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By Annette Revet

Aluminum fluxes have been used for the remelting of secondary aluminum since the beginning of the recycling industry. During the last sixty years, a number of fluxes have been designed, researched and tested at the laboratory and plant scale. Fluxes are primarily a mixture of potassium chloride and sodium chloride with the addition of some other chloride and fluoride containing salts. The conventional Mining methods of potassium chloride and sodium chloride yield products that are not high in purity without costly reprocessing or additional refining. In 1993, Kalium Chemicals, Ltd. began supplying flux mixtures to the aluminum industry. Kalium produces potassium chloride and sodium chloride which are mined and refined by a patented solution-mining process. The salts produced by this process are high in purity with lower concentrations of iron oxide, sulfates, and other impurities. This paper will present the different mining methods used in the production of sodium chloride and potassium chloride. The paper Will address how these mining methods affect the purity of the final product as well as the effect of purity on the performance of the fluxing salt.

Jan 1, 1995

By Soumitro Nagpal

Bacterial oxidation of a pyrite-arsenopyrite-gold ore concentrate was carried out in .14-liter continuous-flow stirred-tank reactors (CSTR). Oxygen and carbondioxide consumption rates mineral dissolution rates, and bacterial concentrations were measured at various steady-state residence times and with 6, 11, and 16 wt.% solids in the feed slurry. A sharp optimum in biooxidation rate .was found at a residence time of approximately 40 hours for operation at each of the three pulp-densities. Biooxidation rates increased consistently. with increasing pulp density. Cell washout accompanied by negligible biooxidation rates was found to occur at a residence time of approximately 20 hours. Mineral' oxidation was found to be strongly dependent on bacterial activity. Arsenopyrite was found to be preferentially oxidized? at the higher Pulp densities.

Jan 1, 1991

By A. A. Trickett

In the treatment of gases from pyrometallurgical processes prior to acid manufacture, volatile components, sulphur trioxide and particulates ,are removed in wet gas cleantng systems. In the process a weak acid stream is generated, typically less than 10% H2S04, contaminated with volatiles such as arsenic, fluoride and chloride', plus metallic particulates. This effluent stream has, in the past, been disposed of in a variety of different ways. As a result of changing environmental legislation, smelters are having to review alternative solutions for treating this effluent stream. This paper' will describe a process developed by Chemetics which treats this effluent stream, generating a small dry metal sulphate stream plus a clean acid stream which is suitable for recycling to the smelter acid plant.

Jan 1, 1992

By Wenbo Luo, Jilai Xue, Tiepeng Li, Jun Zhu

Sodium silicate solutions for producing silica have been ultrasound treated to enhance the precipitation process in laboratory scale. Higher precipitation rate was found with ultrasound treated solutions than those without ultrasound. The obtained SiO2 powder products were characterized using XRD, SEM, BET and laser particle size analyzer. The particle size distribution and the specific surface area of the powder products varied with the power input level and the processing time of the ultrasonic treatment. The results indicate that the efficiency of the precipitation process can be improved optimally when the ultrasound is conducted into the solutions before the nucleation stage.

Jan 1, 2015

By K:-I. Rhee

The recovery of tellurium from Te-cement obtained during the processing of copper anode slimes was carried out by a series of hydrometallurgical processes, i.e. leaching Te-cement in NaOH solution, precipitation of impurites with the addition of Na2S followed by direct electrowinning of tellurium in NaOH solution. The optimum conditions for each process were determined and discussed in terms of various parameters associated with each step to maximize the recovery and purity of tellurium. The final purity of tellurium from electrowinning in alkaline solution was found to be more than 99.9 %.

Jan 1, 1997

By S. A. Platias

Large amounts of dunile tailings can be recycled for olivine produdion from the existing beneficiation adivity of chromite ore in northern Greece. This olivine production aims at the preparation of a material suitable for the substitution of the environmental hazardous quartz sand in the foundries of Europe In smelting of chromite ore the losses that occur ore usually of the order of 6-8% Cr that report in the slag. Most of this is in the form of oxides that cannot be recovered, but usually 30-35% is in the form of FeCr alloy that can be recovered by gravity methods. About 90% of the produced slag is sold for road construdion after crushing to a desired grain size. Finally, recycling of chromites sludges from the ferrochrome produdion plant, through the preparation of pellets, improved the total chromite yield by 2%.

Jan 1, 1996

By Thomas Buenger

The Hamburg smelter of Norddeutsche Affinerie AG is situated near the city of Hamburg’s downtown and is therefore particularly subjected to fulfill environmental requirements according to the German legal regulations. Thus, investments related to increasing concentrate throughput are always linked to packages to enhance the emission status of the smelter. This connection between environmental protection and productivity enhancement should be explained by the example of the Peirce-Smith converter plant of the Hamburg smelter. Such outstanding investments can be demonstrated by the transition from scrap charging via boat from the front side to a fully automatic and completely sucked scrap charging system.

Jan 1, 2009

By Roger W. Lee

The commissioning of the prototype Imperial Smelting Furnace (ISF) in 1950 was a technological breakthrough in the pyrometallurgical smelting of zinc and provided significant advantages over the existing retort processes. However, for most zinc concentrates the electrolytic zinc process continued to be more economic. Therefore, the Imperial Smelting Process (ISP) specialised in smelting zinc and lead concentrates that were less amenable for treatment by either the electrolytic zinc process or the lead blast furnace. Subsequently, improved mineral processing techniques led to a decrease in the availability of these concentrates so the treatment of secondary materials in the ISP assumed greater importance. This was facilitated by the development of techniques such as hot briquetting and tuyere injection. In 2002 over 1 million tonnes of zinc and 400,000 tonnes of lead were produced by the ISP. However, in the 2002-3 the economics of the Process became extremely difficult because of low metal prices and increased operating costs. This resulted in the closure of four ISP smelters in 2003 and two in 2005. Nevertheless, two new ISP smelters are scheduled for commissioning in China in 2006 where local economic conditions continue to favour the process. The economics of the process are examined particularly in respect of smelter margin and operating costs. The need to increase the smelter margin means that the future of the process will be closely linked to its ability to consume secondary materials and an examination will be made of its potential for conversion to 100% secondary operation. Apart from a reduction in raw materials costs, a substantial reduction in operating costs would ensue from not operating sinter and sulphuric acid plants.

Jan 1, 2006

By D. Tahija

The Getchell Mine produces gold from a geologically complex ore bearing high concentrations of arsenic and carbonate minerals. The mill treats the ore using high temperature aqueous oxidation in autoclaves, followed by conventional carbon-in-leach gold recovery. We laboratory tested a variety of Getchell ores to determine the effects on gold recovery of conventional factors such as grind size and retention time, as well as the influence of factors such as ore variability and preliminary carbonate destruction. Because the mill is currently operating, we were able to directly compare certain laboratory predictions with operational results.

Jan 1, 1999

By Ma Ying

The continuous directional solidification technique of five kinds of special ZA alloys with eutectic, peritectic and eutectoid transformation under the condition of continuous casting by heated mold was studied. The mechanism of surface defects appearing in ZA alloy line was discussed and the structure of some defects were analyzed by SEM. The results show that only when the fitting of various technique factors, pressure head, outlet temperature, pulling speed and cooling condition are reasonable under a certain range, can the ZA alloy smooth line be continuously pulled out. Unreasonable techniques will result in hot tear, rough surface, mush outlet, leaking and other defects. The shape and location of solid-liquid zone have an important influence on the formation of the above defects. When the solid-liquid zone is located in the mould outlet or inner mould, the surface of solidification will protrude into the inner mould. If the remaining liquid cannot counteract the solidification contraction, a rough surface will appear. If the solidification surface further into the mould, the ingot in the mould will have a great friction force when pulling and will form a hot tear. When the solid-liquid zone is moved out of mould, the solidification surface will turn into a plane, which easily results in leaking. A vibration or unstable operation will cause an ingot winding during pulling

Jan 1, 2003

By M. F. Hochella

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis have been used to study the mode of occurrence and mineral associations of gold in partially oxidized high grade gold ore from the Carlin sediment-hosted deposit. Rounded.gold particles have been observed that range in size from 0.03 to 0.1 p.m (300 to 1000 A) in diameter. The gold is associated with maghemite h-Fep3l and a K-Al-Si-bearing phase that is suspected to be illite. Detailed descriptions of gold and its mineral associations in 'Carlin-type' gold deposits are critical not only to understanding the mechanism of fluid transport and precipitation of gold, but also to developing improved metallurgical techniques for the recovery of gold from refractory ore. Direct observation of gold in unoxidized ore is rare due to its relatively high degree of dissemination and low average bulk concentration which averages 9 ppm according to Radtke (1). Hausen and Kerr (2) observed 1 to 5 p.m grains of gold directly in oxidized ore but these microscopically visible particles account for only a small percentage of gold present in the ore. The samples used in this study were selected from individual beds of high grade, partially oxidized ore (4.55 oz/ton or 156 ppm gold) that were collected in the Main pit of the Carlin mine. The samples were collected from several thinly laminated carbonate micrite beds within the top 50 meters of the Roberts Mountains Formation. The carbonate micrite has been altered by hydrothermal fluids to a calcite-absent, moderately silicified rock referred to as alteration zone #3 by Bakken and Einaudi (3). Based on petrographic and SEM studies, the samples contain carbonaceous matter, and both pyrite and iron oxide pseudomorphs after pyrite. The oxidation of pyrite may be a pro-duct of deep weathering, in which case limited remobilization of gold may have occurred. TEM sections of the rock were prepared by first embedding small chips in low viscosity epoxy. The epoxy blocks were cut with a Reichert Ultracut E ultramicrotome, producing thin sections less than 0.1 p.m thick. The sections were examined with a Phil-lips 400ST TEM at 120 keV in both imaging and selected area diffraction modes. Native golci*was easily detected in TEM bright field images due to the large electron density contrast between gold and all other phases that are present (Figs. 1 and 2), Gold was positively identified with high spatial resolution EDX analysis in the transmission electron microscope, although selected area diffraction of individual grains was not successful EDX analyses of the platy and massive minerals immediately surrounding the gold particles typically indicate the presence of Si, AI, K, and Fe, However, the d-spacings derived from selected area diffraction of these polycrystalline masses (as, for example, in Fig. 2) give an exact match for maghemite. As a result, there is no diffraction information to identify the K-AI-Si-bearing phase(s). The lack of a diffraction pattern could be due to either electron beam damage or to a poorly crystalline phase(s).

Jan 1, 1987

By Shize Jin

Effect of four polyols, namely ethylene glycol (EGL), glycerol (GCL), propanediol (PDL), butanediol (BDL) and three organic acids, namely oxalic acid (OA), malonic acid (MA) and succinic acid (SA) on the current efficiency (CE) and the cell voltage during zinc electrowinning was studied. Galvanostatic polarization was conducted in a supporting electrolyte (SE) containing 180 g dm-³ H2SO4, 60 g dm-³ Zn2+ and 8 g dm-³ Mn2+ at 38°C with magnetic stirring. The imposed current density was 50 mA cm-². The anodes were made of a Pb-Ag alloy and the cathodes were made of an aluminum alloy. The results showed that all the polyols tested in this study decreased the current efficiency and the cell voltage, but the decrease of the cell voltage was not important. Oxalic and succinic acids decreased the current efficiency to a less extent than the polyols, but did not decrease the cell voltage much. The only compound that increased the current efficiency was malonic acid, and its capacity of decreasing the cell voltage was the highest within the seven tested organic compounds.

Jan 1, 2003

By Emily Chen, Randolph Kirchain, Gabrielle Gaustad

"As prices and demand for aluminum metal have increased over the past few years, secondary production has begun to outpace primary aluminum production. However, while recycling of packaging and automotive scrap has continued to increase, aerospace secondary materials remain a largely untapped resource. Shredded or co-mingled aerospace scrap has a high degree of compositional uncertainty due to the prevalence of high copper and high zinc alloy series. Although it is clear that upgrading strategies enable increased usage of aerospace scrap, it is not clear that they would be economic or efficient. Previous studies by the authors have shown that modeling techniques, specifically chance-constrained optimization, provide the ability to evaluate upgrading options in terms of potential aerospace scrap utilization and production cost. Three specific cases are analyzed: a dismantled case, a sorted case, and a shredded or co-mingled case; sensitivity analysis of resulting compositional uncertainty is also presented.IntroductionAluminum recycling has a number of key environmental and economic benefits. Secondary recovery forestalls depletion of non-renewable resources and avoids the deleterious effects of extraction and winning (albeit by substituting some effects of its own). For most metals, the latter provides strong motivation for recycling; for light metals, like aluminum, the motivation is compelling[1]. Fortunately, as prices and demand for aluminum have increased greatly over recent years, secondary production has begun to outpace primary production (Figure 1). However, while the recycling rates of many aluminum products such as used beverage cans and cars have increased over this period, aerospace secondary materials remain a comparatively untapped resource.This untapped resource for scrap aluminum is a very large one; aluminum is the primary aircraft material comprising about 80% of a planes unladen weight[2]. It is used extensively for airframes, landing gear, engine components, propellers, and interior trim. A standard Boeing 747 jumbo jet, for example, contains approximately 75,000 kilograms of aluminum[2]. At an approximate rate of 300 per year, more than 6,000 civil aircraft are forecast to arrive at end-of-life in the next 20 years, potentially creating a large aerospace scrap market[3]. Many military aircraft are already available for possible scrap use, however, most are currently in storage at air force bases around the world[4]. The underutilization of these aerospace scrap materials indicates a lack of economic end-of-life options."

Jan 1, 2008

By C. García

Several modifications to Zaldivar's original design have been made in order to reach the design cathode production. This paper describes the modifications to the crushing, leaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning operations, which in turn have increased the production by 14.8% over the design capacity in 1999. The principal modifications were to (1) incorporate a dry pre- screening plant between the secondary and tertiary crushers to increase the percentage of fines to the piles, (2) increase the retention time of the solutions inside of the piles, and (3) increase the efficiency of the tertiary crushers to reduce the particle size of the product material. The leaching ratio was increased from 2.8 to 5.6 m3/ton. The temperature of the pregnant leach solution (PLS) was increased, the amount of acid used was reduced, and a strain of native bacteria was adapted in highly contaminated solutions. The copper concentration in the PLS was increased by more than 50% and was stabilized at this level by commissioning a process of two-stage leaching. The current density in the tankhouse was increased from an average of 2 16 to 3 17 A/m

Jan 1, 1999

By Noboru Masuko, Sachiko Ono

"The structure and composition of anodic films formed on aluminum in a borate solution have been investigated by using TEM and SIMS with respect to the effect of current density and electrolyte temperature. The film is composed of a boron-containing outer layer and a boron-free inner layer with disc-like crystals present at the interface. The thickness of the film formed at constant current density up to an identical voltage, decreases with increasing current density. The thickness increases remarkably with elevated temperature. The transport number of Al3+ estimated from the thickness ratio .of the cuter to the inner layers is 0.4 when the film is formed at the current density of 20 Am-2 at 60°C. It increases slightly with increasing current density and decreases significantly with increasing temperature. Content of boron in the outer layer increases 1.5 times when current density .increases 10 times. These changes in film structure and composition with electrolysis conditions must have a significant role in the determination of electric properties of anodic alumina films as a capacitor material.IntroductionThe growth of anodic alumina film in ·a neutral electrolyte proceeds at both film/electrolyte and film/substrate interfaces giving a duplex structure. The oxide layer formed at the former interface includes electrolyte anions while a-pure alumina layer is formed at the latter interface. The thickness ratios of each layer respectively represent transport numbers of Al3+ and 0 2 - (1). The film thickness and the incorporated anion content as well as transport numbers of both ions must affect the dielectric properties of the film as a capacitor material. However, the correlation between film structure and electrolytic conditions is not fully understood (2). For the further clarification of anodic film growth mechanism, more detailed characterization of anodic films in relation to electrolytic conditions is advantageous. In the present paper, therefore, the effect of current density and electrolyte temperature on the microstructure and composition of anodic barrier films formed in a neutral borate solution was studied. The films were characterized by direct observation using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and depth profiles of constituent elements obtained by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS)."

Jan 1, 2000

By Cyro Takano

An alternative use for recycling of waste from bag house of iron ore sinter plant was tested by producing and evaluating" at laboratory scale, the self reducing cold bonded pellets. This waste was characterized and the self-reducing pellets were produced using anthracite coal fines as reductant and Portland cement or hydrated lime/Blast Furnace slag as binder. It was used the molar ratio of Fe2O3/C (fix) equal to 3. Evolution of cold strength with curing time, for different contents of binder, was evaluated. Cold strength of 200N/pellet was obtained, for sinter dust, after 10 days of curing. Suitable hot strength was also presented and no decrepitation and swelling were observed. Good fractional reduction was obtained at 950°C and 1137°C. These results show that this material may be used by the Self-Reducing Processes for hot metal production, as an alternative route for this dust destination.

Jan 1, 1996

The merging of flash smelting with spray converting in one single furnace is proposed as a continuous copper making process. The proposed process is expected to produce blister copper, clean slag and gas with high sulfur dioxide concentration. Some high grade matte is an intermediate product recycled within the proposed furnace, spray-atomized and converted. The thermodynamic equilibria of the simultaneous oxidations which take place during copper smelting and converting are discussed in order to establish the gradient of oxygen potential along the furnace required for smooth operation. The proposed process is a dynamic system designed to reach equilibrium only close to the slag skimming end of the furnace. The process feasibility is based on the predesigned significant difference between the rates of converting reactions in a finely dispersed system and the rates of deconverting reactions between immiscible liquid phases of restricted interface area. The converting of small stationary droplets of matte, in a silica saturated system, was studied in the laboratory for extremely short oxidation times (10 to 120 seconds). These experiments led to some interesting observations on reaction mechanisms and kinetic trends. The droplet size and the matte grade affected very strongly the oxidation rate and the proportion of the different products obtained.

Jan 1, 1976

By Jie Ma, Bo Wang, Jieyu Zhang, Jian Zhao, Zheng Chen

"In this paper, solidification process of steel ingot was simulated by ProCAST software, based on cellular automaton-finite element (CAFE) model. A 22 t steel ingot was divided into continuous small zones (100x150x180 mm) in radial direction, then the temperature field, shrinkage cavity and porosity, particularly, the microstructure were simulated. The results show that: there was a columnar-to-equiaxed transition in microstructure on radial direction. Zones, closing to the center of the ingot, had a more developed and fined equiaxed zone, while zones closing to the periphery of the ingot had a more developed columnar zone. It indicated that temperature gradient has a great influence on microstructural morphology. Thus, the simulation results were highly agree with the experimental results, verifying the feasibility of this simulation method. It significantly reduces the time of simulation, and has important significance for predicting the microstructure of large steel ingot.IntroductionSolidification microstructure of steel ingot have a significant effect on the quality of the final steel products. Although many experimental works have been carried out in order to obtain the optimum condition for solidification process of continuous casting, it is also very desirable to establish mathematical models to simulate the evolution of solidification structure. The simulation methods can be divided into deterministic models and stochastic models, which have been developed rapidly over the last couple of decades. Cellular automaton method is one of the stochastic models. Rappaz and Gandin [1, 2], Nasatac and Stefanescu [3, 4] are the earliest researchers engaged in the this field. Moreover, Rappaz and Gandin simulated the solidification structure and CET (columnar grain to equiaxed grain transition) of metals using the CAFE method (cellular automaton-finite element method) for the first time [1, 2]. Recently, the CA (cellular automaton) model also considered the effects of fluid flow on the solidification process. Zhu, et al. [5-11] improved method of CA , they used the KGT model to describe the undercooling needed during the growth of the dendrite tip."

Jan 1, 2014

By Lincoln McCrabb

Correct measurement and interpretation of viscosity data is critical for design of any thickening and pumping process that involves a non Newtonian slurry. The nickel laterite pressure acid leach (PAL) process relies on producing a slurry of maximum achievable solids concentration. Small variations of 1-2% solids concentration can alter economics significantly. For the Ravensthorpe Nickel Project, a rheology protocol has been developed which optimizes the solids concentration across a range of ore types. The vane yield stress technique has been utilized to accurately quantify the flow of thickened slurry in the lower shear range. A yield stress of 100Pa has been used as a benchmark to determine the optimum solids concentration achievable utilizing deep cone thickening. Statistical analysis of the data shows critical rheology distinctions between ore type, particle size, lithology and geochemistry. Linear and power law models have been applied to rheology flow curves to reconcile the material transport properties with the anticipated thickener underflow solids concentration. Keywords: Vane Yield Stress, Thickening, Rheograms

Jan 1, 2004

By John L. Sundstrom

Complete systems were designed -and are in operation to recycle the effluent streams and to remove impurities from tankhouse. electrolyte, Heavy em¬phasis was placed on making usable products from as many streams as poss¬ible at minimum capital and operating costs. Almost complete recycling: and reuse of water and sulfuric acid were paramount. Techniques used in-clude solvent extraction - electrowinning, evaporation - crystallization and filtration.

Jan 1, 1992