recent years, costs were boosted by rising prices of fuel and other inputs, and acute shortages of qualified staff and drilling rigs. The inflation rate for exploration substantially exceeded increases in general price levels as measured by national indices. Just how much exploration costs in-creased, however, is probably not widely appreciated. Figure 1 compares the MEG estimates of total annual dollar spending in Australia, Canada and the United States combined with their drilling activity, measured in meters drilled, as reported by national agencies. These three countries accounted for 39 percent of MEG?s estimate of total spending on minerals exploration in 2007 and 40 percent in 2008. Expenditure is shown both in money terms, as reported by MEG, and adjusted to real terms, with the U.S. implicit gross domestic product (GDP) price deflator. The comparison is of index numbers based on 2000 as 100. Comparisons for the individual countries are shown in Fig. 2 to 4. National figures for drilling activity and expenditures cover some minerals like iron ore, coal and industrial minerals (29 percent of Australian spending in 2007 to 2008 and 10 percent of Canadian in 2008) that are not included in the MEG estimates of spending. Such exploration has risen more than the total since 1997 so that the index of drilling activity in the figure may be overstated for recent years on a like for like basis with the MEG data. MEG only includes spending on uranium exploration in recent years whereas the national agencies include it throughout. Figures 5 and 6 com-pare national and MEG estimates for Australia and Canada. No comparable figures are available for the United States. The national estimates have been converted to U.S. dollars at the appropriate annual average exchange rates, and the Australian annual totals have been summed from the published quarterly data. Not only is spending cyclical, but so are unit costs. Australian and Canadian data show that total exploration spending per meter drilled rose by 2.5 to 3 times between 2001 and 2008. These rises may partly reflect increasingly complex drilling methods, and an increased share of assaying and testing in total exploration costs. In Canada, however, diamond drilling accounted for a lower footage of the total in 2005-2007 than in the preceding few years, and spending on exploration, as opposed to deposit appraisal, made up a higher proportion of the total. Figure 7 compares index numbers of exploration spending per meter drilled in U.S. dollars for Australia and Canada. These figures raise a number of questions. First, is the relationship between total expenditure and meters drilled in the three countries for which data are available typical of the global experience? Secondly, has there been a significant change in the make-up of exploration spending in recent years? The Canadian data do not suggest that there has been, but is Canada typical? Has drilling become less important relative to other exploration techniques, or is it just as important as ever in confirming the existence of viable ore deposits?

Jan 1, 2009

By E. Heikkinen, J. Suikkanen, T. Siren, J. Valli, M. Hakala

Diametrically faced borehole breakout observations are a fairly good indication of magnitude of the secondary stresses acting perpendicular to the borehole. In cases of low in situ stresses, where borehole breakouts are not observed naturally, it is possible to increase the prevailing stress state around the borehole by increasing the rock temperature. When the temperature is increased sufficiently, thermally induced borehole breakouts will occur. By implementing the temperature increase in boreholes located at excavated tunnels, it is also possible to study the effect of the near-field stresses caused by the excavation. The near-field stress state changes as a function of borehole depth, thus increasing the information available from experiment. To study the feasibility of this proposed low cost method, a Borehole Thermal Spalling (BTS) experiment was executed in ONKALO Underground Rock Characterization Facility, in Western Finland in 2014. The first borehole pilot test with the method was conducted in ONKALO at the POSE niche in already at May 2010, with the second pilot test following in August 2010 at Äspö HRL. The major objective of the experiments was to define the trend of the maximum in situ stress component, while also providing knowledge of the in situ spalling strength of the ONKALO rock mass. The stress state in ONKALO is nearly isotropic in horizontal layer, causing problems for the use of more traditional stress measurement methods. With boreholes heated over long interval, the weakest rock parts are observed to fail, thus providing statistical confidence. For these reasons, continuous test sections have an advantage in ONKALO, compared to spatially limited stress measurement methods such as overcoring and hydraulic fracturing. The BTS experiment is conducted in 9 meter deep vertical boreholes located at the POSE niche, situated -345 m depth below the ground surface. The boreholes used within the BTS experiment are located in migmatitic granite, in an experiment area where the surrounding stress state and the rock strength are fairly well known. The prior knowledge of the stresses is favourable for the experiment, as it requires careful planning and iterations to determine the appropriate heating power domain. Too low heating power will not be sufficient to cause borehole breakout, while too high heating power causes breakout in all directions thus making determination of stress direction hard or impossible. The initial state of the borehole and induced borehole breakouts will be monitored using acoustic televiewer logging (ABI) and optical borehole logging (OBI) imaging techniques. Fracture mechanics modelling is used in planning of the experiment, also in back-analysis to link the observed breakout angle to stress state. Both the pilot test in 2010 and BTS test in 2014 resulted in similar borehole breakout direction. The results are in line with so called EDZ & VT1 stress interpretation, revealed the maximum horizontal component bearing the magnitude of 21.5 MPa, with the trend of 166°.

Jan 1, 2015

By D Semini, B Newcombe

Base-metal sulfide refractory gold ores often contain a portion of ‘free’ gold that is amenable to recovery using gravity concentration methods, whilst the refractory portion of the gold is better recovered using flotation. The decision as to whether a plant treating a refractory gold ore should utilise gravity concentration or a flash flotation circuit (or a combination of both) within the grinding circuit is usually made at the design stage of flow sheet development. Very limited data is available in the published literature which provides an industrial scale comparison on which to base such a decision and conventional laboratory testing methods are often the only way of obtaining such data. The optimum processing route will also be mineralogy dependent.This paper presents the findings of operating a refractory gold plant with either flash flotation (normal operation) or a combination of flash and gravity recovery methods treating the cyclone underflow stream and will demonstrate the regions of the recovery profile that each contributes to. Size-by-assay analysis has been performed on a number of streams around the operating plant to gain an insight into the changes that occur when the gravity circuit is in operation in addition to the flash flotation circuit. A discussion around the implications to overall plant operation in combining the use of a batch process (gravity concentration) with a continuous process (flotation) is presented.CITATION:Newcombe, B and Semini, D, 2014. Interactions between flash flotation and gravity concentration – an industrial case study of a refractory gold concentrator, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 427–436 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 1, 2014

By M. Hesham El Naggar, Maged A. Abdlrahem

"Hollow bar micropiles have constructional advantages such as: fast and low-noise and low vibration installation process and small installation equipment, which allow access to tight places. In addition, they have efficient load transfer mechanism, which facilitates carrying considerable load in compression and tension. The common practice is to use diameter ratio of drill bit/ hollow bar (Db/Dh) around 2 in their construction, and they are typically designed assuming type B as classified by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). In this paper, the performance and capacity of Hollow bar micropile with different (Db/Dh) ratios are investigated. Full-scale micropiles were installed at a site in Ontario, Canada, and were tested in order to evaluate the uplift performance of Hollow bar micropile with different(Db/Dh) ratios. Two micropiles with two different ratios 2.25 and 3 were constructed and tested. The total length of the micropiles was 6m with embedded length of 5.75m. The soil at the site was primarily medium dense to dense sand. The results of the load tests are presented and discussed. It was found that the uplift capacity of the micropile increased by about 19.5% as Db/Dh increased from 2.25 to 3.INTRODUCTIONMicropile is a small diameter, less than 300 mm, drilled and grouted pile and is typically reinforced according to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA, 2005). The technology of micropile was introduced in North America in 1970’s, but the growth in the east coast of United State was intense compared to all other cities around the globe (Bruce and Nicholson, 1989). Nowadays, micropile construction is used extensively worldwide as a viable solution that offers several advantages such as fast installation in low headroom, minimal disturbance to the adjacent structure efficient load transfer due to high grout to ground bond strength. As the method of grouting has major influence on the grout – ground bond strength, FHWA has classified the micropiles into four categories. Type A: the grout is placed under gravity and no pressure is required. Type B: The grout is typically pressurized under a pressure range from 0.5 to 1 MPa as the temporary casing is withdrawn. Type C: the grout is placed in two-step process. First, the grout is poured under gravity only as in Type A. Before the hardening of the grout, similar grout is pressured of at least 1MPa without the use of packer. Type D: Like Type C, it is a two – step process, the grout is placed under gravity as in Type A and sometimes pressurized as in Type B. After hardening of the initial grout, additional grout is pressurized between 2 to 9 MPa through sleeved pipe by using packers, as many times as needed. According to this classification, hollow bar micropile is usually designated as Type B. However, the construction technique is completely different from Type B. Recently; there is a trend to supplement the four types of micropiles by Type E as represent to hollow bar micropile (Timothy et al, 2012). The construction method of hollow bar micropile involves two main stages which can be performed in one–step process: advancing the drilling bit attached to a threaded hollow bar to the required depth; and pressurizing the grout through nozzles of the drill bit."

Jan 1, 2016

By Peter Zhang, Daniel Su, Mark Van Dyke, Heather Dougherty

The integrity of shale gas wells in longwall chain pillars under the influence of longwall mining is a safety concern for both coal and gas operators. Previous modeling studies of gas wells in longwall pillars have shown that a FLAC3D model can predict longwall-induced stresses and deformations in gas well casings with reasonable accuracy. The predicted casing deformations can be verified by multi-finger caliper survey. This study concerns the influence of longwall mining on eight shale gas wells in a shale gas well pad located in the chain pillars between two adjacent longwall panels under 1,030 feet of cover. FLAC3D modeling was performed to predict longwall-induced deformations in gas well casings based on site-specific mining and geological conditions. Small deformations less than 0.5 in were predicted in the intermediate casing above 600 ft depth, and very small casing deformations less than 0.15 in were predicted below 600 ft due to high abutment pressure and high frictional resistance along the weak bedding interfaces. After the first panel was mined, a 56-arm caliper survey was performed on one of the wells to measure the longwall-induced casing deformations in the intermediate casing. The predicted casing deformations were then compared with the measured deformations, which indicated that the prediction was generally in good agreement with the measurement in terms of deformation locations and magnitudes. Findings from this study provide valuable information not only for stability assessment of shale gas wells in longwall chain pillars but also for developing engineering guidelines to preserve casing integrity through adequate pillar and casing design.

By W. I. Duvall

A brief review of the resonant frequency and ultrasonic pulse methods for obtaining elastic constants of rock samples shows that the equations for an iso-tropic elastic solid commonly used to calculate Young's modulus, modulus of rigidity and Poisson's ratio can result in appreciable error if the rock is even slightly anisotropic. Consideration of the equations that relate bar velocities and free medium velocities to elastic constants for orthotropic, transversely isotropic and isotropic solids shows that a combination of the two methods can be used to determine average elastic constants for a single sample of rock. The determination of elastic constants in different directions requires a large number of tests on oriented samples. The use of both the resonant frequency and ultrasonic pulse methods is recommended so that the determination of both Young's modulus and modulus of rigidity is independent of the determination of Poisson's ratio. The dynamic elastic constants of rock can be determined in the laboratory from measurements on small samples which may be in the form of right circular cylinders (diamond drill core). Either the resonant frequency6 or ultrasonic pulse method1 can be used to determine the longitudinal and shear velocities in the same specimen. The resonant frequency method provides a measure of the longitudinal bar velocity, V,, and the torsional bar velocity Vt; whereas the ultrasonic pulse method provides a measure of the free medium longitudinal velocity, Vp, and the free medium shear velocity, V, . The elastic constants (Young's modulus E, modulus of rigidity G, and Poisson's ratio v) are calculated from the density of the specimen, p, and one of the pairs of velocities by means of equations from isotropic elastic theory. For the resonant frequency method the equations are: It should be noted that Eq. 5 is derived from Eq. 4 and 6 and the relation between the elastic constants for an isotropic solid as given by the first part of Eq. 3. The in situ determination of dynamic elastic constants is accomplished by generating a complex seismic pulse in the rock and measuring the arrival times for the longitudinal and shear phases of the pulse at two distant points.5 From these travel times and the distance of the travel path both Vp and Vs are determined. The density of the rock is determined from samples in the laboratory, and Eq. 4 to 6 are used to calculate the elastic constants. These three methods involve the assumption of isotropy and perfect elasticity, and require the use of the relation v = (E/2G) - 1, which holds only if the elastic constants are the same in at least two directions. The calculation of v by means of Eq. 3 introduces considerable error, as a 1% error in V, and V, results in a 20% error in v. If frequencies for samples with a length-to-diameter ratio greater than four and a length greater than 8 in. are measured carefully, the experimental error can be kept to 1%. However, it is not unreasonable to expect that the variation in Vb and Vt with direction may exceed 1%. Thus, for even a small percentage of anisotropy the use of Eq. 3 can result in considerable error in v. The calculation of v by Eq. 5 also involves some uncertainty as a 1% error in Vs and Vp can result in a 6% error in v. By means of the pulse method both

Jan 1, 1965

By P. Chiotti, E. R. Stevens

The electromotive force between pure magnesium and Mg-Zn alloys in a fused KC1-LiCl-MgC12 cell was measured over the temperature range 360° to 730°C and for alloy compositions of 0.052 to 0.635 atom fraction magnesium. The calculated activity coefficients of magnesium in the liquid alloys may he represented by the relation These data and the phase diagram were employed in calculating the standard free energy of formation for the compounds MgZn, MgZn2, and MgZn2, In the temperature range from 25° to 590°C the relation ZINC-rich magnesium alloys have been shown to be very effective in reducing various solute chlorides or oxides from fused salts such as KC1-LiC1 eutectic. Such reactions are of interest in the developinent of pyrometallurgical methods for reprocessing nuclear reactor fuels.' As the conceniration of the magnesium is increased beyond 5 to 10 wt pct the extent to which solutes, such as yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, and other rare earths, can be reduced or removed from the salt decreases. This effect is due to the resulting change in the activity of the solutes in the Zn-Mg alloy as well as the change in the activity of both the zinc and mag- nesium. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the thermodynamic properties of the Zn-Mg system which, in addition to yielding information on the alloying behavior of these two elements, would permit a more quantitative understanding of the above reactions. Since this investigation was initiated several publications have appeared in the literature giving results on the thermodynamic properties for the liquid alloys of this system. 2-4 Kozuka, Moriyama, and Kushima3 measured the vapor pressure of zinc over four different alloy compositions by a carrier-gas technique. Eremenko and Tukashenko2 and Terpilowski4 measured the electromotive force between pure magnesium and various alloys in a fused salt cell. Earlier work has been summarized by Hultgren, Orr, Anderson, and Kelley.5 In the present investigation electromotive-force measurements were made on a cell of the type The temperature range covered for the lower-melting alloys was roughly 375° to 730°C. These data were employed in calculating the thermodynamic properties for the liquid alloys and in conjunction with the phase diagram,' reproduced in Fig. 1, were used in calculating the standard free energy of formation of the compounds MgZn, MgZn2, and Mg2 Zn11. The results obtained are compared with available data from the literature. MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Materials employed were: Bunker Hill slab zinc, 99.99 pct pure; Ames Laboratory magnesium containing 13 ppm N, 195 ppm C, and trace amounts of calcium, copper, nickel, and silicon; reagent grade KC1, LiC1; and high-purity MgC12 obtained from Dow Chemical Co. The electrolyte consisting of KC1-LiCl eutectic (44.4 wt pct LiC1) to which was added 15 wt pct MgCl2, was dried in a quartz tube by heating to 340° C under vacuum for a period of 4 to 5 hr, and then passing HC1 through the salt as the temperature was slowly raised to above the melting point of the salt. After about 3 hr the HC1 was shut off and the system flushed with argon and then vacuum applied for 1 hr. The salt was finally siphoned through a sintered glass filter and cast into a Pyrex container which was sealed and

Jan 1, 1965

By D. Mas Ivars, K. Suzuki, J. A. Vallejos

"A comprehensive geotechnical characterization has been undertaken at the El Teniente mine to describe and determine the rock mass behaviour strength properties of the primary copper ore. The Synthetic Rock Mass (SRM) modelling approach is used to simulate the mechanical behaviour of this heavily and unfractured rock mass. The micro-parameters of the model have been calibrated against mechanical properties and scaling laws for intact rock and veins, in order to represent virtual samples of four different geotechnical units. Results can be used to predict the rock mass scale effects, anisotropy, and brittleness properties that cannot be obtained using empirical methods.INTRODUCTIONThe primary copper ore at the El Teniente mine is described as very competent and massive, given that it exhibits a brittle behaviour (Rojas, Cavieres, Dunlop, & Gaete, 2000). This description is coherent with the geological description of the rock mass, which does not have discontinuities match as the definition provided by International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM, 1981). Only faults can be classified as discontinuities, but they are widely spaced. The primary copper ore has a high frequency of veins, where the cooper mineralization is hosted, these vein network structures are known as stockwork. Soft veins containing weak minerals as infill (chalcopyrite and anhydrite) control the disassembling of the rock mass during caving (Brzovic & Villaescusa, 2007).Presently, there are mainly two traditional methods used to estimate the strength of the rock mass: 1) determination of the strength envelope of the rock mass using scaling parameters from laboratory tests and 2) using numerical modelling based on back analysis of previous experiences of failure observed and measured in mining or civil excavations. The primary copper ore of El Teniente mine has no fractures; therefore, it is difficult to determine a rating that would enable to scale laboratory data, such as, RMR (Laubscher, 1977) or GSI (Hoek, 1994). This is the reason why the first option is not valid unless the entry data is manipulated or adjusted in order to obtain reasonable results. The second option requires, in general, a good characterization of a previous failure event in the rock mass, which is not always available. In recent years, new techniques of numerical modeling have been developed (PFC3D, ELFEN, Abaqus). Those methodologies are the third way to estimate the strength of the rock mass, but they are still in development. Particularly, the concept of SRM developed by Itasca is implemented in this study (Pierce, Mas Ivars, Cundall, & Potyondy, 2007; Mas Ivars et al., 2011), aiming to capture the real behaviour of the rock mass."

Jan 1, 2015

By Donovan J. Benton

Photogrammetric methods are advancing rapidly and show considerable promise as a ground control research tool. The ability to quickly capture three-dimensional geometry, especially changes in geometry, in underground and laboratory settings is a significant advance from point distance measurements. Photogrammetry is being applied in both of these settings as part of the NIOSH ground control research. This paper describes these applications and the equipment and software being employed. It also describes tests conducted to quantify the accuracy of these systems. Accuracy varied with system specifics and procedures. A factory-calibrated camera produced results within 1/32 of an inch, plus 0.04%. A user-calibrated camera was found to be less accurate, at 1/20 of an inch, plus 0.24%. These calibrations demonstrate that photo grammetry can produce research quality measurements in laboratory and mine settings.

Jan 1, 2014

By Saulo Brinco Diniz

O presente trabalho buscou explorar a aplicação da nanoindentação instrumentada na caracterização microestrutural e mecânica de materiais metálicos. Para isso foi utilizado um ultramicrodurômetro (Shimadzu, modelo DUH–211S) e um microscópio (Olympus, modelo BX51M) a fim de analisar uma chapa laminada a quente de uma liga de alumínio 7475-T7351. De acordo com algumas das possibilidades apresentadas, pode-se concluir que a nanoindentação instrumentada é uma ferramenta poderosa para a caracterização de materiais metálicos.

Aug 16, 2017

By Jaiza Bernardo de Oliveira, Iasmim Ariane Silva, Pedro Henrique Medeiros Câmara

The process of manufacturing pig iron in the blast furnace industrial units has the consequence of the generation of slag, a waste that can be produced in high quantity and present damages to the environment, when not reused. In the composition of this tailings, it is sometimes possible to find the presence of metals harmful to nature, such as manganese, which has an important and widespread utility in the metal industries, but still, the slag ends up not being used as a potential source of this element. Knowing this, the slags were subjected to crushing and grading steps to separate the aliquots. These were applied in the tests of technological characterization of the material, from MEV, EDS, Soxhlet and analysis of liberation degree by digital microscope, finding data of several analyzes. Having said that, the objective of this paper is to demonstrate, through the characterization of the slag, that this material has in its composition metallic elements, focusing on manganese, that can be reused in order to avoid the generation of environmental liabilities harmful to the environment. The results show a manganese content with a degree of release greater than 80% in bands from 48 #, which were divided by density and thus allow the gravimetric separation of the material in question.

Oct 3, 2019

By Ana Maria Guilherme Bailon

A coesão entre os grãos de ferro em pelotas queimadas é afetada por mecanismos difusionais dependentes de tempo e temperatura de sinterização e do tipo de elementos presentes na escória. Óxidos presentes nos insumos e no minério exercem influência significativa no processo de difusão das partículas de ferro e na formação de escória, composta principalmente por CaO, SiO2, Al2O3 e MgO. O estudo da influência da escória na microestrutura de pelotas de minério de ferro permite um maior entendimento das principais características relacionadas às fases formadas, que afetarão diretamente sua resistência física e comportamento metalúrgico. Neste trabalho abordamos a influência da variação nos teores de CaO e SiO2 na estrutura das pelotas com o objetivo de verificar a interferência desses compostos na diminuição da energia livre superficial e crescimento de grão bem como na distribuição de porosidade e formação de fases como hematita, sílicatos, ferritos e, eventualmente, a magnetita. Para tal avaliação, pelotas com diferentes teores de escória passaram por caracterização química, análises em Microscópio Óptico e análises em Microscópio Eletrônico de Varredura.

Aug 1, 2018

By Konstantinos Salonitis, Joanna Mielnicka, Mark Jolly, Arun Prabhakar

Lead sheets are widely used for roofing applications, radiation protection and sound proofing. Most of the sheets are either produced by rolling cast slabs of lead sheets or via the direct method (DM) of casting of the sheet continuously. The DM method comprises of a rotating water-cooled drum that is partly immersed in a bath of molten lead and sheets are cast out continuously. The direct method of casting lead is more energy efficient compared to the rolling process which requires a casting process before rolling to achieve the required thickness. This work investigates the energy consumption in different stages of the DM process and suggests pointers for improvement. An energy audit of the process is conducted and the consumption is analysed at different stages and compared with rolled lead.

Mar 1, 2018

By N. A. Gokcen, M. N. Dastur

In metallurgical process industries a knowledge of true melting and casting temperatures is very essential for increasing the operating efficiency as well as improving the quality of the finished product. Optical pyrometers are widely used for the purpose because of their cheapness and ease of operation. It is an unfortunate fact, however, that this mode of measuring temperature entails a source of severe error inasmuch as with all non-black bodies, the temperature observed is always below the true temperature owing to deficient emissive power. Hence, the need for emissivity correction arises. In 1913 Bidwell1 obtained emissivity values of 0.36-0.48 for a temperature range of 1520-1800°C. He measured the true temperature of molten iron by sighting into a carbon cavity immersed in the iron under an atmosphere of hydrogen. In 1914 Burgess2 determined the emissivity of a smooth surface of liquid iron free from oxide to be 0.37 under an atmosphere of hydrogen. He claimed to have attained an accuracy of within 5°C at 1500°C with an optical pyrometer using monochromatic light. He reported that no difference appeared to exist between the emissivities of pure iron and of steels containing considerable percentages of carbon, nickel or manganese; nor was there any appreciable variation of emissivity with temperature from 1530 to 1571°C. Wensel and Roeser3 found an elnissivity value of 0.4 for temperatures above 1375°C for cast iron. The average emissivity value for carbon steels reported by Leiber,4 odd,5 Hase6 and Umino7 range from 0.4 to 0.45. Knowles and Sarjant8 made an extensive study of emissivity of molten iron and steel over a wide range of workshop and laboratory conditions. Observations of true temperature were made with immersion thermocouples, and correlated with apparent temperatures indicated by optical pyrorneter readings taken on the pouring stream as it passed over the lip of the crucible. The emissivity of Armco iron was shown to be of the order of 0.4, rising slightly with increasing temperature. But for plain carbon steels containing up to 1.0 pct carbon the emissivity was shown to fall slightly with increasing temperatures. The results of their investigation are in agreement with those of Guthmann.9 Naeser,10 Spencer," Todd5 and Hase6 in regard to the relation between emissivity and temperature for plain carbon steels. However, Goller12 has found a rise of emissivity with increasing temperature for the same steels. Results of several investigations are given in Fig 1. Measurement of True and Apparent Temperatures The necessity for an accurate optical temperature scale for liquid iron in studies of gas-metal equilibria led to this investigation. Experimental measurements were carried out in the induction furnace used by Dastur and Chipman13 in their studies of the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen in liquid iron. The furnace as modified for this work is shown in Fig 2. The atmosphere of the furnace was a mixture of purified argon with hydrogen containing a small controlled amount of water vapor. Gases were preheated by means of a platinum-10 pct rhodium resistance coil. The stream of hydrogen sweeping across the surface of niolten iron vir-

Jan 1, 1950

By S. P. Chong, Peter V. Avotins

The iron and steel industry continues to operate at depressed production levels due to the low level of demand for steel and foundry products. Crude steel production in the Western world dropped by 13.7% from 459.3 Gt (506 billion st) in 1981 to 396.4 Gt (437 billion st). The reduction was particularly severe in North America where the industry suffered a loss of 37.3% from 123.6 to 77.5 Gt (136 to 85 billion st). This reduced level of production severely affected iron ore and agglomerates output. Substantial curtailment was made in both sintering and pelletizing plants to meet reduced demand. The pressure on these plant operators shifted from quantity to quality. With energy cost becoming an ever increasing part of production costs, conservation was a major area of emphasis. Iron Making Sinter has continued to be the favored burden for blast furnaces overseas. As hot metal production declined and excess sintering capacity developed, many of the overseas operators that have been using pellets found it advantageous on hot metal production cost to increase the ratio of sinter at the expense of pellets. This was the case despite the depressed price level of pellets in the world market. In North America where pellets have been the predominant burden material-mainly because it is necessary to pelletize the fine grain iron ores available domestically-there was also increased interest in sinter usage. Bethlehem Steel Corporation's 13.6-m (44.5-ft) furnace at Sparrows Point experimented with a burden with more than 70% of sinter during the second half of the year and indicated some favorable results as compared to its previous 50% super flux sinter and 50% acid pellet burden. The blast furnace operators continued to press for improved burden quality. In addition to the emphasis on the importance of burden chemistry and quality, uniformity, much emphasis was placed on improving reducibilitiy and high temperature metallurgical qualities. These burden properties were recognized to hold further promise in reducing fuels rates. Sintering With reduced consumption caused by the cutback in hot metal production, many sinter plants sat idle while others operated at greatly reduced rates. The deemphasis on production in many plants allowed them to experiment with various means to reduce operating costs. The most notable action was the introduction of low cost South American pellet feed fines into the sinter ore mix. These feed fines, which are finer than 150 µm (100 mesh) ore, were previously thought to be too fine for sintering. However, when the full production rate is not required the use of up to 40% in the ore mix was reported to be successful with the aid of burnt lime and adequate premixing and granulation of the sinter mix before sintering. The emphasis on quality and tighter cost control also has resulted in a further breakthrough in sintering technology. It was recognized that good feed preparation-including selection of compatible ores, good blending, good pseudo-particle formation, additive size control increased bed depth, and closed control of the sintering bed heat pattern-could allow the production of high quality sinters with much lower heat input and FeO level. Bed depth of more than 600 mm (23.6 in.) was practiced in a number of operations. Total heat input of better than 1.3 GJ/t (290,300 kcal per st) has been achieved. Kawasaki Steel's Chiba Works has also achieved a 5.3% SiO2 in the sinter with good quality. The low heat input approach allowed production

Jan 5, 1983

By E. F. Bailey, W. J. Harris

THE temperature of the ferrite to austenite re-action is established frequently by continuous heating experiments. However, equilibrium studies of this reaction have demonstrated that austenite may form at temperatures considerably below those at which the reaction is first observed during continuous heating. Because of this discrepancy, tempering is sometimes performed above the true critical temperature and in these cases austenite forms during tempering. The lowest temperature at which austenite forms and the kinetics of the reaction have been studied by Bain,' Bleakney and Gros-venor,2 and Dube and Cunningham. This austenite can affect the properties either as austenite per se, if it is retained at room temperature, or as a decomposition product if it transforms. The effect of austenite formation during tempering on low temperature impact properties of an 8 1/2 pct nickel steel was reported by Brophy and Miller4 in work published after the present investigation was initiated. They concluded that the improvement in low-temperature notch toughness which followed tempering at certain temperatures could be attributed to the austenite formed during tempering. Kramer et al.5 found anomalous hardness increases and embrittlement after tempering of a low-carbon manganese-nickel steel. They concluded that austenite formed during tempering, and that the decomposition products were responsible for the increase in hardness and the embrittlement. Quan-titative correlations of the microconstituents and mechanical properties were not made by these investigators. The present study was undertaken in order to establish the kinetics of formation of austenite at various temperatures, the characteristics of the decomposition of this austenite, and the relationship between mechanical properties and the phases present. Experimental Procedure A low-carbon manganese-nickel steel was selected because of the sluggishness of its austenite decom-position reactions. The composition of this steel in percent was: C, 0.10; Mn, 3.52; Ni, 2.34; Mo, 0.52; Cr, 0.17; Si, 0.19; V, 0.15; P, 0.019; and S, 0.020. Samples were prepared by forging sections from a large ingot to 3/4 in. bars. Formation and decomposition of austenite were investigated by dilatometric techniques which were checked by X-ray measurements. Dilatometer specimens were hollow cylinders 1 in. long, 1/2 in. diam, with a 1/8 in. central hole. All specimens were aus-tenitized for 1 hr at 1650°F and quenched in water prior to insertion in the dilatometer. Oxidation was prevented by using an inert atmosphere of purified nitrogen. Dilation was measured with a dial gauge which could be read by interpolation to 0.00005 in. Temperature was maintained within ± 3°F by a Brown Electronik Controller. Chromel-alumel thermocouple leads were welded to opposite ends of the specimen with the specimen serving as the hot junction. As a check on temperature uniformity comparison was made of the specimen temperature as measured with the chromel-alumel leads and the temperature of the center of the specimen as measured with a calibrated platinum—platinum-rhodium thermocouple embedded in asbestos in the central hole of the specimen. During heating a 5°F temperature difference was noted below 1000°F, but none above, while in cooling, a 5°F difference was observed from 1300" to 735°F, but none below. Heating rates of 35°F per min and cooling rates of 60°F per min were employed for all dilatometric studies. For transformation studies below room temperature, the dilatometer was allowed to cool to 150°F and then was quenched into liquid nitrogen.

Jan 1, 1951