Non-ferrous Industry Research Articles

Deposition of dioxins in Flanders (Belgium) and a proposition for guide values

Since 1993 the VMM (Flemish Environment Agency) organises twice a year a measurement campaign of the dioxin deposition in cooperation with the VITO (Flemish Institute for Technological Research). During this period the deposition of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) has significantly decreased. Emission reduction programs and closing-down of major sources are the main reasons for this improvement. There are still high depositions in the vicinity of ferrous and non-ferrous industries but reduction plans are in progress. A proposition for a guide value for deposition of PCDD/F has been made. Annual average depositions should not exceed the range of 3.4–10 pg TEQ m −2day −1.

Methods of Increasing the Rate of Tin Evaporation from Iron-based Melts.

The low evaporation rate is a main obstacle to the large scale application of vacuum refining of steel scrap melts with respect to tin. In this paper several possibilities of increasing the evaporation rate of tin have been investigated. Iron-based melts containing 0.3 to 0.6 mass% Sn were treated in a laboratory-scale vacuum induction melting furnace at a pressure of 10 Pa.(1) It was confirmed that detinning is enhanced by increasing the sulphur content of liquid iron. This effect is explained by the evaporation of volatile SnS. The kinetics of SnS evaporation is discussed.(2) Evaporation of volatile SnO from steel melts containing less than 0.024 mass% oxygen was not confirmed.(3) The highest evaporation rate of tin in elemental state is observed from high-silicon iron melts. The most favourable conditions occur at approximately 22 mass% Si in the iron melt. This fact is discussed in terms of the thermodynamics of the liquid Fe–Si–Sn system.(4) New process schemes of tinplate scrap recycling are considered. It is suggested to use tinplate scrap as iron-bearing material for the production of ferro-silicon alloys. The recycling of tinplate scrap in the ferro-silicon production has potential benefits over its recycling in steelmaking.(5) It is demonstrated that the condensate gathered during vacuum refining of tinplate scrap melts can be reprocessed in the non-ferrous industry to obtain pure tin.

Semi-low-dilution fusion technique for analysis of geological, environmental and production plant samples in ferrous and non-ferrous industries

A semi-low dilution fusion method for melting oxides and sulphides, e.g. geological samples, ores and ore processing products, is presented. Although initially intended for use in wavelength- and energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry (XRF-WD/ED), the method can be applied generally in the pretreatment of samples for inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (OES-ICP) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The choice of flux, constituents such as oxidants and optimization of the degree of dilution are discussed. Samples with sulphur concentrations of up to 50% can be converted quantitatively into sulphate and analysed with an accuracy of the order of 2%. A fundamental model for the evaluation of measured intensities is used. The model is calibrated on the basis of standards produced from pure chemicals in the same way as the analysed samples. An algorithm is presented which allows loss on fusion, the oxygen content of the non-oxidized components in the sample and also the ratio of Fe(II) to Fe(III) to be calculated. Necessary compromises in model design are based on practical considerations and are critically discussed. The method covers concentrations from ppm levels up to 100% for most rock-forming components and gives the degree of precision and accuracy required for prospecting and smelting operations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

我が国の非鉄金属資源産業の現状と課題

我が国の非鉄金属資源産業の現状と課題

リサイクリング 鉄鋼リサイクルの今後の課題

The world environmrntal problem has been a serious issue toward the next century. In Japan, the individual industries have solved the various problems on pollution and energy saving. However the present issue is entirely different from the past one. It is a more global and serious problem, how todeal with the enormous amount of waste flooding over the society.The domestic stock of steel products is well over one billion tons in Japan and this causes a huge pressure to the society. Therefore, a completely new concept is necessary to recycle a huge amount of steel scrap. The idea is not on the extension of the same line but is different from the past tactics. The new idea is so called “TEMCOS”, (Total Energy and Material Control System). In this concept the waste material or productsmust be minimized from any sources and reused in the various industries within the society.For example, the ferrous and non-ferrous industries have a well established system of minimizing waste material and preventing pollution. Waste material is generally recycled and reused within their works.So, the both industries may be able to cooperate each other to transfer and reuse the waste materialas new resources.Simply speaking, energy and material will be controlled systematically to reachthe optimum condition in the entire society. The concept will be developed further in the future.

An overview of silver in India

ABSTRACT Silver is a member of Group 1B of the Periodic Table. Its use by human civilization has been known for more than 6,000 years. Recently India is ranked as the third largest country in the world for the use of silver (3,030 mt yr−1 i.e. 97.49 M Toz). There are no primary silver mines in India, but it is generally recovered as a by-product from the nonferrous metallurgical industry as well as from photographic effluent, electronic scrap and scrapped jewelry and ornaments. The bulk amount is imported into the country. There is little information on the geographic distribution and environmental effects of silver discharges in India. However, recent worldwide studies show that silver's toxicity depends on the chemical form and concentration, as well as the salinity, redox potential and pH of the receiving water.

The transformation of the nonferrous metals industries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

The long established view that the British non-ferrous mining industry was revolutionized in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries by immigrant German experts and imported technology was never well supported by available evidence. Most British mining districts continued to rely mainly on 'appropriate' simple, small-scale, low-capital 'medieval' techniques until the latter part of the seventeenth century.' This article considers the forces that did propel the industry towards modern large-scale

A mössbauer study of the behavior of iron cations in iron oxide-containing melts at 1400 °C

A Mossbauer spectroscopy technique has been developed to study the distribution of iron cations in slag melts as a function of distance from a reaction surface. A wide range of slag compositions of interest to the nonferrous smelting industry was reduced and oxidized using mixtures of CO, CO2, and Ar. Mossbauer spectra were collected on quenched slag samples for varying conditions between iron saturation and magnetite saturation, l(10-13) to 4(10-6) atm PO2 at 1400 °C. Slag sections were analyzed with a spatial resolution of approximately 500 /am, and details of the ferric and ferrous distribution at the surface and in subsurface regions were studied. In FexO-SiO2-Al2O3 melts exposed to a reducing gas mixture, there is a gradient in ferric iron concen-tration decreasing toward the surface. In the FexO-Al2O3 melt, the reduction of ferric anions at the surface appears to release O2- ions, which increases the coordination of Fe2+. However, in the presence of silica, which is surface active and acidic, reduction of ferric iron does not lead to an excess of O2- at the surface. Lime has a dramatically different effect. It reverses the ferric gradient so that, even during reduction, the ferric concentration at the surface is enhanced. Ferric oxide is surface active in these melts, and under certain conditions, liquid-phase mass transfer is rapid enough to replenish the surface. The presence of a polymer-forming ion, Fe3+, at the surface results in a scarcity of O2- ions and a reduced coordination of Fe2+. In the presence of both SiO2 and CaO, the behavior of ferric iron during reduction depends, to an extent, on the CaO/SiO2 ratio. The behavior of iron oxide melts during reduction is very complex, and the surface-active nature of SiO2 and ferric oxide has a significant influence on the reaction. A quantitative analysis of the overall reaction would have to take these factors into account.

Minor metals or the economic role of by-products within the non-ferrous industry

Minor metals or the economic role of by-products within the non-ferrous industry

The international diffusion of technology in the early modern period: the case of the British nonferrous mining industry

There is a well-established view that the emergence of large-scale 1 technologically sophisticated industry in Britain took an important step forward from the late sixteenth century in a select few areas. An attempt to extrapolate from this to a concept of an early industrial revolution failed, but a small core of industries-in mining, metallurgy, ship-building, saltand glassmaking, and the like-are seen as having made financial demands quite outside the scope of the small man and to have begun to require centralized places of production with some concentration of capital equipment. The best examples are held to be the large and strategically important mining and metallurgical trades. The argument goes that the arrival in Britain of world-leading German engineers produced a revolution in technique which required heavy fixed investment and large-scale operations for its successful exploitation. This caused a fundamental change in the structure of the industry from its small-scale, inefficient, and outdated medieval origins. This article will propose a radically different hypothesis for one part of that sector, non-ferrous metal mining and smelting. It may be that similar conclusions could be suggested for coal and iron but they are in many ways very different industries. The new interpretation proposed here is that German experts did not introduce any unknown or radically improved techniques for the mining and dressing of metallic ores and that only in the relatively unimportant area of copper manufacture did they make any really substantial fixed investment in machinery and mine development. Large-scale working was rare and the great expansion of production of tin, and particularly lead, between the late fifteenth and early eighteenth centuries, was achieved principally by the multiplication of traditional small units of production. These small mines continued to be worked mainly by semi-independent part-time miner/farmers, albeit with a greater degree of application and intensity, and little progress was made in the proletarianization of the labour force. The organization and development of the non-ferrous mining sector was therefore not different from, but very much part of, the general evolution of British industrial activity during the period.

The international diffusion of technology in the early modern period: the case of the British nonferrous mining industry

The international diffusion of technology in the early modern period: the case of the British nonferrous mining industry

The International Diffusion of Technology in the Early Modern Period: The Case of the British Non-Ferrous Mining Industry

The International Diffusion of Technology in the Early Modern Period: The Case of the British Non-Ferrous Mining Industry

All That Glitters: Readings in Historical Metallurgy ed. by Michael L. Wayman

436 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE All That Glitters: Readings in Historical Metallurgy. Edited by Michael L. Wayman. Montreal: Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (1 Place Alexis Nihon, 1210—3400 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, H3Z 3B8), 1989. Pp. x+197; illustrations, references. $C50.00 + $C3.00 handling. Because scientists and technologists from Michael Faraday onward have from time to time interested themselves in the history of metallurgy, British and European metallurgical journals have had a tradition of publishing occasional papers on historical subjects. For example, important papers on topics such as African iron smelting, Roman ferrous metallurgy, and experimental bloomeries have ap­ peared in the Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute. This tradition has been continued by the editors of the Bulletin of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, who have run “Historical Metallurgy Notes” as a regular feature. The historical papers published in the Bulletin since 1979 have been collected into a volume edited by Michael Wayman. They are organized into two sections, the first on the development of metallurgy in general and the second on Cana­ dian metallurgical history. The papers are typically four to six pages long and deal with specific materials, processes, or places. Some report results of new research in archaeological metallurgy, while others are reviews or accounts of local history. Most have references. The book lacks an index, but, since the papers are short, this is not a serious handicap. The papers reflect the interests of a wide range of authors and cover a diverse group of subjects. Those in the first part of the book range over topics that are not specifically Canadian. They include work on the early use of native copper, brass, and cast iron; early metallurgy in Japan and India; and the origins of some of 19thcentury process metallurgy, such as the electrolytic zinc process. Canada is a major primary producer of metals, and the metallur­ gical industries have been a relatively large component of the Cana­ dian economy. An excellent study of the technological history of the 19th-century extractive industries in Ontario has been written by Dianne Newell (Technology on the Frontier, Vancouver, 1986), but we lack other secondary sources on the history of Canadian metallurgy. The second part of All That Glitters helps fill a gap. The papers here cover aspects of both ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy in Canada starting with Les Forges du Saint-Maurice, established in 1729, and continuing into the middle of the 20th century. Some of the topics, such as the history of iron smelting in the Atlantic Provinces, are likely to be quite unfamiliar to readers in the United States. Through the coverage of the principal nonferrous industries, Canada is now better served than the United States, since no overall history of nonferrous metallurgy in the forty-eight states has been written yet. TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 437 Anyone interested in historical metallurgy or the industrial history of North America will find this volume useful. One wishes that the professional mining and metallurgical societies in the United States took as much interest in and set as high a standard for historical works as do the Canadians. Robert B. Gordon Dr. Gordon is professor of geophysics and applied mechanics at Yale University. Daniel Hechstetter the Younger: Memorabilia and Letters 1600—1639— Copper Works and Life in Cumbria. Edited by George Hammersley. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1988. Pp. 395; maps, glossary, bibliogra­ phy, indexes. DM 142.00 (paper). For a large part of a lifetime, George Hammersley has been deeply immersed in the surviving records of the foreign metallurgical family primarily responsible for bringing copper mining and smelting to England in a period when that country was heavily indebted to Continental countries for technological innovations and improve­ ments. His background in the general history of the 16th and 17th centuries, his earlier researches on the iron industry, and his famil­ iarity with both English and German archival sources have equipped him well for the task. In Daniel Hechstetter the Younger, Hammersley edits three major documents, two from the Duke of Northumberland’s Alnwick ar­ chives and one from the Sloan MS in the British Library, which together constitute our main material...

Health effects of environmental exposure to cadmium: objectives, design and organization of the cadmibel study: a cross-sectional morbidity study carried out in Belgium from 1985 to 1989

Cadmium is a cumulative environmental pollutant. For the general population mainly exposed by the oral route and through tobacco smoke inhalation, the kidney is the critical organ. Belgium is the principal producer of cadmium in Europe, and certain areas of the country are polluted by cadmium mainly because of past emissions from nonferrous industries. Preliminary studies carried out in one polluted area have suggested that environmental pollution might lead to an increased uptake of cadmium by the human body and possibly to health effects. Thus, a large-scale morbidity study has been initiated to assess the validity of this hypothesis. The present paper describes the protocol of this study. Its main objectives are to determine to what extent environmental exposure to cadmium resulting from industrial emissions may lead to accumulation of the metal in the human organism; to establish whether or not environmental exposure may induce renal changes and/or influence blood pressure; and to assess the acceptable internal dose of cadmium for the general population. The study design takes advantage of the fact that biological indicators of exposure, body burden, and early nephrotoxic effects of cadmium are available, which increase the likelihood of detecting a cause-effect relationship.

Reflecting on the new goals in nonferrous extractive research

Various economic and political factors have induced dramatic changes in nonferrous extractive industries. Accordingly, the marketing of research proposals has forced researchers to focus on new goals, which include cost reduction, substitute materials, new processing technologies and environmental issues. From this perspective, it is especially difficult to justify research in thermodynamics and the kinetics of reactions. However, investigations into mathematical modeling as it is linked to process engineering are very active. Further, hydrometallurgy is moving from “metal farming” to high productivity; in pyrometallurgy, new industrial processes have appeared which possess improved energy efficiency and better environmental control, particularly in the area of sulfide smelting.

A study of manganese from anthropogenic emissions at a rural site in the eastern United States

Abstract Concentrations of Mn from soil dust and anthropogenic emissions were studied in the aerosols collected at Mayville, NY. The southwest quadrant of this rural site has numerous Mn-emitting sources. Aerosols arriving from this quadrant contained 80–90% Mn of anthropogenic origin, the remainder was soil derived. Bivariate analysis showed a good linear correlation between noncrustal Mn and Fe, indicating that anthropogenic Mn was mainly derived from the iron and steel industry. Aerosols with relatively high Mn concentrations and enrichments were also encountered during the study period. These were attributed to nonferrous industries such as silico-manganese alloy, synthetic pyrolusite and Mn chemical manufacturing plants. Comparison of concentrations, enrichment factors and ratios of the two elements, Mn and Fe, in these aerosols and in aerosols from several midwestern cities located in the vicinity of Mn-emitting sources attested to the inferences drawn above. Several Mn-emitting sources in the States of Ohio and Pennsylvania were shown to be causative for the high noncrustal Mn concentration at Mayville relative to those seen in rural aerosols from Ashland County, OH, and Shenandoah Valley, VA as well as for the relatively high ratio of noncrustal Mn/Se reported for the lower midwest signature in our earlier study.

The problem of arsenic disposal in non-ferrous metals production

Arsenic is a minor and inevitable component of all inputs to the non-ferrous metals extraction industry but sales are only a small proportion of input. Safe disposal of the excess is a substantial problem. Public perception exaggerates the toxicity of arsenic and generates emotional reactions, whereas arsenic has a natural cycle in the environment and all life is tolerant to traces with detoxication processes to deal with excess. Toxicity data for overload doses to biota in general are poor when required for the formulation of standards for disposal of waste thus making difficult the legal definition of hazardous wastes for appropriate regulation. Suitable tests to determine the stability of a waste for safe disposal are complex, costly, and uncertain against the need for the waste to be in place for a very long time. Further, there is no universal agreement on the principles which should govern the means of disposal of hazardous wastes. Safe disposal of arsenical wastes is thus difficult but practical and convincing solutions must still be devised, guided by thermodynamics and by natural processes. Much judgement and goodwill are required. However, few if any arsenical substances are so stable to moist air that they will not release unacceptable concentrations of arsenic when left in a thermodynamically open dump. Control of "hot spot" dumps must therefore start with planning of location and configuration, and the wastes must be sealed to exclude air and water and to contain leachates indefinitely. This is very difficult to ensure. Registration, control and testing of waste stability and dump behaviour must be planned on the assumption that leakage will arise at some time in future millennia, a major and expensive logistical problem. Adsorption of arsenate by soils and aquatic sediments is an important buffering and fixing process for any leakage, but waters can still be polluted. It is, however, argued that deliberate retention of leachate can lead to problems from uncontrolled future leakages, and thus that ""hot spot" dumps should be designed to allow controlled leakage within the capacity of the receiving environment. Better still would be efficient dilution and dispersal. Marine disposal may be politically unattractive, but the arsenic reports to sediments and the process copies nature. It is probably the best environmental disposal option where practicable.

Electricity in nonferrous industries

Electricity in nonferrous industries

A Review of Automation at Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter

The review covers the different concepts of automation which are appropriate to non-ferrous smelting and the degree to which the smelter, and the furnace in particular, is amenable to total automation. Due to the problems peculiar to a smelter, it is unlikely that a fully closed loop system could ever be achieved and that the smelter will continue to depend upon extended manual control supported by computer based information sorting and optimisation Generally, loop control is performed using Taylor's Mod III process control system. For distinct plant systems involving a combination of process loops, sequencing, and data acquisition, the company has developed its own microprocessor based systems. Process optimisation using computer based analysis of operating data is well established. Utilising this data, computer modelling provides manual set point supervision for the furnace process control system The impact of automation on the workforce and on operating costs is also examined. Predictions on future developments in the field of automation, optimisation and sequencing are propounded and related to the non-ferrous industry at large

Automatic Metal Level Control in Metal Processing

The paper reviews the features of a new system for liquid metal level control based on electromagnetic principles. The experience from a large number of recent applications both in steelmaking and non-ferrous industry is also discussed, such as level control in moulds, tundishes, runners, ladles etc in continuous casting of steel, copper and other metals.