Successful THANOS conference in Johannesburg New book: Principles of Metal Refining and Recycling
News
September 28th- 29th the International conference on Enhanced use of Thermodynamic Data in Pyrometallurgy Teaching and Research was organized in Johannesburg, South Africa. The broad objective of the conference is to enhance the use of thermodynamic data in pyrometallurgy teaching and research.
Hosted by the Metallurgy Technical Programme Committee of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, this conference focused on two main pillars: (a) the enhanced use of thermodynamic tools and data and the understanding the fundamental reaction mechanisms in metal production, and (b) developing methods for teaching thermodynamics and enhancing the teaching and learning and availability of thermodynamic methods and data. The ultimate goal is to demystify thermodynamics and equip the industry to use thermodynamic principles and data in metal production.
SFI Metal Production (represented by Professor Merete Tangstad) participates in the project through the NFR programme for International Partnerships (INTPART) under the project “Thermodynamic from Nanoscale to Operational Scale” (THANOS).
Professor Tangstad and postdoctor Jian Meng Jiao from NTNU presented at the conference and Vincent Canaguier and Halvor Dalaker from SINTEF gave online presentations. There were almost 100 participants to the conference (70 attended in person and 26 participated online).
For more information see conference website.
The scientific principles in the treatment of the various metals are the same. The importance of using a clean and properly alloyed metal is described in detail. The text covers thermodynamics, physical and transport properties, mixing, mass transfer and numerical models. It describes methods for removal of dissolved impurity elements, particles, and inclusions. It considers important aspects of the solidification process, remelting and adding of alloys. Recycling, future challenges and specific processes for each metal are discussed in detail.
Authors are Thorvald Abel Engh (NTNU), Geoffrey Sigworth (GKS engineering) and Anne Kvithyld (SINTEF), and the work has been partly funded by SFI Metal Production. The book is a greatly extended update of the 1992 book Principles of Metal Refining by T. A. Engh. It includes in particular the subjects of metal recycling, ferrous and non-ferrous metal refining, and metalloids like silicon.