Search Documents

By A. G. Jackson, S. J. P. Laube

"Control of thin films during the growth process is dependent on several parameters that are difficult to monitor, including flux of film material, pressure, substrate temperature, composition, and thickness. One means for easing this difficulty is to take advantage of emission spectra associated with the process and the film. For pulsed laser deposition (PLD), the ion cloud generated by the laser has characteristic emission spectra that can be used to control the flux and, hence, the film. For chemical vapor deposition, the species present can be determined using mass spectroscopy and specific peaks can be used to control the deposition. Raman spectroscopy affords the possibility of real-time control by sensing characteristic peaks associated with film composition and thickness. These spectroscopic methods offer a real-time alternative to process control that is very attractive, because of the ability to accurately control films to achieve the engineered structures and properties sought. Examples are presented to illustrate the capabilities of these methods for thin film preparation.IntroductionThe drive to reduce costs and improve efficiencies of operation sets the tone for much of research, basic or applied. Basic research is limited by the ability of sensors and associated instrumentation to measure parameters accurately and reproducibly. Applied research has the same limitations and also the added constraints of time and costs. Hence, there are strong incentives to explore means for refining existing sensors with respect to performance and cost, as well as finding new sensors and techniques for more accurately and rapidly measuring quantities of interest in experiments and in various processes."

Jan 1, 1997

By Robert G. Telewiak

During the past few years, the international nickel industry has taken some important steps to respond to conditions of global production overcapacity, relatively flat demand and low prices. These include the implementation of major cost reduction programs by most producers, closure of some high cost operations and the establishment of the Nickel Development Institute. Consumption in the western world increased by about 7 per cent in 1987 compared to 1986, supplies were less than demand, inventories were low, and late in the year prices increased dramatically. By year-end 1987, most producers were operating at, or close to, their effective capacities. Nickel demand is expected to increase to the year 2000 at an annual rate of about 1.7 per cent, led by increasing usage in the stainless steel sector. If this rate of growth is realized, then there will be need for the effective capacity of the nickel industry to be increased. Producers in Canada have put considerable effort in the past few years into reducing costs - with impressive results. Mining costs, in particular, have been reduced dramatically. While production is still less than the peak years of the yearly 1970's, it has increased substantially from levels of the early 1980's. Over the next few years, production is expected to increase slowly. A key determinant of the level of production in the 1990's could be the effect that regulations on sulphur dioxide emissions have on limiting production.

Jan 1, 1988

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 K. J. Richards

The converting of copper mattes to blister copper has seen few technical advances since the introduction of batch furnaces using submerged tuyeres over a hundred years ago. The first side-blown converting vessel, operated by P. Manhes in 1882, was an offshoot of the 'Bessemer steelmaking process, and subsequent improvements in the conversion of molten mattes resulted In the Peirce-Smith converter, still the Industry standard today. While Peirce-Smith' converting has served the industry well since the early 1900!s, increasingly stringent environmental regulations, burgeoning energy costs, and a trend toward continuous processing have set the stage for a major improvement in this area of copper production. In contrast to a growing number of approaches for continuous converting using molten copper mattes, Kennecott is developing a process for treatment of solidified matte which allows improved' control, higher oxygen enrichment and a separation or decoupling of smelting and converting operations not possible with the other converting technologies. The new process known as Solid Matte Oxygen Converting, or SMOC, eliminates the need for molten matte transfers, minimizes fugitive emissions, and produces high strength SO2 off gases which substantially reduce offgas handling requirements. The SMOC process, despite additional matte solidification and size reduction steps, offers both capital and operating cost advantages for new smelters and the upgrading of existing plants, when compared with conventional converting technologies. Capital cost reductions of up to 35% in converting, gas handling, and sulfur fixation are indicated. Kennecott has successfully tested the new process concept and continued' development work is now under way to commercialize the technology. This paper reviews the limitations of batch copper converting with emphasis on the need for a continuous process, previous industry approaches to continuous converting of molten mattes, and the new Kennecott development.

Jan 1, 1983

By Milorad Cirkovic

Kinetics of copper concentrate oxidation in roasting processes in a fluidized bed reactor has been studied at temperatures between 600°C and 720°C using particles of 0.038 to 2.5 mm in average size. The analysis of composition of samples has been done by chemical methods. Phase composition has been determined by Siemens X-ray equipment with Cu anticathode and Ni filters at a voltage of 40 kV and a current of 18 mA. The content of sulphur has decreased from 33.23 to 19.02 mass percent with the increase of temperature, but the content of Fe304 has increased from 0.15 to 17.14 mass percent. The new mechanism of copper concentrate oxidation in a fluidized bed reactor is proposed in this study. It has been shown from the mathematical model that the velocity of oxidation of copper concentrate between 600°C and 720°C is virtually controlled by the rate of diffusion of 02 through the layer of reaction product.

Jan 1, 1999

The presence of clay adversely affects the floatability of copper and molybdenum during processing porphyry copper/molybdenum ores. In addition, reagent consumptions are much higher than when treating clay-free ores. Ores containing kaoline, brammollite, illite and montmorillonite were examined in the laboratory to determine how clay minerals affect the floatability of copper and molybdenum, and to find a possible solution to alleviate the harmful effect of clay slimes. It was demonstrated that the presence of clay mostly affects floatability of coarse and middling particles, and reduces selectivity. The results of the research work showed that there may be several possible ways of reducing the detrimental affects of clay slimes on flotation, some of which include a) use of alternative flowsheets, b) flotation at reduced pulp density, and c) the use of special frothers. The applicability of the findings in plant practice are discussed.

Jan 1, 1999

Reduction of titania and ilmenite ores by Cf4-H2-Ar gas mixture was investigated in a laboratory fixed bed reactor. Titania was reduced to titanium oxycarbide in the temperature range of 12OO-1500°C. At 1400-15000C, the extent of reduction of titania to titanium oxycarbide achieved more than 85% in 90 min. Optimum conditions for titanium oxycarbide synthesis by reduction of titania include temperature in the range of 1300-1450°C, methane content 8 vol% and hydrogen content above 35 vol%. Ilmenite ore was reduced by Cf4-HrAr gas mixture to metallic iron and titanium oxycarbide. Metallic iron catalyzed methane cracking and solid carbon deposition. Titanium oxycarbide formed at temperatures as low as 950°C. The optimum temperature for reduction of ilmenite is 1200°C and the optimum methane content is 8 vol%. Increase in hydrogen content increased both rate and extent of reduction. With 5 vol% CH4-75 vol% Hr20 vol% Ar gas mixture, the reduction of ilmenite completed in 60 min. Reduction of titanium oxides to oxycarbide with following chlorination may be an efficient alternative technology for processing of titanium minerals.

Jan 1, 2001

By P. Maraboutis

Iron removal by precipitation as jarosite from Fe-Ni-Co sulfate solutions, (synthetic or real, resulting from laterites leaching) has been investigated. Precipitation was carried out at 95 C, and at an initial pH 1.6, which was either kept constant with CaCO3 or Li2CO3 additions, or left to drift with the evolution of the reaction to lower values. The precipitation of K-, NH4- and Na- jarosite was initially examined using synthetic solutions. In all cases, hydronium ions were incorporated into the precipitate as well. Residual iron in solution was lower (0.2-1 g/1) and equilibrium was achieved faster (within 4-8 h) when precipitating K¬jarosite at constant pH, using CaCO3 for neutralization. Nickel and cobalt losses were small. Na- jarosite precipitation was also studied from real solutions with high initial iron content, under constant pH=1.5, controlled with CaCO3 additions, and it was shown that low residual iron concentration in solution (0.3-0.5 g/1) can be achieved again, with relatively small nickel and cobalt losses. The thickening and filtration characteristics of the precipitates were excellent in all cases examined.

Jan 1, 1988

By J. S. Becker

Technology developed and first implemented in the United Kingdom enables very low grade aluminum scraps containing oils, organics, plastics and ferrous metals to be directly charged, without pretreatment, into a unique melting furnace. The system has been in full scale production for over three years. The oxy-fuel-based furnace design incorporates internal afterburning in the furnace's hot zone, producing excellent thermal efficiency and very low emissions. The furnace is inherently low in NOx. This paper will provide both theoretical background and extensive operating results for this new melting concept. Applications describing both purpose built new furnaces and retrofits of existing reverberatory furnaces will be presented. Extensive operating emissions data will be presented.

Jan 1, 1996

By Alicia E. Ares

316 L Stainless Steel samples were solidified directionally under conditions which produced the columnar to equiaxed transition. The position of the transition was located in each sample and the distance from the bottom of the ingot was measured. During solidification the distribution of temperatures were measured by means of thermocouples located strategically. From the measured temperatures the following parameters were derived; the local temperature gradient, the cooling rate and the velocities of the liquid and solidus fronts. Comparing the location of the transition and the values of these parameters it was found that the temperature gradient reaches negative values of as low as -13.44 "C/cm, and velocities of the fronts of around 0.1 cm/s. Also, a supercooling of 5.81°C were measured which was associated with the supercooling for the nucleation and growth of the equiaxed grains ahead of the columnar front. In addition the primary and secondary dendritic spacing was measured in both regions. The spacing was compared with the predictions from available models. The results are presented and discussed in the frame of the results obtained for other alloys

Jan 1, 2002

By John Dasher

One of our War Plants processed Bolivian concentrates as low as 17% Sn by the Arnhem process (pressure leach with HCL) and sent the waste acid down a ditch to Galveston Bay where the chlorides, mostly iron, hydrolyzed. Oyster men, and Texas, demandedimpoundment until a disposal process could be developed. A recycle process found by lab work was recommended, piloted and a plant built. This involved cementation of As Sb, Cu, Bi and Ag on light moving scrap iron and of Sn & Pb on Al turnings (then not recyclable), evaporation and crystallization of hydrous FeCl2, roasting crystals in a muffle furnace and absorbing HCI for reuse. The residue from leaching the low grade concentrates was floated to remove undissolved sulfides, classified and passed over sand and slimes tables to get a smeltable concentrate, a discardable sand tail and a slimes tail worth treating After desliming at 2 micro meters cassiterite, oxide flotation gave good, lab results; but commercial equipment wasn't adequate then. Chloride volatilization, with or without smelting gave high recoveries of Sn as SnCl2, whose marketing was questionable. I have heard this was finally fluxed and smelted.

Jan 1, 1992

By A. Rojo, N. J. Ramirez, J. E. Salgado

"This work aims to characterize the plastics used in a handgrip located in the car interior body in order to improve its design process and be able to predict its behavior when the part is subjected to impact test involving human casualties.Through stress analyses at high speeds and a video camera set up (front and side view), the reduction of area of specimen was obtained from image analysis, allowing to get the stress-strain real curve of the material.Continuing the characterization process a set of impact test was developed, where standard lzod configurations were used in unnotched specimens. From these tests were gotten displacement curves and absorption energy estimations.The proposed testing procedure allowed the acquisition of force and displacement data through time at various strain rates which are indispensable for the characterization of dynamic events. Using a specimen with a special configuration has shown a more detailed dynamic behavior resulting into more accurate numerical analyses within the design process.IntroductionIn the design process, one of the many analyses which take place is the impact test of the designed part. Nowadays there are many software capable to do these kind of analysis and each industry use the one they think it is convenient for them, but also the selected software has mathematic models that help to find the solution and the simulation of the case of analysis. These are not the only considerations that a company has to take into account, other one is the type of information and data necessary to feed the software. For this study we are going to focus on the acquisition of these data.The mail reason of this work is that generally the supplier gives the card of the material with all the characteristics and information requested by the buyer, but all of that information is acquired by standard methods, but it is inconvenient when the materials are polymers."

Jan 1, 2011

By J. B. See

Emeritus Professor David Robertson of the Missouri University of Science and Technology was born in Dublin Ireland on 29 December 1941. His father was a merchant navy Captain who served during WWII and during David’s early years his family lived in Dublin and Donegal where David went to the local elementary school. In 1954 he moved to London with his parents and attended Highgate School before commencing metallurgy at the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London in 1960.

Jan 1, 2014

By D. J. Senor

Closed chamber incineration (CCI) is a novel technique by which irradiated nuclear graphite may be destroyed without the risk of radioactive cation release into the environment. The process utilizes an enclosed combustion chamber coupled with molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs). The transport of cations is intrinsically suppressed by the MCFCs, such that only the combustion gases are conducted through for release to the environment. An example CCI design was developed which had as its goal the destruction of graphite fuel elements from the Fort St. Vrain reactor (FSVR). By employing CCI, the volume of high level waste from the FSVR will be reduced by approximately 87 percent. Additionally, the incineration process will convert the Sic coating on the FSVR fuel particles to SiO2, thus creating a form potentially suitable for direct incorporation in a vitrification process stream. The design is compact, efficient, and makes use of currently available technology.

Jan 1, 1994

By Yosry Attia

Recent emphasis on environmental effects and costs of conventional mining processing, plus success in accelerating bacterial action, suggest that biotechnology be explored for gold ore processing. In our paper, the past experience with organisms in processing gold is reviewed. The use of microorganisms for liberation of gold from sulfide ores as a substitute for fine grinding is discussed. The possibility of accumulation of gold from solutions, such as cyanide solutions, is explored as a potential replacement for such processes, such as carbon-in-pulp or ion exchange. The improvement in engineering technology and kinetics needed to scale-up from laboratory experiments to production scale are outlined.

Jan 1, 1985

By S. Yuan

Oxygen ion conducting yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) tube was used to remove oxygen from molten Cu at 1373K. Outer surface of the tube was in contact with the melt and the inner surface containing a thin layer of porous Ni-ZrO2 cermet electrode was in contact with a reducing gas. The migration of oxygen species (O2-) from the Cu melt through the YSZ tube is accompanied by an equal and opposite flux of electrons maintaining electroneutrality. Without applying an external EMF, the fluxes are maximized by short circuiting the melt with the cermet electrode. For efficient oxygen removal, the YSZ tube must be thin, contact resistances should be negligible, and the electrodes must be porous and cover the entire electrolyte surface for charge transfer. This refining process is environmentally sound, can use reducing gases such as H2, CH4 and CO without running the risk of increasing H or C content of the melt.

Jan 1, 1993

By G. Gao

Flyash from municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerators is frequently classified as a characteristic hazardous waste due to its lead and cadmium content. Extensive investigation has therefore been carried out to detoxity the flyash by leaching and to recover lead, cadmium and zinc. Detoxification can be accomplished by leaching in HCI/NaCI solutions. Optimization of leaching conditions for effective detoxification and subsequent metal recovery can be achieved by controlling the acidity of the lixiviant and flyash to lixivaint ratio. Lead and cadmium In the leaching solution is recovered by cementation with zinc dust. Leaching and cementation experiments have shown that zinc concentrations suitable for electrowinning, > 15 g/liter, can be achieved. Experiments have also been performed to determine the effects of pH, particle size of the zinc dust used, quantity of zinc added and dissolved impurities on the cementation kinetics. After recovery of lead and cadmium, electrowinning or electrowinning coupled with solvent extraction can be used to recover zinc. A process flowsheet is presented.

Jan 1, 1991

By Fathi Habashi

"Davy, Faraday, and Bunsen laid the foundation of electrometallurgy which had a· great impact on other areas of metallurgy. Electrometallurgy is presently dominated by the production of aluminum, the electrorefining of copper, and the electrowinning of zinc. It has also been successful in the electrowinning of copper from solutions obtained by leaching-solvent extraction. Electrowinning processes, however, are capital intensive. Improvement of the present technology should be intensely investigated especially when it is expected that such processes will increase greatly as a result of a shift from certain pyrometallurgical processes to pressure hydro metallurgy.INTRODUCTIONPyrometallurgy was used for thousands of years to produce copper and iron from their oxide ores!). Today it is still the only route to produce iron and steel and it is certain that it will remain so for many decades to come because pyrometallurgy is most suitable for the treatment of high grade oxide ores. Even when high grade iron ores are exhausted, it is possible to beneficiate the low-grade ores and produce pellets suitable for reduction in the blast furnace, which is a very efficient reactor, being a heat exchanger as well. Hydrometallurgy on the other hand can be traced to the time of alchemists in the Middle Ages when they were seeking to transmute base metals into gold, and thus were able to prepare many acids and bases which are the essential leaching agents."

Jan 1, 1997

By Y. Wang, L. Liu, G. Xu, Y. Lv J. Sheng H. Zhang

In order to increase the service life of large scale coke dry quenching furnaces, the damage mechanism of lining was investigated, and the structure and properties of lining refractories used in cooling section were researched. The results showed that the abrasive wear volume of lining bricks at one fourth height section under skew tunnel was smaller than other sections. The wear loss of mullite brick and dense clay brick used in the lining of cooling section were respectively 8.02 cm3 and 11.65 cm3 in fifteen minutes. The mullite brick was laid with clay brick alternatively. By the different wear rate, the surface of lining was rough and uneven in the later service life, and short brick was easily dropped from lining. During the service, the basis wore off more easily than the aggregate. It is necessary to improve the wear resistance property, which will increase the service life of cooling section’s lining for coke dry quenching furnaces.

Jan 1, 2016

By G. A. Irons, D. Colbert

Several electric arc furnace (EAF) shops have increased the zinc and lead grades of EAF dust by reinjecting it into their furnaces; however, the kinetics of this operation are poorly understood. To understand the kinetics, EAF dust was injected into 70 kg heats of iron or steel in an induction furnace. Supplemental additions of carbon and oxygen to overcome the heat load on the system were also investigated. In all cases, the dust was chemically transformed, and the zinc content increased from 16% Zn to 60 - 80% Zn. About 50% of the zinc in the EAF dust dissolved in the iron or steel. The zinc oxide in the dust is thought to be reduced by carbon and the zinc vapour subsequently dissolved in the iron. A kinetic model for the dissolution process is proposed, and the implications for EAF dust recycling are discussed.

Jan 1, 2000