TY - CONF A1 - Taube, Mareike Carolin A1 - Adam, Christian A1 - Adamczyk, Burkart A1 - Schulenburg, F. A1 - Bartmann, U. A1 - Beckmann, T. A1 - Michalik, K. A1 - Reuter, M. A1 - Stelter, M. T1 - Optimisation of a Pyrometallurgical Niobium and Tantalum Recyling Process with on-line-LIBS N2 - Tantalum and niobium are essential for the development of electronics towards a more and more compact design, but without reducing their performance today. Especially in smart phones and tablets, tantalum and niobium capacitors with high charge densities have already become almost indispensable. However, tantalum as a critical raw material is still a problem for the sustainable production of electronics. Due to this fact, the existence of efficient recycling processes especially in Europe is becoming even more important nowadays. The Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) is currently working on the optimisation of an existing pyrometallurgical tantalum recycling process. Optimisation of this industrial process is carried out in a small-scale electric arc furnace (480 kVA, capacity approx. 150 kg/h) at BAM using a new and innovative equipment for on-line analysis of high temperature processes. The aim of this project is to identify the best timing for an optimum slag tapping, when the slag is lower than minimum targeted tantalum concentration. Hence, LIBS (Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy) is used to identify the chemical composition of the slag layer and during slag tapping. The on-line-LIBS prototype of BAM enables an in-situ measurement of the element distribution in the melt after calibration on the slag system. First results of this joint research project will be presented including LIBS-measurements and thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the process. T2 - European Mineral Processing & Recycling Congress (EMPRC 2018) CY - Essen, Germany DA - 25.06.2018 KW - Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy KW - On-line analysis KW - Tantalum KW - Niobium KW - Pyrometallurgy PY - 2018 SN - 978-3-940276-84-1 SP - 347 EP - 362 PB - GDMB Verlag GmbH CY - Clausthal-Zellerfeld AN - OPUS4-47040 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Taube, Mareike Carolin A1 - Adam, Christian A1 - Adamczyk, Burkart A1 - Beckmann, T. A1 - Reuter, M. A1 - Stelter, M. T1 - Influence of carbon feeding on a pyrometallurgical tantalum and niobium recycling process and the formation of carbides N2 - An existing pyrometallurgical process for tantalum and niobium recovery, mainly from low grade pyrometallurgical residues, was investigated. Series of melting experiments were carried out in a pilot-scale electric arc furnace to study how the amount, the grain size and the way of feeding affect the activity of carbon as a reducing agent. During the pyrometallurgical treatment refractory metals such as tantalum and niobium are reduced to their carbide form and enriched in the molten iron-based metal phase. The cooled down slag and metal phase were analysed to investigate thermodynamic and kinetic conditions of the carbide formation. FACT Sage simulations were also used to investigate the material system in state of thermodynamic equilibrium. Results show that mass transfer and kinetics may play an important role if compared to equilibrium analyses using FACT Sage. T2 - Euopean Metallurgical Conference (EMC) 2019 CY - Düsseldorf, Germany DA - 23.06.2019 KW - Pyrometallurgy KW - Tantalum KW - Carbide formation KW - Reduction process KW - Carbon feeding PY - 2019 SN - 978-3-940276-87-2 VL - 1 SP - 371 EP - 386 PB - GDMB Verlag GmbH CY - Clausthal-Zellerfeld AN - OPUS4-48363 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schraut, Katharina A1 - Adamczyk, Burkart A1 - Simon, Sebastian A1 - von Werder, Julia A1 - Meng, Birgit A1 - Stephan, D. A1 - Kargl, F. A1 - Adam, Christian T1 - Formation and chemical stabilisation of tricalcium-silicate during solidification from the melt of post-treated metallurgical slags N2 - Tricalcium-silicate (C3S) or Alite is the most important mineral in Portland cement. Since pure tricalcium-silicate is only stable above temperatures of 1250 °C, its decomposition has to be prevented technically by fast cooling after the sintering process. At room temperature, the decomposition velocity is very slow so that metastable tricalcium-silicate is obtained. Although the mechanisms of clinker phase formation during burning process of Portland cement in a rotary kiln were solved and improved over the years, in view of possible economic and ecological benefits current projects aim to produce clinker phases from metallurgical slags. Recent studies discovered that the mineral phase which remained after a reducing treatment and separation of formed metallic iron from molten Linz-Donawitz (LD-) slags contained about 60 wt.% Alite despite it was cooled slowly. Because the results could be verified using slags from different origins and varying cooling velocities a chemical stabilisation of the Alite can be assumed. First tests in mortars indicate that workability, hardening and solid state properties are comparable with an ordinary Portland cement. An application of the observed phenomenon in cement production requires enhanced knowledge about formation and stabilisation conditions of Alite during crystallisation from melts in contrast to the sintering reactions in conventional Portland cement production. Therefore, this study focuses on the stabilisation mechanisms of Alite in consolidating melts. Samples from different melting experiments are analysed to determine stabilising factors. T2 - 15th International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement CY - Prag, Czech Republic DA - 16.09.2019 KW - Tricalcium-silicate KW - Portland Cement KW - Alite KW - Steelmaking slag PY - 2019 SP - Paper 492, 1 EP - 10 AN - OPUS4-49050 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hamann, Christopher A1 - Adam, Christian A1 - Stolle, Dirk A1 - Spanka, M. A1 - Auer, G. T1 - Thermochemical treatment of waste products from iron and steel production N2 - Blast furnace (BF) sludge and electric arc furnace (EAF) dust are typical wastes that incur from iron and steel production. In addition to iron, calcium, carbon, and silicon they usually contain high concentrations of heavy metals such as zinc, lead, and cadmium that are potentially hazardous to the environment, rendering disposal in landfills ecologically problematic and costly. Consequently, pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, and hybrid methods for selective elimination of non-ferrous heavy metals from BF sludge and EAF dust have been conceived, of which only the carbothermic reduction route taken in the so-called Waelz rotary kiln process has been proven to be economically successful. However, this process has several drawbacks regarding efficiency of heavy-metal removal and recovery of iron, and it does not allow processing of BF sludge. In this study, we investigated the efficiency and feasibility of selective chlorination and evaporation of non-ferrous heavy metals, particularly zinc and lead, in both BF sludge and EAF dust as an alternative, thermochemical processing route. To this end, hydrochloric acid and iron(II) chloride solution have been used as chlorinating agents, and the process of heavy-metal chlorination and evaporation has been investigated under inert operating conditions, at variable chlorine concentrations, and at temperatures between 500 and 1200 °C. High zinc and lead removal efficiencies of > 99.5 % were achieved with both chlorinating agents, but iron(II) chloride turned out to be overall more efficient for removal of zinc and lead from BF sludge and EAF dust. Interestingly, and in contrast to previous studies, the iron was completely retained in the processed solid residue, therefore rendering the processed residues virtually zinc- and lead-free raw materials that may either be used internally (e.g., feeding processed BF sludge and EAF dust back into the respective furnaces) or externally (e.g., for cement production). T2 - European Metallurgical Conference 2019 CY - Düsseldorf, Germany DA - 23.06.2019 KW - Blast furnace sludge KW - Electric arc furnace dust KW - Recycling KW - Selective chlorination KW - Zinc PY - 2019 SN - 978-3-940276-89-6 VL - 3 SP - 1267 EP - 1282 PB - GDMB CY - Clausthal-Zellerfeld AN - OPUS4-48362 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -