Advanced Technologies for Extractive Metallurgy

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 12632

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Guest Editor
School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Interests: ferrous metallurgy; microwave processing; comprehensive utilization of resources; waste valorization; powder agglomeration; low-carbon technology; process simulation; dielectric characterization; electromagnetic shielding; synthesis of functional materials
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years there has been a great surge in demand for various indispensable metals because of their ever-increasing consumption. The studies of extraction of metals from diverse materials, ranging from primary ores to end-of-life products, are essential to ensure the progress of human community. However, to date, problems such as depletion of mineral resources, poor energy efficiency, huge capital cost, and massive discharge of wastes, have not been sufficiently addressed in the development of metal extraction technologies which depends on advanced design and optimized techniques from combined theoretical, experimental, and practical perspectives. In view of this, incessant efforts placed into searching for innovative, cost-effective and sustainable technologies of metal extraction are of paramount importance for their successful implementations.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for scientists and engineers to present their latest achievements in the extraction of metals. Topics include, but are not limited to, process foundations of new technologies based on hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, electrometallurgy, and their combinations. We are particularly interested in the research concerning mechanisms of metal extraction integrated with thermodynamic modeling or aided by first-principles calculations. We also welcome articles reporting the efforts directed toward practical metallurgical processes, including economic and life cycle analyses.  

Prof. Dr. Zhiwei Peng
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Metal extraction
  • Hydrometallurgy
  • Pyrometallurgy
  • Electrometallurgy
  • Recycling
  • Recovery
  • Thermodynamic modeling
  • First-principles calculations
  • Life cycle assessment

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 3572 KiB  
Article
Study of the Double-Layer Sintering Process with Stand-Support
by Jie Liu, Mingshun Zhou, Fadeng Wu, Hui Zhang, Libing Xu, Liwei Zhai, Wei Gao and Qiang Zhong
Metals 2022, 12(4), 629; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12040629 - 6 Apr 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2008
Abstract
It has been widely reported that the sintering productivity and sintering bed permeability would be reduced when adopting ultra-deep bed sintering. To solve the aforementioned problems, the double-layer sintering process with stand-support (DLSP-S) is proposed in this research to achieve the sintering of [...] Read more.
It has been widely reported that the sintering productivity and sintering bed permeability would be reduced when adopting ultra-deep bed sintering. To solve the aforementioned problems, the double-layer sintering process with stand-support (DLSP-S) is proposed in this research to achieve the sintering of a 1000 mm ultra-deep bed. The results showed that compared with the double-layer sintering process, the DLSP-S improved the yield and productivity of sintering from 64.53% and 1.76 t·m−2·h−1 to 66.74% and 2.12 t·m−2·h−1, respectively. The research findings showed that the quasi-fines of 5–10 mm were reduced by 2.1% when the stand height increased from 0 mm to 350 mm, which further illustrated the effect of the DLSP-S. During the DLSP-S, the air permeability of the sinter bed was evidently improved and the content of O2 in the lower layer was enhanced. The present study provides an effective approach to improve the bed permeability and sintering productivity in high-bed sintering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies for Extractive Metallurgy)
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14 pages, 1917 KiB  
Article
Influence of Modified Bio-Coals on Carbonization and Bio-Coke Reactivity
by Asmaa A. El-Tawil, Bo Björkman, Maria Lundgren, Frida Bäck and Lena Sundqvist Ökvist
Metals 2022, 12(1), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12010061 - 28 Dec 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2056
Abstract
Substitution of coal in coking coal blend with bio-coal is a potential way to reduce fossil CO2 emissions from iron and steelmaking. The current study aims to explore possible means to counteract negative influence from bio-coal in cokemaking. Washing and kaolin coating [...] Read more.
Substitution of coal in coking coal blend with bio-coal is a potential way to reduce fossil CO2 emissions from iron and steelmaking. The current study aims to explore possible means to counteract negative influence from bio-coal in cokemaking. Washing and kaolin coating of bio-coals were conducted to remove or bind part of the compounds in the bio-coal ash that catalyzes the gasification of coke with CO2. To further explore how the increase in coke reactivity is related to more reactive carbon in bio-coal or catalytic oxides in bio-coal ash, ash was produced from a corresponding amount of bio-coal and added to the coking coal blend for carbonization. The reaction behavior of coals and bio-coals under carbonization conditions was studied in a thermogravimetric analyzer equipped with a mass spectrometer during carbonization. The impact of the bio-coal addition on the fluidity of the coking coal blend was studied in optical dilatometer tests for coking coal blends with and without the addition of bio-coal or bio-coal ash. The result shows that the washing of bio-coal will result in lower or even negative dilatation. The washing of bio-coals containing a higher amount of catalytic components will reduce the negative effect on bio-coke reactivity, especially with acetic acid washing when the start of gasification temperature is less lowered. The addition of bio-coal coated with 5% kaolin do not significantly lower the dilatation-relative reference coking coal blend. The reactivity of bio-cokes containing bio-coal coated with kaolin-containing potassium oxide was higher in comparison to bio-coke containing the original bio-coal. The addition of ash from 5% of torrefied bio-coals has a moderate effect on lowering the start of gasification temperature, which indicates that the reactive carbon originating from bio-coal has a larger impact. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies for Extractive Metallurgy)
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15 pages, 13128 KiB  
Article
Selective Extraction of Ni from Superalloy Scraps by Molten Mg-Zn
by Qinghua Tian, Xiangdong Gan, Fuhui Cui, Dawei Yu and Xueyi Guo
Metals 2021, 11(6), 993; https://doi.org/10.3390/met11060993 - 21 Jun 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3447
Abstract
Bearing significant concentrations of high value and critical metals, superalloy scraps require comprehensive recycling for metal reclamation. In this study, nickel-based superalloy was treated with molten Mg-Zn for the selective extraction of nickel. The influence of heating temperature, the molar ratio of Mg [...] Read more.
Bearing significant concentrations of high value and critical metals, superalloy scraps require comprehensive recycling for metal reclamation. In this study, nickel-based superalloy was treated with molten Mg-Zn for the selective extraction of nickel. The influence of heating temperature, the molar ratio of Mg to Zn in the molten metal, Mg-Zn/superalloy mass ratio, and heating time on metal extraction were investigated. Using the heating temperature of 800 °C, the Mg/Zn molar ratio of 9/1, the Mg-Zn/superalloy mass ratio of 5/1, and heating time of 240 min, the extraction rate of 97.1% was achieved for Ni, and the extraction rates of Fe, Cr and refractory metals (Nb, Mo and Ti) were all less than 1%. In the subsequent vacuum distillation process, nickel with a purity of 98.3 wt% was obtained. Therefore, the proposed method is a short, clean, and efficient process for selectively extracting nickel from the superalloy scraps. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies for Extractive Metallurgy)
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16 pages, 5898 KiB  
Article
Design and Construction of a Laboratory-Scale Direct-Current Electric Arc Furnace for Metallurgical and High-Titanium Slag Smelting Studies
by Botao Xue, Lingzhi Yang, Yufeng Guo, Feng Chen, Shuai Wang, Fuqiang Zheng and Zeshi Yang
Metals 2021, 11(5), 732; https://doi.org/10.3390/met11050732 - 29 Apr 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3954
Abstract
A novel direct-current electric arc furnace (DC-EAF) was designed and constructed in this study for experimentally investigating high-titanium slag smelting, with an emphasis on addressing the issues of incomplete separation of metal and slag as well as poor insulation effects. The mechanical components [...] Read more.
A novel direct-current electric arc furnace (DC-EAF) was designed and constructed in this study for experimentally investigating high-titanium slag smelting, with an emphasis on addressing the issues of incomplete separation of metal and slag as well as poor insulation effects. The mechanical components (crucible, electrode, furnace lining, etc.) were designed and developed, and an embedded crucible design was adopted to promote metal-slag separation. The lining and bottom thicknesses of the furnace were determined via calculation using the heat balance equations, which improved the thermal insulation. To monitor the DC-EAF electrical parameters, suitable software was developed. For evaluating the performance of the furnace, a series of tests were run to determine the optimal coke addition under the conditions of constant temperature (1607 °C) and melting time (90 min). The results demonstrated that for 12 kg of titanium-containing metallized pellets, 4% coke was the most effective for enrichment of TiO2 in the high-titanium slag, with the TiO2 content reaching 93.34%. Moreover, the DC-EAF met the design requirements pertaining to lining thickness and facilitated metal-slag separation, showing satisfactory performance during experiments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Technologies for Extractive Metallurgy)
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