Amax Incorporated

Iron Carbide Holdings, Ltd.

Robert F Hogsett

Leo W Beckstead

Paul B Queneau

Dale K Huggins

Frank M Stephens, Jr

Frank A Stephens

Willem P Duyvesteyn

Dennis E Voelker

John P Hager

Robert C Ziegler

Linn D Havelick

The present invention is a process for the rapid conversion of iron oxide-containing material into iron carbide. The process includes a first step in which the iron oxide-containing material is contacted with a reducing gas that contains a high concentration of hydrogen gas to form a metallic iron-containing intermediate product and a second step in which the metallic iron-containing product is contacted with a carburizing gas having high concentrations of hydrogen and carbon monoxide gas to produce iron carbide. The unused carbon monoxide in the off-gas from the second step is not recycled to the second step but is used as a fuel source.

Process for the production of iron carbide from iron oxide using external sources of carbon monoxide

A process for converting iron oxide to iron carbide using hydrogen as a reducing gas. Water is generated by the reduction of the iron oxides using hydrogen. The amount of water present in the reactor system is controlled and the water is contacted with methane in order to internally generate carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide gas. The carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide is subsequently employed to carburize the iron to iron carbide.

Process for converting iron oxide to iron carbide employing internally

A process is provided for hydrometallurgical processing of steel plant dusts containing cadmium, lead, zinc, and iron values, along with impurities such as chloride and fluoride salts of sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc. The first step in the process involves leaching the dust in a mixed sulfate-chloride medium that dissolves most of the zinc and cadmium. Any iron and aluminum dissolved in this step is precipitated by oxidation and neutralization. Zinc is recovered from the resulting solution by solvent extraction which provides a raffinate which is recycled to the leaching step with a bleed stream also provided for recovery of cadmium and removal of other impurities from the circuit. The lead sulfate residue from the leaching step is leached with caustic soda, and zinc dust is used to cement the lead out from the caustic solution, which then joins the main solution for zinc recovery. The residue from the lead leaching step is mixed with iron-aluminum oxide precipitate and agglomerated into pellets using cement. These pellets can be charged into steel furnaces for iron recovery or stored as a nontoxic waste.

Process for metal recovery from steel plant dust

A hydrometallurgical process is provided to electrogalvanize steel, utilizing primary and secondary zinc sources. The process consists of leaching the feed in a mildly acidic solution. The zinc is selectively recovered from the leach liquor in a solvent extraction system and thereafter stripped from the solvent using a stronger acidic solution to provide a strip solution which is fed to an electrogalvanizing bath for electrogalvanizing steel products, e.g., sheet steel, using insoluble anodes. Acidic solutions and organic solvent are recycled in the process.

Electrogalvanizing utilizing primary and secondary zinc sources

A solvent extraction process is provided for transferring metal values from one immiscible liquid phase to another, whereby the two liquid phases are vigorously mixed together in a first mixer under conditions in which one liquid phase is rendered continuous, the mixing being continued to effect complete transfer of metal values, and the mixture then passed to a second mixer and the two phases mixed under conditions in which the other phase is rendered continuous, whereby when the two phases are fed to a settler, the rate of disengagement of the two immiscible liquids is substantially increased.

Process for improving solvent extraction operation using two mixers

Foaming in the hydrometallurgical treatment of a tungsten-containing aqueous solution due to the presence of carbonaceous organic material impurities, such as flotation reagents, is substantially inhibited by the addition of effective amounts of powdered activated carbon, the carbon with the adsorbed impurities being thereafter separated from the solution by filtering. The activated carbon also protects the solvent extraction circuit from contamination. The method is particularly applicable to slurries of tungsten oxide concentrates during the high temperature, high pressure leaching thereof with sodium carbonate solutions in an autoclave.

Activated carbon adsorption of flotation reagents from tungsten solutions

A process is provided for recovering molybdenum and tungsten separately from a sulfide cake containing the same along with arsenic as an impurity. The process comprises dissolving essentially all of the tungsten and molybdenum values contained in the cake in a caustic solution containing at least about 5 but not more than about 6 moles of sodium hydroxide per mole of tungsten plus molybdenum contained in the cake, separating insoluble material from the resulting leach solution and then precipitating one metal value from the group consisting of molybdenum and tungsten preferentially from the other.

Process for recovering tungsten from MoS.sub.3 /WS.sub.3 precipitates

Vanadium and nickel values are selectively recovered from a petroleum coke residue by slurrying the coke in an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate providing an excess of the stoichiometric amount of sodium for formation of sodium vanadate and sodium sulfate, and then digesting the slurry at moderately elevated temperature in a pressurized autoclave under an oxygen overpressure supplying at least the stoichiometric amount of oxygen based on the vanadium and sulfur content of the slurry and advantageously sufficient additional oxygen to provide the thermal requirements of the digestion step by oxidation of carbon. In a continuous embodiment, the feed slurry temperature and feed solids content are adjusted according to a substantially inversely correlated relationship. The digestion temperature for a given total pressure and gas flow rate in the autoclave is adjusted to generate a pregnant liquor containing about 20 gpl to about 100 gpl of vanadate (V.sub.2 O.sub.5) from which at least about 50% of the input water has been converted to steam during the digestion. The vanadate liquor is separated from the digestion residue, which is then sequentially selectively leached for recovery therefrom of nickel and residual vanadium values.

Recovery of V.sub.2 O.sub.5 and nickel values from petroleum coke

Oxide ores or ore concentrates containing organic matter are slurried with water and heated to a temperature of at least about 230.degree. C. under an oxygen partial pressure of at least about 25 psi to oxidize the organic matter. Advantageously, the process in accordance with the present invention can be used in the treatment of tungsten concentrates and can be employed while the tungsten concentrates are being digested with sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide solutions.

Process for digesting tungsten ores containing organic matter

A process for conditioning a tungsten concentrate containing tungsten as WO.sub.3, sulfur as sulfide, and calcite to fix at least a portion of the sulfur as calcium sulfate by reaction with the calcite, comprises providing a tungsten concentrate having a calcite content such that less than about 15 wt. % calcium sulfate based on the weight of the WO.sub.3 in the concentrate will be formed and heating the concentrate to a temperature of at least about 500.degree. C. in an oxidizing atmosphere to oxidize substantially all the sulfur in the concentrate to provide a conditioned concentrate having a calcium sulfate content less than about 15% based on the weight of the WO.sub.3, whereby the conditioned concentrate can be efficiently leached with alkali metal carbonates or hydroxides and the resulting alkali metal tungstate solution can be effectively treated to recover an ammonium tungstate solution.

Process for conditioning tungsten concentrates

Dissolved molybdenum is removed from sodium tungstate solutions by adding sulfuric acid to lower the pH value of the solution to between about 8 and about 5, adding to the sodium tungstate solution a water-soluble sulfide in an amount of at least 0.5 gram per liter (gpl) in excess of that required to precipitate as sulfides molybdenum and certain other metals, then lowering the pH value of the sodium tungstate solution to between about 4.0 and about 1.5 as rapidly as possible with sulfuric acid in such a way as to precipitate molybdenum trisulfide while minimizing co-precipitation of tungsten.

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Arvada, CO, United States of America

Robert F Hogsett