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By D. A. Robbins

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. of 1976 (RCRA) requires testing of waste materials as part of the determination of whether these materials are classified and managed as hazardous wastes. The adoption of one standard testing procedure and its application to all types of waste materials has stirred much controversy. In the center of this controversy is the appropriateness of this testing procedure in characterizing non-ferrous metal intermediates and slags. The authors have evaluated the relative availability of metals in several types of copper and lead slags as defined by various testing protocols. Also discussed is the relationship between the chemical character of the slag and the availability of metals to leaching and certain metallurgical practices that can influence metals availability.

Jan 1, 1983

By Luis M. Chia

The direct dissolution of zinc in an organic solution of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) and kerosene was studied. The objective was to gain a better understanding of the fundamentals involved in the anodic step of the galvanic stripping process. Results showed that metallic zinc does dissolve spontaneously at ambient temperature by an electrochemical mechanism and the presence of additional oxygen activated the process. When oxygen was removed by prior nitrogen sparging, dissolution did not occur indicating a depolarizing cathodic reaction is necessary. The concentration of water in the organic also affected the rate of dissolution. A factorially designed experiment was made using four variables at two levels selected by evaluating results from previous screening tests. D2EHPA concentration, surface area and agitation were all found to be significant for the values chosen. Temperature was less significant and it was found that zinc dissolution is probably a diffusion or mixed controlled process, as indicated by the calculated activation energy of 6 kcal/mole.

Jan 1, 1995

By R. Burkhard

Recovery of metals from complex mixed wastes is a challenging task of modem material and waste management strategies. Thermal methods are an important tool in this respect. Plasma turned out to be particularly useful for treatment of complex or toxic wastes and residuals. In order to study plasma processes at reasonable costs, a pilot plasma plant has been used and wastes like ~pent Raney-Nickel catalysts, copper and ah.:lminum drosses, and. other metal containing wastes were investigated. The paper summarizes the most significant findings

Jan 1, 1995

By Nicola Baldo, Marco Pasetto

"Recycling of tyre rubber in the road pavement, may be one of the best way to reduce waste tires in large quantities and, at the same time, improve some engineering properties of asphalt mixtures. The paper discusses the results of an experimental study, developed in order to analyse the potentialities of crumb rubber from road tyres in bituminous mixtures, using the dry process. Two types of porous asphalt mixtures and reference mixes without rubber were formulated by the traditional Marshall methodology, and mechanically evaluated by means of the Indirect Tensile Stiffness Modulus test, the Creep test (with confinement), and the Indirect Tensile Fatigue Test. Results of this study indicate that the tyre rubber has a positive influence on the performance characteristics, depending also on the grading and volumetric properties of the mix being studied: an interesting increase of the fatigue life, a better stiffness behaviour at lower temperatures and a bigger permanent deformation resistance at high temperatures are guaranteed. Introduction Recycling the rubber from used tyres, in the construction of road pavement layers, is potentially one of the more interesting and advantageous solutions from both the technical and environmental points of view, in order to reduce the total amount of car and lorry tyres to dispose. In road-building techniques, a technology, termed “wet”, for modifying bituminous binders with crumb rubber has by now become well consolidated. There have been numerous scientific studies conducted on this technology and its applications, particularly in the United States, where it has been adopted and codified in specific technical regulations (ASTM D-6114). If the wet process can be considered amply tested, the same cannot be said for a second technology, termed “dry”, which deserves careful study to evaluate its suitability and advantages. In “dry” processes, the rubber is usually used as a partial substitute of aggregate of equivalent grading and mixed with bitumen after integrating the crumb rubber in the lithic skeleton."

Jan 1, 2008

By José Carlos Abreu

This work presents a kinetics study covering the effects of temperature over the reduction rates of a carbon composite briquette, aiming its use as burden in some of the new alternate ironmaking technologies, such as the Tecnored process. It is reported that increases in the temperature increases the reaction rate. Additionally, the morphology of the iron phase generated during the reduction of these briquettes is presented. It was possible to verify that three types of iron morphology occurred during the process: an external, dense and continuous iron layer, the presence of iron globules at the center of the briquettes and whiskers at the briquette's core. The measurement of the carbon content on the globules and the external iron layer is also presented

Jan 1, 2003

By Stephen Chryssoulis, Stamen Dimov

Detection and quantification of precious metals (Au, Pd, Pt, and Rh) in spinels and silicate minerals is important for establishing the maximum attainable recovery by sulphide flotation. To achieve this goal subpart per billion (ppb) detection limits are required plus the ability to quantify results. Existing quantitative microbeam techniques (EPMA, PIXE, SIMS, TOFLIMS) have limits of detection in the O. l-200ppm range. Time-of-flight resonance ionization mass spectrometry (TOF-RIMS) is a microbeam analytical technique that allows for the identification and quantification of atomic species in very small quantities. It utilizes a tunable laser source for resonant excitation and ionization of a particular element of interest and has some unique features: elemental selectivity, linear response over a large dynamic range and very high sensitivity. The analysis consist of three steps: (i) the solid sample is vaporized by laser ablation to form a plume containing neutral atoms, (ii) the neutral atoms of a specific atomic element in the plume are resonantly excited and ionized by another tunable laser, and finally (iii) the ions created are mass analyzed in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. A TOF-RIMS mass spectrometer was developed at AMTEL for trace element analysis of Au, Pd, and Rh in minerals. The spectrometer was calibrated using homogeneous CANMET and NIST reference samples covering three orders of magnitude in concentration. Attained minimum detection limits (MDL=2cr of the background) are in the low ppb range.

Jan 1, 1999

By I. D. Reznik

On blowing nickel matte in a converter without quartz, first the oxidation of metallic iron and a part of FeS occurs without evolving sulfur dioxide, the formed FeO dissolves in a sulphide smelt and form a homogeneous oxysulphide smelt. On further increasing the FeO content, the oxysulphide separates into 2 layers. Based on the laboratory investigation of FeO-(FeS+Fe°) - (Ni3S2+Ni°) ternary phase diagram we have identified the separation region at 1250°C. The boundaries of the separation region have the form of an arc and the composition of the separated oxysulphide layers is defined by the canodes. In the nickel or copper-nickel matte - silicacalcium oxide slag system at 1250°C three layers, namely sulphide, oxysulphide, and slag may be formed. A high slag basicity due to the presence of CaO can serve to enhance the activity of FeO; a low nickel content in the matte corresponds to a high concentration of FeS therein; FeO from slag and FeS from the matte form a homogeneous FeO-FeS solution, i.e. an oxysulphide layer. The investigation on the "Camebaks" apparatus and by the nuclear gamma-ray resonance spectroscopy method of the phase composition in a slowly cooled oxysulphide layer has shown the presence of four phases: wustite, troilite, ferronickel grains, and calcium oxide-silica inclusions. Knowledge of regularities in the oxysulphides formation makes it possible to use them in pyrometallurgy of nickel and cobalt or preventing their formation.

Jan 1, 1997

By Ken-ichi Machida

"Surface modification of R-Fe-N intermetallic compounds was made to improve their magnetic property and nitrogenabsorbing ability, arid high-performance resin-bonded magnets and nitrogen storage materials were developed: Surface coating for Sm2Fe11Nx by the zinc metal produced via photodecomposition of Zn(C2Hs)2 was effective to avoid the further oxidation in the molding process of the fine powders for bonded magnets and the resulting (BH)max values were improved to -186 kJm-3. Meanwhile, R2Fe17 as the mother compounds for RzFe11Nx was highly active for decomposition of NH3 molecule and subsequent nitrogen absorption as metal nitrides. Furthermore, even inert Nz molecule was dissociated on them by impregnating Ru metal and the resulting nitrogen atoms were absorbed in the crystal lattice of R2Fe17. These results demonstrated that the nitrogen storage system was established by cycling the nitrogenation and hydrogenation of RzFe11/R2Fe11Nx materials.IntroductionProcessing for rare earth metals and intermetallic compounds requires well-controlled conditions in order to avoid the oxygen contamination involved in it due to their high reactivity, as causes the serious damage for materials such as magnets, metal hydride for hydrogen storage, and so on. Rare earth-iron intermetallic compounds, R2Fe17, provide the corresponding metal nitrides (R2Fe11Nx) by heating in N2 or a mixed gas stream ofNH3-H2 [l] and, among them, Sm2Fe11N3 has been particularly noted as one of the promising materials for high-performance permanent magnets such as bonded ones [2- 6]. Usually, the nitrogenation for Sm2Fe17 is made in Nz, but it needs the much more hard conditions of reaction pressure (-10 MPa), temperature (-550°C) and time (-72 h) than the nitrogenation in the NH3-H2 mixture [l]. In the latter case, a significant amount of nitrogen can be interstitial introduced in· the R2Fe17 crystal lattice (x=-7) under the more moderate conditions than in N2 (at 0.1 MPa and -450°C for -3 h) [3-6] and then, in a similar manner as metal hydride systems [7], the excess nitrogen in RzFe1 7Nx (x>3) is reversibly desorbed by heating at a temperature around 500°C in Ar to form the RzFe11N3 compounds. This behavior of nitrogen absorption and desorption has a close relation to the sites for nitrogen in the crystal lattices."

Jan 1, 2000

By Ma Lijuan, Zhang Yubing, Wang Bo, Sun Huilan

The effect of lime ratio on phase composition and alumina leaching property of MgO-contained calcium aluminate clinker were investigated by analytical reagent, the XRD analysis of its mechanism was discussed. The results showed that: when the sintering temperature was 1350 ℃, C/A was 1.4, A/S was 1.3 and the content of MgO was 4%, the increase of the C/A promoted the formation of C12A7 and restrained the formation of Q-phase. The alumina-leaching ratio of the clinker (A/S was 1.3) was increased from 74.33% to 91.34% when the content of CaO was 5.21%.

Jan 1, 2015

By A. C. Wadhawan

In the present context of rapid industrialization, production of Lead-Zinc metals from low grade materials, residues and wastes can make substantial contribution to the supply of these metals in India. Recovery from secondary sources also plays an important role in conservation of mineral resources and lower power consumption. Conscious effort is therefore, required to increase the secondary metals which, besides saving in energy cost will also help in waste material management and keeping environment clean. The major thrust is, therefore, needed in this direction. During all these years, the Indian Lead- Zinc industry has made sustained efforts for recovery of metals from low grade ores and from metallurgical wastes and residues. The paper identifies the treatment of low grade ores by various technologies and techniques and the treatment of metallurgical residues and wastes generated during primary Lead and Zinc smelting in India. Some of the major achievements in past decade have also been elaborated in the paper. The strategies to be followed for continuing treatment of low grade ores and waste materials by adopting newer, environmental friendly technologies, in consonance with the rigid standards being adopted by most of the countries including India. have also been dealt with in the paper.

Jan 1, 1994

By Yuchun Wang

In principle, supported liquid membranes could be an exceedingly elegant separation process. However they tend to fail by displacement and emulsification of the organic solution in the pores, which allows mixing of the feed and strip solutions. We have stabilized supported liquid membranes comprising moctylamine in nylon and PVDF supports by covering the pores with semi-permeable polyamide films, using an in-situ polymerization technique. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrates that the polyamide films are sensitive to production conditions and the nature of the support. The transport properties of stabilized supported liquid membranes for Cr(VI) are compared with those of unstabilized membranes.

Jan 1, 1998

By Marco Olper

The Italian company Engitec Impianti has developed a new electrochemical technology for the treatment of Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) flue dust generated in steel mini-mills. This process is based on a new and completely different concept from the Waeltz technology applied at present and allows, due to its modular nature, for an erection on the steel producer's site. Engitec Impianti spent US $700.000 constructing a 500 t/y throughput pilot plant at Pittini Group's Ferriere Nord mini-mill in Osoppo, Italy in order to demonstrate the process capabilities and obtain the data for a commercial plant design. The paper describes the pilot plant performances and the engineering criteria for a commercial unit of 10.000 t/y throughput. The feasibility study demonstrates a pay-back period of 3 - 4 years for the commercial plant.

Jan 1, 1995

By K. Morsi, S. K. Kassegne, K. S. Moon, A. Numula

"Current Activated Tip-based Sintering (CATS) is a new process for the powder-based manufacturing of macro, micro and possibly nano-scale features and shapes. CATS enables the selective sintering of powders by localizing current activation conditions through an electrically conducting small tip (either in the stationary or moving mode). This paper presents preliminary experimental results on the CATS of reactive mixtures of Ni/Al powder to form nickel aluminide intermetallics. Preliminary investigations on the effect of current on the reaction characteristics are discussed.IntroductionSpark Plasma Sintering (SPS) has been the subject of intense research over the past decade [1,2, 3,4,5,6]. The process boasts remarkable advantages which include ultra fast heating rates (hence by-passing low temperature non-densifying sintering mechanisms), considerably lower sintering temperatures and shorter sintering times than achieved in conventional sintering. The process is however limited to the generation of simple geometries on the macro-scale. Recently three of the authors conducted work on a novel process ""Current-activated tip-based sintering (CATS)"" [7], where electric current is passed through a conducting tip that is placed or allowed to travel over a powder bed/compact to locally sinter powders. lD, 2D and 3D micro-scale sintered shapes can be generated with the possibility of 3D rapid prototyping on the macro/micro or nano-scale. Although CA TS of single phase powders has been conducted, the CATS of reactive powders has not yet been investigated.The Ni-Al phase diagram contains five intermetallic compounds, AhNi, AhNh, AlNi, AhNi5 and NhAl. Out of these intermetallics, NiAl and NhAl have received the vast majority of scientific and industrial interest [8]. NhAl can be formed by reaction synthesis, where nickel and aluminum reactant powders are heated to a reaction ignition temperature at which the reactant powders are converted to the intended intermetallic product. The reaction is exothermic which gives rise to considerable compact self heating, thus instantaneously raising the compact temperature by several hundred degrees which facilitates sintering [8]. Applying and electric current locally would not only provide for a rapid local reactive sintering, but would generate a number of intriguing scientific investigations. For example, of interest would be, how would the reaction propagation and microstructural/phase evolution be affected by the temporal and spatial temperature and current distributions."

Jan 1, 2011

By Run-sheng xu, Hai-yang WANG, Di ZHAO, Teng-fei SONG, Jian-Liang Zhang

This paper was mainly focused on the different semi-cokes and charcoal which could be new fuels for blast furnace injection. Through the comparative study with bituminous coal and anthracite coal, the properties of semi-cokes and charcoal were presented in this research. 10 indexes of different fuels were obtained by different standard experiment, including proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, igniting point, explosivity, transportation characteristic, ash properties, grindability, calorific value, combustibility and reactivity with CO2. According to the data analysis, it provided a theoretical basis for rational utilization of various blast furnace fuels, and helped to broaden the scope of the blast furnace injection fuels. This research could contribute to energy conservation, emissions reduction, and sustainable development of iron and steel enterprises.

Jan 1, 2015

By Joseph Goodwill

1. PURPOSE The objective of this paper is to summarize a study undertaken by the EPRI Center for Metals Production (CMP). The overall purpose of the study was to identify electrolytic opportunities that might merit consideration for joint development by industry and EPRI. 2. SCOPE The electrolytic technologies of interest to this study include: Electrorefining, Electrowinning, and Fused-salt electrolysis. Recovery from primary, secondary, and waste materials were included in this effort; however, we excluded from consideration: Plating and coating operations, such as electrogalvanizing; Mining and milling operations in which electric energy is predominantly used for comminution; Electrothermal processes in which submerged-arc, open electric-arc, and plasma-based smelting processes use electric energy largely to provide a melting or refining ("heating") capability; and Aluminum electrotechnologies since these were the subject of a separate study (CMP 86-2). We recognize that there may be some "gray areas" between these excluded areas and the electrolytic sectors of interest. For this reason, a secondary criterium was used, namely, if the major use of electric energy was to extract or refine the

Jan 1, 1990

By Katsutoshi Inoue

The sulfuric acid leaching of spent hydrodesulfurization catalysts yields an acidic solution rich in rare metals such as molybdenum, vanadium, cobalt, and nickel in addition to aluminum. For the purpose of separating and recovering the rare metals from the solution, basic solvent extraction characteristics of the metals involved with commercially available acidic organophosphorus reagents like TR-83, PC-88A, PIA-8 and CYANEX 272 as well as aliphatic alpha-hydroxyoxime LIX 63 from sulfuric acid media were investigated in the present work. It was demonstrated that CYANEX 272, PIA-8 and LIX 63 possessed excellent selectivity for molybdenum and vanadium over the other metals at comparatively low pH. Further, recovery of molybdenum and vanadium from the total leach liquor by the selected extractants was discussed. Additionally, in order to achieve preferential separation and recovery of cobalt and nickel over an appreciable amount of aluminum from the raffinate obtained after recovering molybdenum and vanadium, a systematic investigation was conducted on synergistic extraction behaviors of the mixed solvents of LIX 63 in combination with a series of acidic extractants such as CYANEX 272, PIA-8, PC-88A, D2EHPA, TR-83 and OPEHPA for cobalt, nickel and aluminum. It was elucidated that all of these mixtures could exhibit a good synergistic effect for extraction of cobalt and nickel, and that the lower the pKa of the acidic extractants, the greater the synergism. Contrarily, the extraction of aluminum, was considerably suppressed by LIX 63. Effective extraction of cobalt and nickel away from aluminum was accomplished from the sulfate solution at low pH (1.0 - 2.5) with the mixtures. In particular, the mixtures consisting of LIX 63 and CYANEX 272 or PIA-8 appeared to be the most feasible and economic from an industrial point of view, yielding acceptable separation efficiency for cobalt and nickel over aluminum and .a low acidity requirement for stripping cobalt and nickel as well as negligible degradation of LIX 63. Aluminum can be readily recovered as sulfate salt from the raffinate obtained after recovering molybdenum, vanadium, cobalt and nickel as outlined above by conventional crystallization method.

Jan 1, 1995

By Devon A. Hannan

Thermodynamic modeling calculations were undertaken for the recovery of mercury from HgTe using a vacuum retort reactor. However, discrepancies were noted in the available thermodynamic data which introduced uncertainty in the model results. Consequently, a series of transpiration experiments were first undertaken on the thermal decomposition of HgTe into an inert carrier gas stream according to the following reaction: HgTe(s) Hg(g) + Te(s) From the measured weight loss of the HgTe samples, the Gibhs free energy change for the above volatilization reaction was determined as a function of temperature. The experimentally determined Gibbs free energy values were found to be approximately 30% larger (more posi-tive) than the values available in databases such as HSC Chemistry. By conducting a second-law analysis on the experimental data, the heat of formation of HgTe at 298.15 K and the en-tropyat 298.15 K were determined, which then formed the basis for a new database for the modeling calculations. The results of this study showed that HgTe was more stable at elevated temperatures than was generally indicated in the literature. The new database is given in a for-mat for direct insertion in HSC Chemistry. Using the new database, modeling calculations were conducted to examine the effects of the re-tort pressure and the molar ratio of purge gas to HgTe on the volatilization of mercury from HgTe. A diagram is presented that shows the minimum temperature for 100% volatilization of mercury from HgTe as a function of retort pressure for different molar ratios of purge gas (N2) to HgTe. For example, it was found that the minimum temperature for 100% volatilization could be decreased by 175 K, at a retort pressure of 0.05 bar, if the molar ratio ofN2 to HgTe is increased from 1.0: 1 to 100.0: I.

Jan 1, 2003

By T. Innmi

The potential of the nickel matte anode was measured during the matte electrolysis in the commercial cell. The slime layer consists of elemental sulfur and was found to greatly influence the potential of anode. The measurements of porosity and permeability of the slime suggest that the voltage drop of the slime layer dominates the potential. Furthermore, the diffusion of the electrolyte through the slime layer is also one of the factors to determine the potential. In addition, the copper content of the nickel matte anode was found to affect the change in the anode potential during the electrolysis. The role of copper on the anodic dissolution of nickel matte is discussed in this work.

Jan 1, 1988

By Yanhui Liu, Xuewei Lv, Chenguang Bai

A thermodynamic model for determining the surface tension of molten slag by considering the surface tension and molar volume of the pure oxide component, and their ionic radii was extended to the slag bearing high TiO2 (varying from 80 to 67%) at 1973 K. The iso-surface tension curves for the FeO-TiO2-Ti2O3 ternary system at 1973 K are almost parallel to the FeOTi2O3 line. TiO2 plays a role of surface-active solute, and its surface-active effect is attenuating with increasing the TiO2 content. The iso-surface tension curve shifts away from the TiO2 corner, indicating that the surface tension of the ternary slag decreases along with the addition of SiO2. The reasons include the addition of SiO2 with lower surface tension and the decrease of the total ion moment at the surface. Both CaO and MgO can bring about that the iso-surface tension curve shifts towards the TiO2 corner, indicating that the surface tension of the ternary slag increases along with the addition of CaO or MgO. CaO has a more pronounced effect on increasing the surface tension of the ternary slag than MgO at an equimolar amount addition. The increase of the surface tension results from both the compositional change and the variation of the slag structure.

Jan 1, 2015

By Xin Li, Hai-Xing Fang, Bing Xie, Hong-Yi Li

Chromium-containing vanadium slag (V-Cr slag) was obtained by an industrial smelting process of Hongge Ore, which is valuable vanadium-titanium magnetite to extract V and Cr in China. Sodium roasting thermodynamics of V-Cr slag in presence of oxygen were calculated to evaluate the reactivity of chemical compounds. Results showed that the oxidation of FeV2O4 was intensified in presence of Na2CO3 while the oxidation tendency of FeCr2O4 was far lower than that of FeV2O4. It was probably that reactions of impurities including Al2O3, SiO2 and Fe2O3 with Na2CO3 happened and the products can promote the oxidation of vanadium or chromium compounds in lower valence. Based on thermodynamic analysis, a two-step selective extraction process of vanadium and chromium was proposed. Extraction rate of vanadium was 88.6% while 7.0% for chromium in the first extraction step; extraction rate of 90.7% and 95.4% for vanadium and chromium, respectively, were obtained in the second step.

Jan 1, 2014